The Growth of Marketing Trends
What purpose does marketing serve?
According to Peter F. Drucker, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits them and sells itself”.
Businesses have been at this practice for decades and each year creative minds everywhere have continued to evolve it. Marketing is about capturing the imagination of people. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t have to be done in one particular way.
We’ve come a long way from the Don Draper — Mad Men days of marketing. Though the fundamentals of marketing have not changed much, the delivery, the stories, the execution has evolved drastically.
From word of mouth to print media, digital and experiential marketing, the tools we use to reach our audience have changed.
Gary Vaynerchuck, CEO of Vayner Media once said, “Market like the year you are in”.
The concept of marketing is forever changing and as such businesses should look to grow their efforts in ways they market to consumers.
When post World War II businesses started booming, business owners also experienced strong competition. This competitive market created the need to think creatively to sell goods. Flash forward to the 80s and 90s, businesses started to see the value in building brand awareness all in the name of increasing market share.
Over the past few decades, we’ve gone from direct marketing to advertising, endorsements, print ads and more. Today with the internet being such a strong part of everyone’s lives, we’ve seen marketing grow through social media, influencers, digital interactions, and websites. Marketing has evolved from inbound to outbound.
In 2019, marketing efforts are tied to three pillars: Data, Personalization, and Agile. All which is being accomplished through various tools and methods.
Data
Digital information has been replacing physical modes of data sharing for quite some time now. Previously people use to normally rely on newspapers, CDs or other modes of accessing information. Nowadays everything is available digitally in the palm of your hand and with one simple click. Big data has proved to be one of the strongest tools marketers have access to in order to connect with their target audience. The digital shift made room for inbound marketing which in turn collected information that businesses used to understand consumer patterns, things that worked and those and didn’t work. Data has made such a large impact on businesses that now there are even roles specific to understand the collected data to inform strategic decisions and actions.
Personalization
Consumers today value personalization over generic marketing. With the help of data, personalization has become an important part of marketing. Creating unique experiences and journeys for buyers has never been easier. Consumers want content that is catered to their needs. They want to know what others think of the product that is being surfaced to them. They want to be able to interact with your business with minimal work required. Social media also plays a big role in personalization which has only been elevated with influencer marketing.
Agile
The word Agile means the ability to move quickly and easily. In competitive markets, nothing better measures efficiency than a company’s agile process. Chances are you all work in an environment where ROI plays a key role in determining what strategies to move forward with vs. what can be put in the parking lot. Agile marketing helps puts into perspective what opportunities will drive the business forward. The speed at which we innovate and produce consumer loving products affects the length of interaction consumers want to have with your brand. All of this has to be communicated through them via marketing. The rate at which the products are being produced needs to go hand in hand with the rate at which marketing teams are building content that resonated with the buyers. All of this needs to be in sync while building a tone and personality that your audience connects with. Mastering this can take a while, but if done right, can be very fruitful for your marketing efforts.
As the digital world moves forward, what other trends are you embracing to achieve your marketing goals?
I’m a Product Marketer at RL Solutions and a budding Medium blogger from Toronto, Canada. Have something interesting to share? or just curious about my work, follow me on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter and start a conversation!
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