Categories: Articles

The Role Of Digital Marketing

In the past few days, I’ve given a lot of public speeches on the Digital Marketing landscape to some varied audiences (including university students, government and big business). I’m continually amazed by how new all of these channels are to the general mass public. I’m not even talking about Blogs and Podcasts here, but having a general strategy for Google AdWords or data around email address collection. What seems so 2003 to most of us, is more like 2033 to others.

I show a bunch of videos in my presentations, and there are several that track well over twenty-million views on YouTube, yet – for most – when I show them, it is the first time these people have ever seen them.

Some might say this is a bad thing.

I think it’s magical.

At bare minimum the art (and science) of building a compelling online property and starting the wheels around Digital Marketing is still new ground to most companies. At best, they are grappling their way to create something more than their current brochure-ware website, and are becoming increasingly aware of places like Technorati and del.icio.us. They are moving closer to the cloud (having everything "live" online versus hard drives) and are curious about how their Marketing programs are going to look in twelve month’s time.

After a whirlwind tour of being on the road for nearly ten days straight, I’m happy to report that Digital Marketing is making inroads and corporate interest is piqued. The challenge our industry faces is getting the job done (well), and finding the new bodies to help get the job done well. Young people need to understand the opportunities of working in the Digital Marketing space, and professionals from other media channels (I’m talking to you TV, Radio and Print) need to look in our backyard as dollars continue to shift over to interactive and digital.

There’s not a lack of interest. There’s not a lack of money. Companies want to know that they’re working with a Digital Marketing agency that can deliver, and explain the reasoning behind it too. Companies are also starting to realize how challenging it is to develop this type of expertise internally. Due to the demand of work and lack of experienced employees, talent becomes tough to hire and retain.

I’d love to go back in time and see if the old school ad agencies had the same issues, challenges and opportunities when people got all hot and bothered with stuff like thirty-second spots and direct mail campaigns.

Let me be bold here: Digital Marketing continues to grow, and my guess is that we’re going to loose the term "digital" soon enough as more of the pie becomes driven by the digital channels and it all filters into one centre of excellence called, "Marketing."

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.