Marketers: Are We Getting Dumb?
Good morning, you fellow marketers! Well, you do not have to give me that look, there is always a morning coming up somewhere (what a cheap cliche!)
Have you been online later? I suppose so... Was there nothing to bother you, on the thousands of sites dedicated to marketers, or at least claiming to contain marketing-related resources? Personally, I cannot stop being continuously distressed by a curious writing phenomenon: the enormous amount of articles with numbers included in their titles. Still do not know what am I talking about? Here are some dreadful examples: "5 Steps to Easy...", "20 Tips for Better...", X - that, Y - other, all of them promising either dramatically raise in your marketing audience, incredible sales boost, the perfect marketing plan, the greatest sales letter ever written, costless promo campaigns. The list can go on forever and keeps on amazing you of how easy a marketer's life would be if we just follow those "guidelines", "rules" and "tips".
Is that true? Have those writers discovered some sort of a simple wisdom that the rest of us are not yet aware of? Hardly possible... though this aspect is not striking people, otherwise why would we see so many pieces of unprofessional writing?
With that type of articles, writers bring a huge disservice to the professional marketing world. First, they promote the idea that "marketing" is a simple thing to do. Only if you are mentally retarded (no offence meant), you do not understand and cannot apply those easy simple rules, glorious pieces of advice. Take some time and look at the titles: almost all of them contain cheap pick-up words such as "easy", "simple", "tips", inducing the idea that the subject is available to anyone. No, it is not, and we must face it.
Second, a beginner entrepreneur seeking information on how to start / how to develop his business might reach the conclusion that marketing, sales, promotions, are fields that do not require a professional to handle them, it is sufficient for him to follow step by step the "great tips" he finds online at every corner. Why then we wonder when so many small businesses fall apart around us?
At last, students who are involved in any major related to marketing, they might fall into the trap of thinking theory and study is, well, not quite important. Any problem can be solved by applying some of the tricks the online world is full of, and here they are, no need of thinking, no need of developing a strategy... why did they register for expensive, time - consuming universities in the first place?
You might say this sounds paranoid, and you would not be too wrong. The purpose of the above statements, with all their intended exaggeration, is to ring a bell.
Another issue is that of the audience and the purpose of the writings discussed here. Since they are published mostly on sites claiming to offer marketing resources for the professionals, we might assume this is the target audience. Still, it is very doubtful that true professionals would bother to read something entitled "Increase your sales - 10 easy tips", unless some morbid curiosity or a weird sense of humor drives them on. Why? Because they know there is nothing new under the sun, those "tips" are just rewritten old principles, same content with a different cover. Taking a better look at the content of the "incriminating" works, one can recognize the principles taught in school, now extremely summarized and simplified, written in a very accessible language level, and in most of the cases presented as the authors' very piece of mind. Well, if the professionals are not the audience, then who is? Students? They are stuck with their bulky books trying to become the next Philip Kotler... Maybe business owners? No... they must have either hired someone or they got busy running the business themselves, unaware of the Z number of advices waiting to be read.
It means we return to the first assumption, that the number - entitled articles address to the marketing professionals. And, hey, almost forgot to mention that the author is, in most cases, a "marketing guru" (I am terrified by this guru thing!) From this point, the real worries begin: since when the level of professionalism lowered so much? Are we losing our creative thinking? Can't we come up with something new anymore? Do we need those cheap works to have us promoted?
... Finally, are we getting dumb?
Otilia Otlacan is a young certified professional with expertise in e-Marketing and e-Business, currently working as independent consultant and e-publisher. She developed and teach her own online course in Principles of e-Marketing and is also a volunteer Economics teacher.
