‘Breaking Out of the Campaign Mindset’

"The campaign has been the workhorse of marketing. But technology has changed the marketing game drastically," writes Infor SVP Stewart Applbaum in a Target Marketing article headlined "Breaking Out of the Campaign Mindset."

Here are excerpts:

"For decades, the campaign has been the workhorse of marketing. These discrete, short-term, one-way promotional initiatives from a brand to customers have typically been brand-focused versus customer-focused. If you met a 'traditional' campaign at a party, it would say 'Hi there. Let me tell you all about me.'

"But in the last 15 years or so, technology has changed the marketing game drastically—with real-time personalization and social media—making a campaign-only approach inadequate for nurturing relationships over time and getting sustainable results.

"By the time they actually contact a company with the possible intent to buy, 57 percent of the customers' decision-making process has already been completed, according to the CEB Marketing Leadership Council . At that point, a prospect may just be calling for a price quote, giving salespeople less room to maneuver and actually 'sell.'

"Savvy marketers must think in terms of a more circular buyer 'journey,' which better takes into consideration all of the touch points at which a customer interacts with a brand."

Applbaum goes on to list 8 strategies to help marketers break out of the campaign mindset.

Read the complete article.