In the web 2.0 world, do marketers matter?

In the web 2.0 world, do marketers matter?

The question may make you laugh.  The question may fill you with fear.  The question may make you happy.

Your reaction depends on who you are and what you do.

If you’re a marketer with digital and social media know-how, you’re probably laughing.

If you’re a traditional marketer focused on TV, radio, print, outdoor and direct mail marketing, you may be a little worried or scared.

If you’re happy, then you’re probably a consumer who claims to hate advertising and marketing, and likely you’re a heavy user of social media.

So, do marketers matter?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Well, here goes…

OK, first of all, no one would argue that the marketing world isn’t changing.  In fact, it’s experiencing massive changes, and the total extent of the changes is not yet fully realized.  However, questioning if marketers are still needed is premature, short-sighted and kind of ridiculous.

Articles and blog posting abound that deal with this line of questioning.  Fundamentally, the question stems from a lack of knowledge about marketing itself.  Apparently a lot of people believe marketers only make pretty pictures to sell stuff.  Marketing should permeate an entire organization since it deals with connecting consumers with a brand (product or service) for a mutually beneficial and long-term relationship.

So, just because consumers are connecting to each other through social media to talk about brands–whether positive, negative or indifferent–doesn’t mean that marketers are now expendable.

Consumers have always talked to each other about brands.  Word of mouth advertising is the goal of every marketer since it’s the most powerful form of marketing.  So, the only difference now is that consumers have a godzilla-sized megaphone to shout their opinions to the world.

This means that marketers need to be even more vigilant in their work to shape brand perception and engage with consumers.  Agile and innovative marketers need to facilitate brand conversations with consumers and determine how best to plug consumers into the business and brand structure because consumers are demanding a bigger voice in brand marketing and brand development.

Marketers need to facilitate the voice of the customer within the organization.  And in return, marketers need to monitor the transparency of the organization with consumers.

Everyone talks about being transparent in the web 2.0 world.  Yes, transparency is good, but it’s about a level of transparency and not total transparency.  The question for consumers who may demand total transparency is this: “Do you really want to see how the sausage is made?”  Marketers will determine the level of transparency and how to engage with consumers in the web 2.0 world and beyond.