Marketing is different now
Two very important, and often overlooked marketing skills are Technology and Project Management.
In fact, I think these two skills have become mandatory to be effective at marketing in today’s world, where the customer has control over the buying process. Potential customers use the web more than ever before, and it continues to accelerate especially with the explosive of mobile devices. A potential customer now typically waits until the last third of the buying process to engage with a sales person. Being found online has become critical for most businesses today.
We can identify customer behaviors that are important but it’s much more difficult to determine the exact way that someone will be a customer. Best practices show the aligning our marketing and sales efforts along the following behaviors leads to better outcomes, such as: Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat, and Refer (from the Marketing Hourglass™ from the Duct Tape Marketing System).
Marketing Complexity
There is a lot that has to happen for marketing to be effective, and Technology and Project Management both help with the complexity. We hear a lot about content and creativity in marketing, and those are and will continue to be very important. What often gets overlooked are Strategy, Technology and Project Management. Yet these are the most important things to make marketing easy.
Would you hire someone to build your place of business without a floorplan and blueprint, and without the right tools? Probably not. So why would you try to grow your business without a plan and the right tools?
Technology is Key
Technology provides us access to data and information. Technology allows us to get ourselves interconnected throughout the web (they call it the web for a reason). Having the right tools and the right technical know-how can make a big difference in setting your marketing efforts apart.
Research, Relationship Management, Monitoring, Planning, Measurement, Automation, Targeting … there are tools and technology that can help with any aspect of marketing. Getting the tools to work for you and with each other can be a big challenge and require technical expertise.
Technology continues to change at a rapid pace. Being able to vet and adopt the right technology isn’t a trivial task and requires focus and commitment, but with a big potential payoff.
Project Management Makes it Happen
Given what it takes to get a potential customer to buy from your business the priority, number and complexity of tasks really demand strong project management.
Project Management has processes that cover: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. Project Management draws from several areas of knowledge including: Integration, Cost, Quality, Time, Scope, Communications, and Shareholder Management, and Risk Management. A strong knowledge of these processes and knowledge areas is a big benefit in a comprehensive marketing program.
Leveraging processes and tasks without having to reinvent the wheel helps to ensure that the right things happen at the right times. It improves communication and coordination, reduces risks, and optimizes results. Having key marketing process areas that can drive repeatable, managed, and measurable results requires project management skill.
Summary
In a world where a potential customer has control over the buying processes, businesses need to step up the technology and project management aspects of their sales and marketing programs. The breadth and depth of expertise required to make effectively market your business has to include strong technology and project management skills to manage marketing complexity.
Don’t know where to start? Changescape Web can make marketing easy with our done-for-you Managed Marketing Services – we bake Technology and Project Management in to these services. We also provide Marketing Consulting and Coaching to help build your expertise.