Last updated on August 17th, 2017 at 11:33 am
Over the past decade, marketing responsibilities and tactics have changed dramatically, a prominent marketing technologist said.
In today’s digital world, Scott Brinker likens the challenges of creating great marketing with those of creating great software.
“They’re both juggling an explosion of digitally powered interactions in a tornado of constant change and innovation,” Brinker said. “They’re both creative and intellectual disciplines that rely on human insight and inspiration, and a new kind of teamwork, to produce remarkable experiences in highly competitive environments.”
Brinker describes modern marketers as talented in many disciplines with nearly unlimited opportunities to apply their talents.
“Marketers today are up to their eyeballs in software: websites, mobile apps, social media management, marketing automation, analytics, programmatic advertising, and so on,” he said, adding that the leverage of software in a digital world can multiply the effects of that talent. “In many ways, the job of marketing management is now also one of technology management too.”
So what does this mean for B2B pros? Brinker said new innovations and shorter attention spans mean marketers must move faster, adapt more quickly to market feedback, and manage an increasingly complex set of customer experience touchpoints.
“While not everyone needs to be a software engineer, every B2B professional today needs to be comfortable with digital dynamics — how to manage effectively in a world where everything flows with the speed and fluidity of software,” said Brinker, who is also program chair of the MarTech conference and the editor of chiefmartec.com, a blog that examines the intersection of marketing, technology, and management.
Brinker wanted to help marketers – even the non-technical ones – harness this to their advantage. That, he said, was the catalyst for his new book, Hacking Marketing.
Published late last month by Wiley Press, Hacking Marketing applies software-inspired management concepts to modern marketing.
“I wrote Hacking Marketing so that any B2B professional who is interested – even if they have zero technical background – can learn how to apply these dynamics to their advantage,” Brinker said. “My goal was to help marketers at all levels understand how to leverage the dynamics of software to achieve greater agility, innovation, and scalability in their departments.”
To win a copy of Hacking Marketing, follow us on Twitter @B2BNewsNetwork and tell us the apps and digital tools you can’t live without. Include the hashtag #B2BInspiration. Contest closes on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 11:59 PM ET.
