Book
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About “Emerging Marketer”
It has been said that the world’s information doubles every three years. Moore’s Law states that technological advancements are happening every two. Marketers today face all forms of emerging and interactive media on a daily basis and can barely keep up with new channels arising from our evolution as “users”. Facing opposition from seasoned generations, emerging marketers require data, tools and substantial audience support to justify advanced technological advertising tactics necessary to succeed in their ROI goals.
Social media, widgets, apps, in-game, viral campaigns, SMS, proximity marketing and virtual worlds have all become the hottest buzzwords in interactive advertising strategy over the last few years. Answering today’s beck and call of a fragmented audience is critical for marketers to do but has become overwhelming with channel options. Understanding the what, why and “how-to’s” (as most marketing books and conferences seek to provide) has become only the tip of the iceberg.
Marketers must not only efficiently seek, evaluate and execute their new media campaigns but also stay on top of current trends, observing how the human race uses technology to decide where, when and how their advertising will be consumed. Fortunately there are indicators during transitions in media advancement that can clue the marketing professional in as to the right time to “jump in”.
Emerging Marketer was written to identify and explain emerging media today as well as take a visionary approach to how our marketing future will look for the next 25 years. An honest assessment of next-generation advertising for today’s professional will help readers determine which channel is right for their company along with specific tips, rules of thumb and examples to reference. Through observations of how these channels have grown amongst interactive audiences today, readers will learn the elements important to emerging media growth and how to predict our media of the future.
Chapter Summary
Chapter I – Where to Start describes the different situations for marketers given their experience and goals with marketing tactical knowledge in the future. It provides an insight of the various perspectives of the “players” whether they are in digital media sales, development, internet marketers etc. A brief discussion of “competition” in the emerging space also conveys the need to converse with our peers but stay guarded in our endeavors.
Chapter II – Where We’ve Been successfully overviews the last 15 years of emerging media and where we’ve come from as a society. It talks about “The Great Divide” as it relates to the split between internet marketers and “traditional” marketers and why there are discrepancies in the way marketing professionals view the media world today.
Chapter III – Where We’re Headed illustrates how marketers today can keep a thumb on the pulse of media and its evolvement. Witnessing new media today that fails can actually lead to success as we have seen in the past. The ability to know what’s hot and what’s going to be hot is a unique trait for anyone within emerging marketing realm.
Chapter IV – Social Media discusses the origins of user-generated content and how it has morphed into what we consider social media today. It overviews how to setup your own social media management operation within existing business structures while ensuring you have systems in place to track recognizable ROI. Engaging your brand’s influencers and interfacing directly with the public in a “hands-on” way can be a little intimidating, especially if you are used to a large, corporate, confining structure. Word of Mouth Marketing Code of Ethics is also inherent for reference.
Chapter V – The Future of Search begins with a historic look at search engines and how they work. It follows their progress through what most internet marketers already know to where they are headed tomorrow. Search engines serve different resources for different users and are changing the way they produce results. From results to recommendations, it is critical that the marketer understands how their usage is influenced by social media, video search and mobile platforms.
Chapter VI – Mobile and Proximity Marketing covers where consumers are today in terms of cell phone usage and utility. Marketers will understand the basics behind SMS, WAP sites and “Bluecasting” in order to integrate these tactics into their current operations and strategy.
Chapter VII – The Gamers defines demographics and psychographic profiles behind video game players today. Specific advertising opportunities are available to reach gamers using different services available. Old stereotypes are forgone as the gaming audience has “grown up” with considerable HHI.
Chapter VII – Virtual Worlds explores how this media has evolved over the past 8 years and why it will be a considerable media to use in the future. Virtual worlds present a rather challenging new environment for marketers looking to make breakthroughs in this space. Knowing the atmosphere is essential before jumping in. Chapter 8 will assist professionals today by outlining the audience, the capabilities and expectations on returns.
Chapter VIII – All About The Video exposes what “reach” and visibility mean today when applying video segments to interactive media channels. Video advertising has gone beyond our application of television ads and can now be seen by many more people with a fraction of the cost. 3D technology has also advanced beyond stereoscopy and presents us with an interesting look at how our advertising can be viewed in the near future.
Chapter X – Widgets, Gadgets and Interactive Apps defines this extension of our Web sites and storefronts into both the social and mobile media world. Bound to change the way we use Web sites as marketing tools forever, widgets, gadgets and apps have emerged as a new generation of channeling our branded messaging. This chapter covers the logistics and network building steps necessary to utilize this space as a viable strategy in brand and content distribution resulting in ROI.
Chapter XI – Getting Rich on Rich Media looks at creative development technologies available today and how we can use them in new ways to engage our online audience. There are a number of different online ad formats marketers can use to ensure that users are experiencing their brand and browsing their products the way they were meant to be.
Chapter XII – Data Assessment in the Emerging Space talks about how marketers need to evaluate their emerging media usage today in order to adjust their campaigns. Cookies are the primary form of user data measurement on the Web today but they have become flawed over time and don’t necessarily offer an exact snapshot on what’s happening.
Chapter XIII – Halo Media summarizes all corners of media that consumers use to determine where, when and how they are going to digest marketing messages. This term was coined at a major marketing convention in Las Vegas in 2008 as a means to convey different areas of interactive marketing marketers use today. Being present in front of the consumer at the right place, at the right time is important yet media today is fragmented with each channel offering different pros and cons to the interactive media professional.
Chapter XIV – So What About “The Cloud” elaborates on cloud computing principles that are just now making their way into mainstream marketing conversation. It offers a glimpse at our future computing environment and how we may be utilizing technology to reach our defined audience in the future.
Chapter XV – The Speed of Information defines information as a mechanical element in today’s physical space. Information today moves faster than we can digest it and will have a major impact on technology itself. Our understanding of accelerated availability and opportunities inherent with the advancement of technology is important. Doing this increases our understanding of why media evolves the way it does and gives us predictive capabilities for audience usage.
Chapter XVI – Final Thoughts and Rules of Thumb gives some last minute advice from the author with over 14 years of experience in digital marketing. These tidbits of information are valuable as emerging marketers enter new territories of marketing technology and offers an inspiring look at how they themselves are shaping the digital future.