Noted Futurist Brian Solis told 1,200 attendees at the B2BMX Conference that they should throw out their standard marketing playbook and totally reinvent their strategies for the simple reason that technology has rewired the neurology of our brains and no one is processing information as they once did.
To drive home his point, he talked about the “uberization” of our patience, which he referred to the Uber minute. If a person’s Uber cannot arrive within 5 or 7 minutes—something unheard of just two years ago—the ride is abandoned, and another rideshare is summoned. This has directly impacted how we approach our decision-making, be it personal or professional. We want answers NOW!
Our target audiences will no longer wade through content unless they see an immediate payoff. They have been subconsciously conditioned by the technology surrounding all of us to demand instant answers. This means we need to fundamentally rethink how we, as marketers, do our jobs and assess our strategy and tactics. To make his point even clearer, Solis declared that communication needs to be P2P, or person-to-person. Our prospects, targets, cohorts – call them what you will – are consumers first and subject to the influence of the ‘Uber Minute’.
In another session, Sirius Decisions reported on their latest CMO research that showed many younger decision-makers are entering the buying center and have definite expectations on how they want to process information and data. Forget touting product benefits, you must satisfy the needs of these new buyers or they will not allow you to come close to making their short list.
When queried by Sirius Decisions, CMOs admitted that content strategy was their biggest hurdle. This is a point we consistently see in our consulting practice as well. Too much reliance on automation can make content marketing initiatives fall flat. When that happens and marcom ROI declines, it quickly becomes apparent that human factors play a bigger role than previously understood.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) was a growing topic in many sessions and conversations. In keeping with the conference theme “Focus on an audience of one”, Madison Logic proposed a shift to the term ABE or account-based engagement. They claimed that the amount of audience research data is so overwhelming that third-party data analysis is a necessity to keep track of it all. By using data efficiently, marketers can better interact with buyers throughout the decision journey. For a deeper look into the buyer’s journey, check out my colleague Jenny Voisard’s latest blog.
After two full days of conversations and informative presentations, it was apparent that the need for a radical change in marketing is imperative. Although the B2BMX conference center had 200 vendors selling a plethora of software, platforms and data analysis services, my takeaway was that the conference attendees and their marketing peers back at the home office are the ones who will need to adapt the most to meet the new challenges.
Principal
Engaging your customers is at the heart of successful marketing programs. For more than 20 years, Cheryl has been building and executing content and thought leadership strategies designed to do just that. She is excited to be applying that well-honed skill to a help companies like Microsoft, Cisco, 3M, Intel, Capital One and Barclaycard tap into their stakeholder communities and build sophisticated content strategies.
Her experience base spans a range of industries – from technology and financial services to retail, travel, consumer products and healthcare. Cheryl has served as an integral member of her clients’ marketing teams, providing counsel on marketing and brand strategy, thought leadership, media relations, product introductions, and event management.
Prior to joining ComBlu, Cheryl spent 10 years leading corporate marketing for large, complex organizations.