It’s only natural that as businesses a
nd technologies evolve, so does marketing. Many marketers believe to maintain a competitive edge, they need to invest budget and time into learning new concepts, strategies, techniques and technologies. This can be risky as many new ideas or products have yet to be proven. In addition, what worked for one company in a specific industry may not work for another in a different space. However, by doing nothing marketing leaders will miss opportunities to innovate and evolve.
Ninety-seven percent of B2B marketing leaders say they are doing new types of work, that new skills for marketers will be desperately needed going forward, and that the pace of relentless change in their worlds is expected to pick up.
What marketing innovation is not
Well known companies such as Google, 3M and Hewlett-Packard have received praise in recent years for their innovative workplace environments and culture. For example, some organizations offer rewards for innovation by employees and allow employees time to work on projects outside of their area. An innovative company culture will most likely result in innovative marketing, but they are not one in the same.
Some folks view marketing innovation as a campaign or program. They may be launched or featured in a high profile situation or even incorporate some cutting edge technology. The result could be innovative marketing, but an innovative campaign is not marketing innovation.
What marketing innovation is
Marketing innovation utilizes advances in marketing, technology and even engineering to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing. The end goal, of course, is to gain competitive advantage and increase the company’s overall value.
The company’s overall value mainly addresses the lifetime value of the customer – their increased likeliness of spreading news about your products and/or services, increased and continued engagement with your brand, and your increased opportunity to learn from them.
Bottom line, if you don’t know what tools are available and how they work, how can you expect to do anything differently? How can you expect your company to grow and your relationships to become stronger? Consider this: If your competitors employ new technologies, create solutions of their own, or gain insights from data before you do, what would that do to your business?
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