Distributed Marketing.

TMI: Too Much Information

A few weeks ago, we posted a series about predictions in the marketing industry for 2014. The insights came from industry blogs and people calling themselves (or introduced as) experts in the field. Yesterday, I found an interesting flip side to those posts: The results of a comprehensive survey by StrongView of marketing leaders’ actual plans for 2014 (and the accompanying infographic).

Do You Accept this Challenge?

Over the past few weeks, we’ve posted a survey of past (and current) predictions about the future of the marketing industry. Along with those predictions of trends in the industry, many of the sources I surveyed also pointed out what they think the big challenges of 2014 will be. Whether or not they end up being 100% accurate, it’s helpful to at least consider how your company will handle the complex realities that arise as technology advances.

Toast to the Future: Part 3

Happy New Year! As you’re recovering from your epic New Year’s Eve, planning your marketing strategies for 2014 probably isn’t your first choice in recuperating activities. Unfortunately, time marches on – which means you’d better start reading up.

Toast to the Future Part 2

It’s that time of year again. Websites are posting lists of all kinds – from silly, entertainment-centric round-ups to more serious, business-minded tallies. It’s also the time for marketing blogs post their industry forecasts for the next year.

In Part I of this post, I surveyed past predictions that marketing news sources made in 2010 and 2011. While most of these were unsurprising, a few were notably on-target. Today I’ll cover predictions made for 2012 and 2013.

A Toast to the Future: Bygone Predictions

As the end of 2013 approaches and marketing websites post their predictions 2014, I thought it’d be interesting to take a look at forecasts made in the past several years to see if they’ve come true. For my purposes, I only surveyed predictions made in 2010 or later – though perhaps I’ll do a later post looking back further. Exactly how accurate are we at making predictions about our own industry?

DISTRIBION ANNOUNCES RECORD YEAR FOR 2013

Distribion, leading provider of marketing automation platform and services, surpassed expectations this year, adding 63 new enterprise clients due to its innovative Quick Start Program, several platform upgrades, and the option for clients to use Distribion’s data acquisition, management, and retention capabilities.

Artificial Intelligence

How smart can computers get? Most of us already have smartphones we use for a thousand small tasks that used to take a lot longer to accomplish: check out library books, find the cheapest gas station by your office, Google an authoritative-sounding statistic to use in the heat of an argument. One day we’ll just leave it to the iPhone to cut the grass, babysit the kids, and serve the perfect martini. (What will I do with my weekends then?)

Digital Insanity: Gap Between Online & Offline Marketing

You might think digital marketing is already “mainstream,” but the bulk of marketing budgets still goes toward offline activities such as trade shows, radio, TV, and direct mail. According to a research study conducted in Australia and New Zealand, around 61% of marketing budgets is still spent on offline activities.

Perhaps the most interesting finding in the study shows that a business’ likelihood of investing more in online marketing depends on the size of the company’s overall budget. The study divided respondents into three groups:

Supporting Your Sales Reps: A Marketer’s Dilemma

Sales and marketing should go together like peanut butter and jelly. Unfortunately, many organizations experience friction between these two areas, especially when it comes to meeting goals and hitting sales numbers. Sales tends to blame marketing for lack of sales support and successful advertising campaigns, while marketing becomes frustrated with sales for not using approved advertising […]

Talkin’ to Strangers: A Smart Investment

Chances are, you or someone you know will buy a new smartphone for someone they love this Christmas. As you’re dropping a few hundred dollars on an iPhone that’ll probably have a cracked screen by Easter, you should think about the  massive opportunities – and increased accountability – the rise in smartphone users has for […]

Record Thanksgiving for Online Sales

Several big-name stores decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving this year, but shoppers declared their preference for shopping online instead of braving the crowds. According to the first round of data released, online sales rose significantly from Thanksgiving 2012, with mobile devices as the biggest drivers.