Marketers should stop talking, and start educating

Marketers have the tendency to evangelise the new media armory and common internet marketing practices to all and sundry.We step on toes and we blame businesses for not catching a wake up and accustom themselves with New Media.

It is the sort of comfort zone that many of us (as marketers) fall prey to. Speaking to fellow marketers is far easier. They understand the terminology and jargon. They even get the geek jokes.

Marketers tend to speak to fellow marketers, rather than educating businesses. We should be taking their hands and guide them into a world totally unbeknownst to them, familiarize them with new media and commercialize their efforts.

We need to share the pervasive qualities of new media in a language that they can associate with. We need to explain how it adds brand sustenance and how the internet allows it to permeate far beyond their reasonable expectations.

Marketing principles are the same. It is only the face of marketing and vehicles used to transport the message that have morphed. I believe it is our approach that is rudimentary and not necessarily the unwillingness of some businesses to adopt.

It is up to us to inspire businesses to align their marketing efforts with the latest trends and put these tools to better work.

Convergence with traditional marketing is vital and many businesses get it wrong. It’s not a choice of to which side the pendulum swings. It is the collective effect of both and the application thereof that is critical.

We need to guide them onto the path of convergence. As it stands, it seems traditional marketers and online marketers are engaged in a media war and businesses lurk at the back waiting to see who comes up trump.