IN days gone by, marketing was about hosting the most talked-about event or publishing the most attractive advertising, or just about making people happy. However, the past few years have seen several developments that have changed, and in some cases threatened, traditional marketing activities and the way marketers create value for their customers — internal and external. There has been a shift in the behaviour of marketers and at the heart of this is the consumer.

Previously, customers were marketed to, and bought what they were sold; however, nowadays customers are being consulted and engaged in order to ensure that marketers are responsive to their needs. Consumers are more and more becoming brand advocates and customer thoughts and feedback are very influential and guide purchasing behaviour.

Consumers have become technologically savvy, and with the increased use of the Internet as a marketing tool, the impact of traditional media such as radio and television has been reduced.

According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Economic and Social Survey, mobile data subscribers in Jamaica (2013) totalled 786,680. Given the continued and increased penetration of smartphones, this number will rise rapidly over the next few years.

It has been found that search and social media marketing, analytics and e-mail marketing will continue to be the popular means of communicating. This will mean greater use of segmentation and targeting so as to ensure that the marketing channels/touchpoints used will touch the right audience and lead to greater revenues.

Changes in the Marketing Landscape

Given all the environmental changes and shifts in customer tastes, needs and behaviours, greater innovation and thus changes in the traditional marketing activities are inevitable. Marketers are forced now more than ever to find new ways to communicate with clients. It is obvious that there is no ‘business as usual’ for marketers who want to break through the clutter and keep up with the times.

Even though it will be harder for marketers, exciting opportunities will arise, which will allow for connection with customers. Say good-bye to the line-up of traditional marketing channels and hello to an integrated marketing communications programme featuring real-time marketing through channels that will effectively reach the desired target audience.

With these exciting opportunities comes the increased need to use data to justify marketing programmes.

Today, marketers are no longer just being judged on lead generation, but on the level of sales generated from the marketing programmes undertaken. There is now the need to provide data to support marketing and the need to develop marketing programmes which will appeal to people via the channels they use and to instantly communicate with customers.

While data is important, the right data is essential, and as such there is an increased need for research and to clearly understand customers. Increasingly marketers must understand and use their customer data, analyse consumer preferences revealed through various behaviours/habits, anticipate consumer behaviours and develop actionable insights which will inform marketing strategies to be implemented.

This will ensure that informed decisions are made before undertaking significant investments in programmes which may not achieve/support business objectives.

Even though some marketing decisions will be made on gut feeling and you take a chance hoping they will pay off, marketing is becoming more scientific and marketing professionals have to find ways to justify and sell their marketing budget to the CFO.

As Peter Drucker posited, “What gets measured, gets managed”. This is also true for marketers because the conversations to justify marketing budgets become more difficult as companies experience shrinking profit margins. With the birth of “big data”, marketers must ensure that marketing programmes are assessed and return on investment is shown in numeric terms.

Yes, more challenging times are ahead for marketers; however, there are significant opportunities for us to rise to the challenge and create value for customers by reaching them at the right place and at the right time.

Nichole Brackett Walters is a trained marketer with over 10 years’ experience in the field. She is also a part-time lecturer in marketing at the University of Technology, Jamaica.