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The Best and Worst of 2003

As a marketing consultant, it's my professional responsibility to pontificate gratuitously by engaging in the ultimate act of self-importance by telling you what I thought was the Best and Worst of Last Year in the ever-changing world of Internet marketing. So brace yourself. And enjoy yourself.

Best of 2003

Permission Leadership

In the year when unwanted email overflowed from our inboxes, we also witnessed some excellence in truly permission-based marketing. Those leaders who were determined to adopt and embrace permission marketing principles reaped the rewards. The basic principle of permission marketing means the more you provide content of value to each individual user the more they respond favorably and provide to you increasing levels of permission to engage with them. Permission marketing is not a new concept; it's just that it's been so slowly adopted. Watch in 2004 for the advancement of permission as a core strategic value for brands.

Thinking Beyond Just Clicks and Visits

2003 also became the year when senior marketers paid more attention to metric data other than simple web clicks and visits. When leaders have good information, they can make good decisions. In the absence of good information, leaders are left with the meaningless drivel of web site counters and very average stat generators. Tools are now widely available to measure: real user behaviors, marketing dollars to sales, campaign successes and failures, and a whole host of data points which make us more relevant to our customers, targeted in our approaches, and better stewards of limited budgets.

Finance and Marketing Working Together

For the first year in our existence (that's eight long years!), we've not only asked for but received an ongoing dialogue with finance people to have them help us be more creative in how we invest marketing dollars. Looking at marketing as an investment vs. an expense is once again at the core of long-term success. The aforementioned marketing metrics give marketers the necessary arsenal of credibility to influence better financial decisions.

Usability and the Delivery of Value over Creativity Wins

This past year showed good signs that people who care more about how a web site delivers value to customers rather than whether it wins creative design awards are at the helm. In order for the web to mature and become the mission critical business component it truly is, we need to continue to challenge the traditional thought that the web is a branding exercise only.

Worst of 2003

Wanton Lawbreaking Junk Emailers

And they're not just evil-doers who operate off-shore mail servers pitching prescription drugs and low-rate mortgages. No. They can be you and me if we choose not to educate ourselves on the newly enacted anti-sp^m laws. So the next time someone within your company thinks that the best way to grow your email list is to purchase a non-permission based list, think again. It could be your ticket to large penalties or worse.

The Under-financing of Online Marketing

According to the well-respected Forrester Research, online marketing represents only 2% of the marketing budget, yet commands over 30% of the time households spend with media. Second only to television -- which commands almost 40% of budget! Even worse, people spend less than 10% of their time reading newspapers, but newspaper ad spending receives almost the same budget as television. This trend has to change. It's time to de-ostrich and get budgets in line with the demands of customers.

Email in General

Worst of 2003? You bet. While I'm proud of the great successes we've been a part of with our clients and their email campaigns, email is still one big headache. With all of the technical problems, legislation, minefield dodging, and temptations by many to grow their lists by less than acceptable or legal means, email consumed a lot of unproductive time. And guess what? I expect email to continue to be both one of the fastest growing medium of marketing, and one of it's most successful. I just wish we could all get along and get on with it.

Conclusion
2004 is already showing signs of a year of growth and opportunity for businesses actively pursuing the advantages of online marketing. Keep your head up for changes in the laws, heads down on your metrics, and head on over to some greener pastures of marketing.

Until next month,

Andrew Eklund
CEO

Posted by Andrew at February 13, 2004