CMA e-Marketing Panel Discussion Highlights

Here are some highlights: 

- There continues to be a real need to develop sound marketing practices first before moving into more advanced online marketing and social media initiatives. 

- Marketers tend to want to jump into more advanced and leading edge online marketing like social media and mobile yet many do not have a proper online marketing plan that addresses business needs, marketing objectives and put the customer (user) at the forefront. The common consensus among the panel is that typical Canadian marketers need to walk before they run in order to develop online measurement tools and goals to track and measure campaigns. 

- Successful online marketing/media campaigns require the ground work to know what your customers need and will respond to and what success looks like. Do your campaigns have a measurable marketing plan behind them? How are you measuring success? 

- Measuring online ROI continues to be a black hole. Although there are more ways to track and measure campaigns online, marketers are still unable to measure and map online success to their bottom line. During boom times of economic growth marketers grew online budgets and online ad spends hit all-time highs, yet many were flying blind without fundamental marketing plans and measurement tools in place.

- Unlike traditional marketing and media, online is constantly changing and innovating. Trying new ways to reach your customer and interact with them will evolve your online marketing experience and point of view. There are a number of marketers who are not taking enough risk online. Canadian’s by nature are not risk takers and share a belief that someone else is doing a better job or knows more than they do. 

- Social media and mobile are hot topics in the ad and marketing community. I get asked by clients – “I’m looking for a social media guru…do know any all-stars?” Sometimes the guru’s are sitting in their basements using social media tools and developing new ways to connect to friends and the web. My point is that you do not have to have years of work experience to be an expert or have profound opinion on social media for example.