Traditional functions such as marketing managers and creative talents are about to drastically change in the next few years. Strategic thinking, creativity, media buying skills etc., all these are not sufficient anymore.
The new leaders in the e-commerce age have to implement a long tail perception and for that, they need to have a new, fresh, and complex set of skills:
- A deep understanding of content creation / curation and content distribution.
- Understanding the new field called – SPOQ –Social Proof Of Quality. This new term refers to all types of people’s reviews, recommendations, shared experiences and post purchase feedback. SPOQ leads the new layer of Social Shopping (Products & Services) where the impact of other people on our purchasing decisions is much more significant than advertising. New leaders need to know how to be involved and influence this exciting area of activity.
- Knowing how to match micro activity with the right audience.
- Understanding big data output and handling the right marketing, product and business decisions based on that.
- Direct the relevant team to focus on creating only five-second videos, not longer.
- The ability to convert friends / followers to customers, as well as converting customers to brand promoters
- Understanding the importance of creating relations with micro segments that are relevant to the brand.
- Implement a work plan with Influencers and micro Influencers, which is the main key for the success of any communication process.
- Building and measuring a long tail – cross platform activity.
- Understanding the basics and importance of the NMM field – Non Media Marketing
- Building a set of real value for users
- Implementing a ROMI perception (Return On Marketing Investment) – even if you are a creative guy.
- Lose old habits… and media vehicles that the audience is not familiar with and cannot provide you with Social Intelligence
- Use voice technology including voice search – which is going to lead the marketing industry
- Build fast brands. Leaders should know how to build quick relationships (consumers understand their benefits and value), they should find the right product UI that enables fast / quick navigation options. If you are in the E-com business you should understand the importance of fast purchase (zero or one click purchasing ) and quick delivery. Leaders should also be aware of the post purchase stage. Important things such as quick response (customer relations) should be at the top of the priority list.
- Use light technologies to support your brand’s innovation image.
- Visualize your message. If you use text messages, turn them into snackable content – short and valuable.
- High analytical ability that allows changing work plans and activities on the move based on platform and campaign performance.
- Understanding technologies that enable the differentiation of markets and products (marketology – the combination of market thinking with technological knowhow – will no longer be theoretical).
- The traditional marketing managers were accustomed to talking to the customers. Not with the customers. Certainly not to work day after day on creating and maintaining relationships with existing and potential consumers. The unidirectional format of marketing-advertising activity has passed away from the world. This is a crucial change for most of the veteran marketers. The digital generation (those born to digital in the early 1980s) is impervious to market moves that are not based on familiarity – value – listening – authorization – relationship.
- The marketing manager in the digital age should adopt concepts of business development – developing a network of collaborations with content partners, technology partners, distribution partners and the like, a marketing activity based on the concept of a “long tail”. It is impossible to succeed without building an open marketing plan of cooperation with factors that may have been seen in the past as a threat or potential competition.
- Marketing professionals should listen to their customers, and learn from them; allow them a foothold in the marketing process and in building products and content. The digital consumer is looking to be active, involved and influential.
- Organizational structure and personnel. The new marketing manager is responsible for creating an organizational structure that meets the needs of the modern era – content managers, community managers, product managers, analysts, technologists and cultural and community researchers.