We’re Still Early…

As marketers it’s all about timing. More importantly it’s all about delivering the right message at the right time with the right context based on what the customer has requested. As a marketing professional I actively stay up to date on the latest technologies. I have to be an early adopter of everything if I want to stay on the ball and deliver the right strategies and execution plans to clients. Do you ever feel like your clients get caught up in it all because of a new product or app?  Do YOU ever get caught up in how fast things are REALLY moving? I had the opportunity to teach a class at the local college and was really surprised by what I heard…

My colleague and I spoke to an advertising class about both mobile and social marketing. We broke down tactics and examples and tried to conduct as much dialogue as possible. Below you’ll find the presentation we took them through. We also wrote about it on the company blog which you can find here.

Surprisingly, of the class of about 30, only 2-4 were using Twitter. About 3 had their own blog. Nobody could understand why they would user their smartphone to scan a QR code let alone even recognized what it was or why it would even be used.  We explained these these technologies and how than can be leveraged as part of a marketing strategy as well as took them through some examples. I also may have told them that they were not cool or “hip” since they didn’t “check-in” to locations they visited.

There were a lot of questions which created great conversation about marketing strategies and how tactics and tools within the mobile and social world can help businesses and brands achieve their goals. As you’ll see in the company blog we wanted to provide resources to them to dive into to follow trends as well as some individuals that inspire us. We kept the presentation simple and clean to make sure we got through it for Q&A.

Overall, this teaching experience made me realize that at the end of the day…we’re still super early. Gary Vaynerchuck said it best when he stated that:

The internet is only 17 or 18 years old…It hasn’t even had sex yet…

Our key takeaway points for the students were:

1. As an advertiser, brand or business you must go where your customers go and spend their time.
2. Marketing is no longer a monologue; it’s a dialogue. Brands and businesses have to start listening to the conversations that are taking place and participate.
3. After reading the required textbooks start following what’s actually happening in the world.

My personal takeaways were:

1. Facebook, SMS, Twitter, QR codes…These are all just tools. There will be new tools emerging everyday and I can learn how to use that tool quickly. Strategy should always come first. Always!
2. Stay up to date on the latest technologies but make sure to keep your clients grounded and make sure that they don’t go down the wrong path just because they got hyped up on “the new thing”.

I really enjoyed this teaching experience and I’d love to speak more. I have a lot to share from mobile experience to startup stories. Have you done any public speaking lately? Were you surprised how your message was received? I’d love to hear about it!

 

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