One of my favorite SNL characters is Stuart Smalley, portrayed by Senator Al Franken. He used to look in the mirror and say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”  A humorous yet inspirational daily affirmation that reminds us that we are good just the way we are. In the same manner, I confess that I thought marketing was, indeed, beautiful just the way it was—despite its disparate processes and imperfections.

photo by tanakawho on Flickr

But the world went and changed. Communication technologies evolved and altered how we consume media. The next thing I knew, the marketing practices I fell in love with back in college had grown unsightly and questionably obsolete. But have no fear, marketers! Our old friend just needs a little nip-tuck, and she’ll be generating leads and building your brand just like the good ol’ days.

Here are five makeover trends meant to upgrade your marketing strategy.

1. Interruption to Engagement

“Psst. Hey you!  Stop what you are doing. Look over here, and listen to what we have to say!”  If our marketing efforts could talk, this is what they would be saying.

Our tactics and messages are typically about interrupting our audience in hope of gaining mind share. However, technology allows us to imbed our messages into our consumers’ lives without nearly as much disruption: emails read on smart phones, online pre-roll advertisements before watching your favorite sitcom on Hulu, and rich media banner ads that practically bring your website to your consumer without yanking them away from their current web page.  Be where your target audience consumes media. Make it seamless and easy for them to participate with your brand.

2. Awareness to Participation

Did someone say participate?  Previous marketing intellect prescribed a healthy dose of “attention grabbing,” taken with a full glass of “awareness building.” While both are still imperative, the latest studies show we need to take our marketing beyond simple awareness. Consumers don’t want to be talked to; they want to engage in a conversation.

Social media is about having a personal voice and sharing it with the world (or connections, friends and followers, depending on the social tool of choice).  Successful companies have found ways to transform customers into vocal consumer advocates via Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube and community blogs. Craft your message, provide a platform for discussion, and engage in a dialogue with your audience—they are dying to be heard.

3.    Marketer-Centric to Customer-Centric

Bad news. We’re marketers and we have two things going against us: time and subjectivity. First, most of us are strapped and burning the candle at both ends—so we send communications out to consumers when we find the time, or when it’s scheduled on the promotion calendar.

Secondly, we forget to be objective. We force-feed our customers the value prop we’ve defined for our product or service. The reality is, customers don’t care about how smothered your inbox is, and they don’t care about your functionality spec sheet. Customers are looking for relevant information when it’s convenient for them, not you.

Marketing automation technology allows for triggered direct mail, email, and mobile responses which deliver that instant gratification your customers demand. Optimization features in these tools will soon allow us to automatically test and improve results of marketing campaigns for each individual—including collection of time and behavior-based data that will forecast when your customers are most likely to view your marketing communications.

4.    Segments to Individuals

Did someone say individual? (I’m getting good at this transition thing).  A number of years back, we thought we got smart. We started communicating to our consumer base differently by segmenting them into groups using demographics, firmographics, and purchase history.

We just can’t seem to catch a break.  Today, by tracking web-based behavior (website activity, email click-throughs, web form submissions, and social media interaction), we harness the power to completely customize creative and copy for each communication, ensuring the right message is used to resonate with your customer.

Personalized direct mail, email, banner ads, mobile messages are all feasible or on the horizon.  It’s not just cool (and a little freaky I’ll admit), it will soon be an imperative in order to break through the “one size fits all” clutter.

5.    Business Gets Personal

Business used to be personal.  I’m talking small-town bakery personal.  Then, mass communication exploded.   Service had to scale, and the goal was to reach as many people as possible with a single message.

However, marketing is in a throwback trend.  Corporation executives are having interpersonal two-way conversations with their consumers while the world observes. Studies show people trust other people more than any other marketing medium.

Subsequently, organizations are starting to share stories of people impacted by their brand. People listen, people respond with their own story, more people listen and respond.  Soon everything becomes marketing. Organic, consumer-driven discussion trumps the carefully crafted corporate message.