Digital Savvy

Monday, October 27, 2008

A Shift in Viewpoint

A recently released Forrester report backs up our experience with Web 2.0 and our B2B clients: they are slow at adopting Web 2.0 technologies.

The report found "more than 60% of respondents use conventional digital lead-generation tactics such as e-newsletters and webinars, while less than one-third use blogs, podcasts and social networks for marketing."

The study suggested that "marketers face hurdles such as connecting these tactics to sales and measuring the impact of social media on buyers" but we think there is even a more fundamental problem, especially when it comes to social media and networks.

Web 2.0 requires a strategic shift in point of view (strategy by any other name) away from Classic Marketing, which has been and remains very tactical, to a Relationship Marketing (RM) model. This shift begets a re-invention of the role of marketing communications that affects what people do and the skills they need to be successful - the biggest hurdle.

Classic Marketing is marketing divided into three parts: awareness, response and interactive. Marketing communications organizes itself accordingly and in larger companies advertising, direct marketing, and interactive agencies are used to supplement internal resources.

We suggest starting with an RM strategy, relationship marketing, and seeing all activities as either In Situ or face-to-face and digital.

In future posts we will discuss how this viewpoint drives big change in the marketing organization - a transformation if you will.

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