Advertising, marketing and human connections are the keys to my business, and probably very important to yours. In fact, it’s that last element, human connections, that is the decisive factor in the success or failure of a business.
If you are taking on the job of marketing your business here are some things you should know about the state of the business.
Advertising Is Important When Deployed Through Smart Marketing Strategies
In talking about the hyperlocal marketing and Facebook ad buying capabilities we offer clients it’s clear that these capabilities are powerful. But, and this is important, these strategies are maximized when they are deployed by a holistic and cohesive marketing strategy. The work we’re doing today is still based on advertising, but before marketers can undertake a smart advertising campaign they need to first deploy a marketing strategy that entails the dynamic infrastructure of their business, their industry and their unique capabilities.
So, when we talk I share the really amazing advertising capabilities that exist in the tools we’ve developed for our clients. Some of the tools we have are so interesting that even veteran advertisers who work for large brands raise their eyebrows in excitement. But before we deploy these tools I ensure our clients know that advertising is one part of a broader marketing infrastructure. Â And if they don’t have a marketing plan, I ensure we create one, so they know how to create a virtuous cycle of opportunity by leveraging all the available tools we have and collective expertise between our marketing capabilities and our clients’ core business capabilities.
Marketing Technology vs Advertising Technology
Advertising technology is focused on audiences: aggregating them, making decisions about the ads they should see, and connecting to them in ad spaces on publishers. Audiences are who we are, aggregated with non-personally identifiable information based on our interests, behaviors and activities. Algorithms help ad buyers determine when an ad should be delivered to a person, which people should see specific ads, the frequency at which the user sees the same ad, etc. Finally, ad tech pulls the audience data and the algorithmic decisioning together by serving the ad to the consumer in specific environments, either on Facebook, in the Pandora app, on the video player in CNN, and millions of other places.
Marketing technology, on the other hand, helps businesses aggregate business information across channels. An email list is that information, and a provider like MailChimp will store your email lists and send out emails to your audiences. Marketing technology helps automate workflow when communicating with audiences. A provider like ClickFunnels will take a user who clicks on one of its pages through a series of pages by using automation; submit information, get a thank you page, and two weeks later get a text message. Tools from SMS providers will let businesses send out text messages to people who have submitted their information at specified intervals based on the businesses needs. SEO services will help website owners understand their search rankings and the elements they need to pursue to improve their organic search rankings. There are a slew of different marketing technology solutions, and these solutions are substantially more consumer friendly as off the shelf software made for people who aren’t professionally trained marketers.
Digital Is The New TV
I’ve been connected to so many entrepreneurs and many of these connections come in virtually. I’ve met someone on a Facebook group and four days later we were having dinner together talking about the tactical elements of running a Facebook campaign. There are connections to be made in a way that hasn’t ever been available. We’re not talking about these fleeting connections on social media, we’re talking about real one to one and deeply insightful opportunities for humans to connect. This happens on Facebook, on Twitter and LinkedIn for me. When Vine was important there was a different type of connection, and this was also valuable for more of an entertainment connection.
Business providers are finding valuable channels of communication on social media through marketing and advertising channels. There are real people creating individual brands in niche offerings and making lots of money by doing this work. There are some superstars of this world, and some small to mid-size stars. These people are discovering how valuable social channels are to connect with people and build the same type of content offering as a website, but through social media. In fact, Facebook Groups, Google + groups, and LinkedIn groups are the new website. Business owners are aggregating an audience, creating relevant content for their audience, and pitching their wares with unique new skills.
Finally, business owners and entrepreneurs of all types are using live video to get their voice out and let their projects come to life in new ways. Facebook, at the current moment, is favoring live video and providing unique opportunities for organic reach that isn’t available elsewhere on the site. This moment is fleeting. If we know anything about Facebook’s strategy it is pulling in interest with Facebook live by giving away organic reach, and at some point in the future that organic reach will dissipate. For now, take advantage of it. Use live streaming to speak to your audiences, tout a project, give away value and incite interest from your audience.
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A quick update for you: Clearcode.cc has a great post about marketing technology and its relationship to advertising technology. They show some great examples of the different tools and services in each. You can read the ClearCode.cc post on martech and adtech here.
