Marketing 2.0

Marketing Automation has seen a decade of maturity. Now marketers have got the entire marketing processes in place in culmination with technologies like MOM/MRM/EMM/COM.

It’s now time to move on and start the next generation for Marketing Automation. It’s Marketing 2.0 or Marketing 2G or let me use my creativity to depict it as

Last decade have defined the basic framework for marketing automation. The framework is rock solid and reached a level of maturity that now we can build the next generation to enhance & improve overall marketing and bring a paradigm shift in the way Marketers work now.

The key to next generation of marketing will be how marketers get adapted to the new rules of technology and leverage these as new channels. The alchemy will also be how marketers become more cost effective and instead of cost center to an organization become more as a business unit with focused and more result oriented approach.

Days are gone about spending lavishly and not getting accounted for that, in this age where economic meltdown happens more frequently then the President taking re-oath, it is those marketers who adapts to the new rule will be the SlumDog Millionaire and sing Jai Ho (Oscar winner).

Let me take one of the new things that have hit the world in recent past. One of thing that has happen due to Web 2.0 is more options for media channels have surfaced for marketers. And one of those medium is the increase of VIDEO as a prominent media channel.

Increase popularity of YouTube was the beginning. In one of the recent survey done by online magazine most of marketers would like to increase investment in video as a channel. Let me just list down how video can be leveraged by marketers

a.       Product Launch Video. Campaign such as Mr. Fong by IBM recently.

b.      Email campaigns using video email instead of conventional text based mail.

c.       Blogs using Video or Vlogs.

d.      Promotion of product launches on social media networking such as YouTube using video.

e.      Online Video Magazines or VZines.

Already many of the visionaries in the market have already started adapting to this new mode of media channel. One of the problem that marketers may face is

a.       Whether current technologies such MRM/MOM/EMM/COM support such infrastructure or planning to support.

b.      Define the methodology to measure the effectiveness of new media.

c.       Whether the core infrastructure apart from North America supports high bandwidth to reach out beyond the continent?

Though at present Video is the major channel that I see which will play major role in next couple of years apart from the mobile. The early adopters will initially may struggle to justify the expense but on a longer period it will be worth investment.

Vendor Profile:DemandBase, Lead Generation SaaS Solutions

As part of my effort to make aware tools related to marketers, today I came across DemandBase a Lead Generation solution provider.

About DemandBase

(from their website http://www.demandbase.com)

Demandbase is a leading provider of B2B customer acquisition solutions that enable sales and marketing professionals to better identify, reach, and convert new business. Delivered on demand through software as a service, Demandbase solutions combine the ability to identify Web site visitors from target businesses with an integrated database of high-quality, validated business contacts and a new breed of B2B Web analytics to improve marketing and sales performance. In use at more than 1,000 companies, Demandbase helps generate more sales opportunities and drive new business.

A good video from YouTube about their product