Consumer technology has had a serious impact on expectations for business software. Why, the business user asked, can I unwrap a new mobile device an intuitively understand how to use it, but the business software I use at work requires several hours or days of training?
The colloquial phrase for this trend is the “consumerization of information technology.” In B2B tech sectors, it’s been a driving force since the advent of the iPhone and cloud-based software. More importantly, it demonstrates the profound influence of technology on behavior.
Something similar has occurred in marketing as a result of digital and social media. The ease by which we can subscribe, consume, comment, publish, or disavow content has reshaped marketing over the last 10 years.
Unfortunately, many in senior management have been disconnected from this sociological transformation. As a result, one of the biggest challenges I see marketing struggle with today is making a marketing case to leaders that haven’t studied marketing in perhaps decades.
Over the last year or so, I’ve given a talk on just how much marketing has changed a dozen times to organizations ranging from startups to the Fortune 500. This talk has been well-received and has helped several marketers make a course correction so I’ve transformed this talk into this blog post, and embedded an abbreviated version of the presentation nearby.
Here are the four big trends in PR and media that have upended marketing.
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4 big media trends that have upended pr and marketing
1. 4 Big Media Trends that have Upended PR and Marketing
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2. The Evolving Media Landscape
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3. Trend 1: The media landscape is fractured.
It produces more stories in less time.
Increasingly reliant on existing content.
There are more opportunities but produce less reach.
4. Periods are no longer the end of the story.
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5. Trend 2: Channels are interactive.
Anyone can be an influencer.
What you do after earning a placement is just as
important as the placement.
Nobody watches the media…like the media.
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6. Photo credit: Flickr, Doug Belshw, iPad with… (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Photo credit: Flickr, Primus Inter Pares, Wetten-dass… (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Rise of the 2nd screen
7. Trend 3: Attention is Fleeting.
People hop channels and frequencies.
Audiences congregate around ideas.
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Interruption marketing, interrupted.
9. Trend 4: People can and do reject commercialization.
Entertainment earns eyeballs.
Education earns trust.
Content is currency bartered for attention.
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10. It’s forcing the integration of mediums.
The lines between marketing, PR and advertising have become
so blurred as to be indistinguishable.
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11. Paid
Shared
Owned
Earned
Last Updated in 2014
Self-aggrandizing
Too many chiefs
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Ineffective marketing.
13. PaidShared
Owned
Earned
• Awareness
• Engagement
• Amplification
• Community
• Inquiries
• Leads
• Prospects
• Customers
• Retention
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Effective marketing provides scale.
14. Recommended reading:
What Does It Take to Implement Content Marketing Effectively in B2B?
12 Ways to Leverage Your Existing Investment in B2B Webinars
How B2B Marketing Can Get More out of Trade Shows
How Long Should a Blog Post Be? [A Data-Driven Answer for B2B]
How to Generate Media Referenceable B2B Customers with a Blog
Where and How B2B Marketing Generates Leads it Likes [Study]
B2B Blog Metrics: 4 Effective Categories to Measure Success
The B2B Advantages of Working with a Boutique PR Firm
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15. About Sword and the Script Media, LLC
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Sword and the Script Media, LLC is veteran-
owned public relations agency immersed in the business-to-business
(B2B) marketplace. We focus on building consistent, sustainable,
repeatable, and process-driven programs for PR, content marketing
and social media. A defining difference comes down to our approach –
that marketing ought to have utility. This is because marketing that
helps, sells better than marketing that hypes.
About Us | Leadership | Services
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Editor's Notes
1 trillion in 2008; 30 trillion in 2013; 1.4 billion for “physical security blogs”