Marketing has become complex, and I am sure you will agree. But, have you ever wondered what are the factors that are making this so confusing sometimes?
Mind you, I am not hinting at the fact that the basic principle of marketing has changed. I am a firm believer in foundations and getting your principle right with formal training like doing a marketing course or getting an MBA in marketing.
It is easy to get drowned in the experts talking on LinkedIn and YouTube these days. You have the new-age digital experts talking about things like content games, SEO, performance marketing, and how tech stacks change the game. There are many great conventional academicians talking about nothing has changed and that one should treat the rise of digital as another channel or way of life.
Sounds easy enough.
Let us dive in.
Marketing Technology: So, the rise of tech platforms and various stacks on back on digital growth has added a lot of clutter in the market. Who oversees this?
Is it the marketing team? Is it the IT or tech teams? Is it Capex or Opex? Should the budget come from non-marketing or marketing allocations?
Marketing Operations: If marketing teams oversee 4Ps, should they also run the ops? But this needs specialized skills sometimes in coding, ecosystem planning, working with platform algos to run SEO, and performance marketing.
Communication: One thing we all are clear about is that ownership of the brand and communication lies with the brand teams. But is it imperative for them to understand all the tech? Can they keep the focus on what they know best and let tech teams run the show?
What is the damn solution?
Well, from my experience you cannot ignore these questions. Yes, you can be an expert with formal training and experience in running the marketing for your company but being hands with technology helps. In fact, it can become the most important factor for your personal success.
Do not let the consultants and Gurus, take away the power from you.
a) Get your foundation strong. If you don’t have formal training in marketing 101, go get it.
b) Follow the money – In short build commercial acumen. We are here to help sell our brand to customers.
c) Be tech savvy – You don’t have to learn coding but upskilling on all developments in marketing technology is important. Chances are you will have experts around you or go get a course online.
d) Gets your hands dirty – Sorry to say, you won’t learn as much from courses the way you can from doing it. Run that Amazon campaign, go study your website’s GA and learn how to visualize your data.
The views expressed in this article are personal, and not necessarily those of the author’s employer.
