Moving forward I will focus on the intersection of digital marketing, security, and privacy. The impact of changes in these areas may well be career-defining for those of us who are marketers. The impact on all of us as consumers may be even deeper.
As with any major shift, there promises to be pain, but also valuable growth. Though the online world is relatively young compared other technologies that we rely on for communication of all types, including marketing — print, telephone, and even video are far older — it has changed so dramatically in its short existence that it’s truly shocking that the “wild, wild, web” (as many referred to it back in the day) is still as lightly regulated as it is.
That’s changing much more quickly now, and the changes that seem inevitable will be tasked with herding some pretty ornery cats. The issues we’ve seen in the political world relating to free speech begin to point at the pitfalls regulators will continue to face.
I would love to hear what topics you’d like to see more attention paid to. In broad terms, I will dive into
Consumer Privacy
This will clearly apply to B2B audiences as well as B2C. Regulations already in place make little to no distinction between them.
Regulatory Compliance
It will get increasingly expensive to ignore regulations and hope for the best, as we’re already seeing in accessibility compliance. Even smaller businesses will be held to reasonable standards. It will be interesting to see how quickly tools will develop priced for that small business market.
Data Security and Protection
Regulations will require it, but being a good corporate citizen when it comes to safeguarding your client and prospect data will almost certainly become a differentiator as reporting requirements increase.
Ethical Marketing Effectiveness
We still have to market, no matter how far the pendulum swings away from freely gathering and using any and all data we can find. What strategies and tactics will we develop as marketers to target our audiences effectively? And will they be beneficial enough to consumers for them to buy in?
These are the areas I think will have the biggest impact on both marketers and their audiences, whether B2B or B2C. For better or worse (and most likely for both …) we’ll be inhabiting a more mature and regulated online world. The tools and tactics that work now may not exist in a few years and it will be fascinating to see what replaces them.
I hope you’ll join me on the ride!
