Oh, it’s almost here. [No, not snow, that already happened.] The day dedicated to thanks and pie and turkey and stuffing and more pie. And before we head on up out of here to enjoy a holiday week with family and friends, I thought I might share some of the things I’m most thankful for as a marketer. Because even though the Internet has a propensity for yelling and throwing things, the truth is, there’s a lot to be thankful for this year.
Here’s my gratitude list:
A smarter Google: Do you know how excited I am about this? You should be excited, too. A smarter Google means the only stuffing you have to do this holiday season is your face (and maybe your turkey). No more stuffing keyword onto landing pages or site content, not more making things fit where they simply don’t belong and no more needing a shower at the end of a good content writing session. A smarter Google means focusing on the fundamentals and marketing to our customers in real, true ways. By getting to know them, by studying behaviors and by crafting an experience they’ll respond to. It’s a beautiful day.
List segmentation: Okay, it doesn’t sound particularly sexy, perhaps, but as a marketer, I go wild over the ability to segment a consumer list and send the right message to the right person, every time. Nothing makes me feel more powerful, more helpful or like I’m doing marketing the right way and won’t be turned away at the pearly gates than not spamming people. As a consumer, list segmentation is even sexier! A messaged, crafted just for me, pointing me toward something I never knew I always wanted? Oh man. It’s like going on a blind date where Matt Damon shows up.
Mobile-friendly emails and landing pages: Do you know how you make someone feel when you craft a mobile experience that actually works when they try to use it? You make them feel like a SUPERHERO. How many other people get to say that?
Integration: At Overit, this integration happens with seven departments sitting together. For you, it may mean making sure your online team knows what the offline vendor is doing. Or maybe it’s integration through collaboration of different agencies, whether in person or virtually. However it works for you, the focus on integration taking place in marketing right now is something I’m incredibly grateful for. Because it’s making marketing better and sexier and more fun than it’s been in a really long time. I had an onboard meeting with a new Overit designer yesterday and got to listen to him get really excited about content being design’s “other half”, talking about how one can’t exist without the other. How it’s the same way with development and the other departments here. Everyone has to be on the same page to create the magic that consumers will respond to. I love that. And I love that he’s on our team and so passionate about the same things we are.
Boomerang: I would be lost without you. I’ll never let go.
Measurability: Sure, sometimes we have to chase you, but in so many of our actions, we don’t. You’re just there letting us know we’re moving in the right direction, that what we’re doing is working (or NOT working!) and guiding the work we do. It helps us prove our value to clients and gives us our butt-kickings when something we were counting on doesn’t pan out like we hoped. Measurability in marketing keeps us on our A-game.
A chance for creativity: Some days it’s building a company’s brand messaging from the ground up. Other days it’s crafting a script that delivers a message while tugging at the heart strings. Some days it’s sitting at the table deciding how each department is going to touch a single client. The chance for creativity is always changing, but it’s always present. As someone who graduated with a degree in journalism, getting to now live in a career that is as exciting, as dynamic and as forward-thinking as digital marketing is one I am incredibly grateful for. As marketers, we create, build and promote cool stuff. We’re challenged to break things and to make them better? What’s more fun than that?
Clients: I’m grateful for clients who trust us, clients who challenge us and clients who we’d call friends even if they weren’t paying us. Earning and keeping your trust through the creation of cool digital experiences is something we honor and don’t take lightly. We thank you for choosing us.
BONUS: Without getting sappy — all of these people who make work the most fun and the most exciting place to be all the time.
What are you grateful for as a marketer?
