The Unspoken Fear - Keeping Up with Digital Trends
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I don’t feel like many of us in the digital landscape are really talking about it too much, that unspoken fear of “keeping up with it all”. Digital is a beautiful, ever-changing industry. And as digital marketers’, we’re the disruptors, the game changers. Many of us have grown up with digital technology at our fingertips (I was just 12 years old when I built my first iframe). But the scary thing is how hard it can become for us to keep up with changes in our industry. Just yesterday Google announced a new suite of Ads (Source: B&T), Facebook released an update about making it easier for users to clear their data history (Source: AdAge) and I am sure another digital marketing acronym has been added to the mix (CDP, DMP, HIPPO and my favourite WYSIWYG). It’s exciting, but it’s bloody endless.
Recently an industry story blew up because a mother, Alice Almedia, had tried to return back to a senior digital role, but she was told by recruiters she would have to take a $70k pay cut, as too much had changed within the industry during her “absence”. (Source: Mumbrella) There has been extensive commentary about Alice’s situation, and it has been a well needed conversation starter for mothers in Media. But I think this feeling of falling behind isn’t isolated just to mothers returning from maternity leave.
This week alone, I was on the phone with a tech guru who had taken time off to travel, but felt that she was behind the curve coming back into the workforce. This could even apply to the fear of moving from an agency to an in-house role. It’s undeniable that the exposure to new technology, research and development are one of the greatest opportunities presented when working within an agency.
I don’t think it is all doom and gloom though. I think as an industry we’re just forgetting the key to everything. Marketing as a whole is a craft. Yes, we continually have to hone our skills and that doesn’t make keeping up with the pace of changes any easier. But at the end of the day – those skills are a requirement of an overarching strategy.
To break it down… I think we can all agree on the following for most organisations:
Business objective = Make more sales
Make more sales = Get more customers and/or increase customer uptake
That was true in the 90’s with Print and TV, as it is today with digital. I believe it is okay to say we don’t know it all. We can acknowledge that there are trends or new technologies that we haven’t had experience with yet. The bit we need to be open to is to is testing and learning. And at the heart of it all, remembering that none of it matters, unless you have the customer at the core of what you are doing.
How I keep up with it all:
1. Read, read, read
Whenever I get a chance, or headspace, I jump into Flipboard. It’s an app that collates new stories based on your interests (i.e. marketing, martech, social media, funny dog memes etc.) in an easy digestible format. My personal favourite is their 10 for Today section which pulls in top articles across multiple publications for you to read.
2. Phone a friend
Being able to phone a friend is a lifesaver. I would recommend going to industry events and networking, i.e. General Assembly has some pretty awesome free ones in main cities. These events are great to hear top level insights from those in particular fields, but having friends that you can call on to debate marketing with over a coffee helps.
3. Podcasts and online tools
Lynda.com, although a paid tool, is jammed packed with software, creative and business video courses by industry experts. It’s currently owned by LinkedIn and is refreshed frequently with the latest trends.
Podcasts are also handy… I do like being able to listen on the go as I am an avid driver. I would also recommend looking into Audible for something different as well. Let me know once you’ve listen to “How Brands Grow” by Bryon Sharp.. I am looking for someone to debate the double-jeopardy theory with ;)
4. Listen to your customers
Going back to what I said before, these guys should be at the heart of everything you do. Dive into your analytics and review their behaviour. If you can see they have a clear need in an area, use this to drive your strategy and how you up-skill yourself. Build your craft around answering the needs of your customers or in overcoming their objections. The rest, like the tech, will follow with the next round of questions you ask.
5. Talk to your team
This applies to leaders and managers. For leaders, the further you move away from the execution within the tools, the less you will have a grasp of how areas are evolving. And I wouldn’t say that is a unique scenario to digital, but this is one of the many reasons WHY it is so important that you listen to your teams. Find out what is and isn’t working. Never assume. Ask for blue sky thinking, not just to repeat a strategy that you know has had some form of success in the past.
And sometimes the best ideas come from asking your peers. Managers need to embrace the concept of not knowing it all. No one will think less of you if you ask a question, if you embrace someone else’s idea. But again, I don’t think this is unique to just our area of expertise, but I believe the pace in which our industry is growing just demands a greater focus on collaboration.
Summary
To wrap it all up… the core conversation starter I wanted to get across is to understand that concerns within the industry about maintaining a perceived pace is real. But the comfort I take (even though I am not planning on taking my foot off the accelerator anytime soon), is that it is okay to take a break. We need to have these conversations within our industry though to foster that understanding.
At the end of the day, the fundamentals of being consumer-centric remain, it is just whether the tech that enables these connections changes.
