It’s a given that technology is going to drive the marketing of tomorrow.

The key to success is knowing what technology and applications are going to be the winning venues for reaching consumers. Marketers have to meet consumers on the ground that they choose. More and more that ground is found in real time on mobile smart devices.

Finding the right agency to support those needs is not an easy task.

Social Media’s Power of Engagement

Social media use for marketers is expected to continue to rise because consumers love the sense of empowerment that comes with the ability to engage. A response to a comment made by a consumer on a social media post is positive attention. That is how relationships are formed. It creates a sense of trust, accountability and responsiveness. And consumers are engaging on social media round the clock, virtually everywhere, through their smart devices that are always near at hand.

Many agencies say that they do social media, but you need to dig deeper when searching for the right firm.  Understand what the agency has done for clients.  How sophisticated are their techniques.  Are they using best practices from the past 4-5 years or the past 4-5 days?  Searching for an agency that can do what you need them to do requires time and due diligence.

Interest Targeting

One powerful bit of data generated by consumers through social media is their interests. Marketers can mine this data to help them create effective ad campaigns. The power of interest targeting goes farther. With laser focus, marketers can specify audience parameters for an online social media campaign. This makes more effective use of advertising dollars because ads are getting in front of the most likely consumers.

Texting Vs. Email

Is the era of email marketing dead? It may seem so with the advent of text message marketing. With growing numbers of consumers equipped with a smartphone, texting in real-time relevant ads and coupons while people are shopping is a game changer. That is why texting could very well out-pace, and seemingly out-place, email marketing. How many shoppers are going to be checking their email as they enter a store? Not many. However, if they hear that jingle indicating a text message has arrived, they are sure to check it out and discover a text coupon for an item that they regularly use and is available in the store they are currently in.

Stay Current

If finding a new agency isn’t what you want to do, then you need to stay current – either through the help of your existing agency or on your own.  There are plenty of conferences and resource websites available that can help keep you on top of the latest trends in this space.

Change happens fast, especially in a technology-driven world. To remain current with all the latest events in the marketing world, contact us or follow our blog.