The fusion of marketing and technology represents one of the biggest transformations in the history of business. The countless efficiencies of technology have forever redefined marketing practices. Yet the fundamental core of marketing has not changed. Marketing is about communication. Businesses forever strive to reach their audience and tell their story in a compelling manner.
If the fundamental core of marketing is communication, the fundamental core of technology is efficiency. From the wheel and plowshare to the smart phone and personal computer, technology has always provided greater efficiencies to human endeavor.
The growing field of marketing technology has been built around the core principle that the efficiencies of technology have exponentially improved our ability to communicate with others. Technology acts as force multiplier to amplify the impact of marketing communication. Businesses are increasingly dependent upon tech-based marketing channels such as the Internet, social media, websites, mobile devices and digital media to effectively market their products and services.
From the explosion of social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to the proliferation of mobile devices, humans are interacting on a global level, engaging each other as never before:
- As of December 2011, there were an estimated 2.2 billion internet users worldwide, or almost one-third of the global population.¹
- The leading social media networks have millions of users. Facebook, over 845 million users; Twitter, over 200 million users; LinkedIn, over 135 million members; Google Plus, over 90 million users.²
- At the end of 2011, there were 6 billion mobile subscriptions, according to the International Telecommunication Union (2011). That is equivalent to 87 percent of the world population.³
Today’s consumers are using internet search engines such as Google to solve their problems- to find desired products and services on their terms. Consumers are drawn to companies that provide quality content they find valuable and relevant to their lives.
Marketing Technology practices like Inbound Marketing integrate keyword optimization and SEO with quality content like blogs, e-books, white papers and promotional videos that invite interested parties to engage with a company’s website and social media channels. Mobile marketing techniques such as mobile websites, mobile apps and SMS text marketing encourage deeper consumer engagement with brands, producing increases in online traffic, lead generation and conversion.
For all of these reasons and more, the fusion of marketing and technology is not just a trend- it is the future of business.
¹ Internet World Stats, “Internet Growth Statistics”
² The Realtime Report, “Social Media Stats”
³ Mobi Thinking, “Global Mobile Statistics 2012”