You can contact Otilia through her Marketing resources portal at Tea with an Edge of Marketing
Latest News
ReachLocal Launches in Western Europe With Office Serving the ... MarketWatch - Using a national and proprietary team of Internet Marketing Consultants (IMCs), ReachLocal allows SMBs to drive customer leads from major search engines to ... |
Internet Marketing Inc. A premier Internet Marketing Company ... PR Web (press release), WA - 3K Interactive, a leading Internet marketing company, has officially changed names to Internet Marketing Inc. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) November 19, ... The Hondo Group To Expand Interactive Marketing Services |
 PR Web (press release) | Internet Marketing Company Launches New Website, Delivers ROI in ... PR Web (press release), WA - Spectrum unveils its enhanced and newly redesigned website that details the company's innovative Internet marketing solutions. Rolling Meadows, IL (PRWEB) ... New York Communications Firm Launches Website -- Aims to Educate ... |
Some Vital Components for Your E-book Internet Marketing Strategy Promotion World (press release), CA - by CODY JAKES Do not underestimate the importance of having a good e-book internet marketing strategy. It will make or break your success in terms of the ... |
Attribution Management Forum Gets Online Marketers Thinking and ... PR Web (press release), WA - The Attribution Management Forum webcast was attended by over 150 leaders in Internet marketing, ranging from some of the largest online advertisers to ... |
ORANGE COUNTY CALENDAR Los Angeles Times, CA - Costa Mesa Library, 2969 Mesa Verde Drive (714) 546-5274 Workshop: "Introduction to Internet Marketing" is for those who want to develop their skills in ... |
Internet Marketing secrets WebWire (press release), GA - "This DVD set is a perfect introduction to the Internet Marketing concept" says Marcor Direct director Daniele Orelie. "The seminars are aimed at people ... |
Internet marketing pro speaks at International Search Summit WebWire (press release), GA - Among Thursday’s speakers is Kristjan Mar Hauksson, director of internet marketing for Nordic eMarketing, a Scandinavian based consulting company ... LegaliMarketing: How Law Firms Can Survive Market Turbulence |
 Washington Post | As Industry Has Evolved, Web Giant Left Searching for CEO, Identity Washington Post, United States - "Yahoo still has the biggest mass audience on the Internet and as such they have a lot of value," said eMarketer analyst David Hallerman. ... Change Seen Coming To Yahoo As Yang To Give Up CEO Post What's a Post-Yang Yahoo Look Like? Yahoo! Co-Founder Jerry Yang to Resign as CEO; Yahoo! Seeking New CEO |
2008 Has Been a 'Wale' of a Year for Lehigh Valley Manufacturer PR Web (press release), WA - Wale Apparatus discovered Cazbah, their Internet marketing services provider, in late 2006. Before then, they had a web development company create a website ... |
Resources
-
Power Profit Marketing
Empowering The Internet Marketing Community With Great Marketing Tools, Manuals & Software
-
35 Products For One LOW Price!
Get 35 Internet Marketing Products For The Price Of One!
-
Make money on the Internet
How to make money on the Internet through Internet Marketing and work from home
-
The Internet Marketing Master Plan!
How To Turn Your Passion or Hobby Into a $100,000 a Year Money Machine on the Internet.
-
The Truth About Internet Marketing.
Discover the astonishing whole truth and nothing but the truth about Internet Marketing!
-
NEW -- Marketing, Internet Marketing, email Marketing, Marketing plan, direct
Marketing, joint vent
Offers Marketing tools, tips, strategies and techniques for Internet, email, direct and joint venture Marketing.
-
The Esuccess Code - A Step By Step Guide.
Newest, Hottest, Most Cutting-Edge Internet Marketing Strategies You Can Use To Earn A Fortune With Little Or No Effort.
-
Internet Business Marketing - Sen Ze's Mini-Encyclopedia Of Low-Cost, High-Profit Internet Business
Discover 19 Top Internet Businesses as practised by Top Internet Marketers and Internet Entrepreneurs from around the world.
-
Internet Marketing - Pro Shop.
Internet Marketing.
-
Web Site Design and Development
Web site design, development, and promotion guide for business and Internet Marketing web sites.