Marketers will often jazz hands their way to impressing you with novel sounding ideas like: engaging with your audience/customer/prospect is KEY! Well, duh.
And I’m not out to bash my fellow practitioners—at least not in the same way celebrities sling mud at, behind, underneath etc each other. I merely want to be part of the “LETS GET REAL!” movement.
Marketing’s existential quandary
Yep. Something is definitely afoot. And that something has taken form in the way non-marketers (i.e., ordinary people with ordinary jobs barely keeping their heads above water) interact online.
You, the reader, are likely part of this demographic. You’ve surely googled at least once in this century. You may have resisted the existential narcissistic lure of social media apps and sites like Facebook and Instagram, but you’ve still participated in emailing, online chats, and similar virtual environments.
In short, you are an expert at connecting and interacting with others online. So who needs marketers, right?
OOPS! (not going there)
It may not be that black and white for the marketing industry, but as more and more people immerse themselves in the daily (albeit at times addictive) use of technologically powered communication, their level of awareness is heightened incrementally.
In a 365-day cycle, the movement of that incremental progress becomes quite significant. Think about it marketers. How are you going to set yourselves apart from everyone else who is just as aware as you?
A segue to reality
As the year closes, most are tempted to reflect on what’s transpired and prognosticate on what may befall (who talks like this??—I do, so DEAL).
This manner of analysis and postulation is as predictable as any obvious trait endemic to the human condition.
But the greater, impending reality is this: there will come a point where whatever novel, smoke-n-mirror gimmick (think “The Interview” of late) will no longer faze the average person.
What then?
Because folks can now easily see through the once mysterious, magical theatrics of marketing magi’s, don’t you feel a little uneasy?
In essence, now that the general dumbing-down of society really only applies to certain geopolitical demographics, are you starting to sweat over losing market share?
Are you really awake and fully aware? Or simply sleepwalking your comfy, unchallenged ways to obsolescence?
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