Marketing Vision for 2009

As we begin to wrap up 2008, it's prudent to start getting ready for your 2009 marketing resolutions and strategies. When you evaluate your e-marketing results for this past year, think about what you've learned and achieved, and what's needed to take things to a whole new level next year. Because, believe me, you can.

There are more opportunities than you have even imagined. So start creating your marketing vision now. Right now. To get you started, I'll share mine.

This is my vision for marketing in 2009.

Next year is the year of interactive content marketing and custom publishing. It's the year that marketers will take on the digital environment with a flair for conversational interactions. Marketers will become expert listeners, delving into their clients problems, needs and challenges to ensure their content is designed to deliver more "what's in it for me" than ever before.

Next year is the year that marketing will take proactive steps to power sales enablement. They'll no longer use sales portals as landfills for marketing collateral that doesn't help their sales force sell. In fact, marketing will take on helping to lower that ridiculous amount of time salespeople spend recreating marketing content into something they can use.

In 2009, marketers will step up to the plate to make sure the buyer is engaged from the beginning of their buying journey through to their purchase decision because that path will become as smooth as silk without a knotted mess at the hand off to sales.

Next year, marketing will really, really get to know their customers [yes, I'm repeating this because it's pivotal] and embrace the technology that will help them segment more personally and publish customer-focused content in real time. They'll track and they'll respond and they'll provide nothing but valuable, relevant and highly useful marketing content and social networking dialogue.

Next year, recession or not, marketing will generate a high volume of qualified sales opportunities that promise to keep sales engaged in selling. [Not prospecting, not creating sales collateral, not searching endlessly for documents, etc. Selling!]

In 2009, marketing will develop fresh techniques for measuring their initiatives and proving the hard value they add to the top line. They'll also develop indicators to show their companies how they're swinging the needle in ways that deliver more business value than their executive board ever gave them credit for in the past.

That's my marketing vision for 2009.

For those of you balking, all of this can be achieved. I say plan BIG or go home. 

Anything you'd like to add? Come on, reach for the stars!

UPDATE 12-15-08: I've decided to add some expansion posts that focus on particular areas of my marketing vision for 2009. I'll add the links here as I post them:

Part 1: Marketing Content

Part 2: Listening

Part 3: Sales Enablement

Part 4: Storytelling

Comments

[Susan Pascal Tatum]

Ardath,

Great vision and I agree that all these things should happen. What are your suggestions for making it so?

Susan

[Ardath Albee]

Thanks, Susan!

I was going to offer some suggestions in this response, but there's a whole lot to say and I'd like to reach below the surface a bit.

So, over the next week I'll post ideas about how to achieve each of the parts of my marketing vision.