This week, couples all across the country are stressing about dinner reservations and scrambling to order various arrangements of flowers and chocolates: Valentine’s Day is here! Whether your valentine is a longtime partner, new flame or just your cat (at least he’s loyal!), there are plenty of things to be excited about in the marketing world as 2017 continues.
The Massive Reach of Paid Advertising
Those who have been in the field for a while probably remember the glory days of Google AdWords, when it was easy to score prime placement on relevant search engine results pages. Now there’s so much more potential in the world of digital paid advertising. Research from the IAB shows that Q3 of 2016 saw the highest digital ad spend in history – $17.6 billion – a massive 20% year-over-year increase.
Why are advertisers throwing so much money at digital? Because it works – or it can, if you have the right strategy. Over 1.2 billion people now log into Facebook every day, and most expect that the presence of mobile devices and internet connectivity will continue to grow as countries like India and China expand their economies. There’s plenty of competition, but if you run the right ad to the right audience, you can see tremendous results.
The Improvement in Content Creation
Now that the initial content marketing “boom” is essentially over, many companies are stepping back from their original plans to push out as much content as possible and creating marketing assets in a more thoughtful manner. According to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 B2B content marketing report, 85% of marketers say that higher quality content creation is the top factor contributing to increased success in 2017.
It’s no longer enough to throw out a few fluffy blog posts each week or send shamelessly promotional newsletter emails in the hopes of grabbing people’s attention. There’s too much noise and competition out there – the way to be successful in 2017 is to plan and create campaigns in a thoughtful, targeted manner, then quickly analyze the results and iterate based on data.
The Shrinking Gap Between Marketing and Sales
As anyone in marketing – or sales for that matter – knows, there’s still plenty of work to be done when it comes to sales and marketing alignment. At many organizations, significant differences exist between the way these two departments view resources, tactics, and technology.
But that distance is getting smaller every year. Recent research shows that companies investing in sales and marketing alignment tactics like sales enablement are experiencing revenue growth and increased performance. Account-based marketing is another tool helping to bridge the gap between sales and marketing by streamlining the data sets and tools used by both sides. We’re glad that more and more businesses are recognizing the vast importance of teamwork between sales and marketing, and hope it will continue throughout the year and beyond.
Despite the increased competition and pressure, it’s still a great time to be a marketer, and we’re still in love with the field. As you shower your valentine with affection, remember to also reflect on some of the things you love about the work you do: it will help you stay grateful and keep you energized through the hard times.
