3 Digital Marketing Buzz Phrases You Must Use for 2013 Planning

Digital marketing, PR and social media practitioners (BTW, isn’t this really all one thing? That’s another post)… by November 1, you’re waist deep in 2013 planning.  To look smart and keep the corner office confused, you must be sure to use the following buzz phrases in your plan.

All kidding aside, these phrases are important.  Not because everyone at FutureM was throwing them around with annoying regularity, but because they truly represent topics and trends you need to consider immediately:

1. BIG DATA

I’m already sick of this one. This term came out of CIO/CTO circles to define data sets so freakin’ large, they were impossible to manage and use with existing database systems. It’s an IBM, Oracle thing. Now, social media types are using it to talk about using data generated from social channels to improve marketing.

What You Need To Know: CMOs are desperately looking for ROI metrics for social. Don’t focus on the data…focus on a clear objective. Most Facebook pages, for instance, lack ANY sense of purpose other than gathering likes. Determine social’s role in the marketing mix (awareness, engagement, referral traffic, etc.), integrate it into your macro effort…then decide what data will help you measure against these specific goals.

2. IDEA-DOWN PLANNING

Wow, here’s a concept… develop a Big Idea first, then figure out how to deploy it across all marketing channels.  Before you give me the “no sh*t” eye roll, think about it…most organizations are driving tactics at the channel level.  “What’s are Facebook strategy?”  “We need to get on Pinterest.”  That’s like telling a sales force that the need a phone strategy…afterall, there’s a lot of buttons on a phone.  Certainly we can use them all the sell, right?

What You Need To Know: The truth is most organizations are stuck in channel-up thinking, and therefore have a bunch of disparate messages flying aimlessly across the digisphere. Instead, come up with a Big Idea (or better, hire CBC to do it), some interesting, entertaining or valuable way to tell your story. Then think of how best to deploy it across all your paid, owned and earned channels (another buzz phase for ya).  One story, many touch points.

3. CONTENT MARKETING

Well of course, this means marketing content right?  Yeah, kinda. The truth is that consumer engagement with brands on social channels has been declining since 2009.  Why?  Because people are bored to death with brands’ “look at me” posts.  Content marketing is the buzz word for actually creating something worth sharing.

What You Need To Know: If there’s one thing the social revolution has taught us, it’s that you don’t need to spend big money to create content.  It’s also taught us that removing the financial barrier has resulted in an historically high number of people and companies pumping out bad content.  PLEASE stopt thinking about what you want to say, and start thinking about what value you can bring.  Entertain me. Inform me.  Make me feel like an insider.  Start making content that has your target at its heart, and trust me, they will find yo, like you and share it with their pals.