Inbound Marketing in the Mobile Cloud
We the people who promote and provide inbound marketing must from time to time consider the foundations of our thinking and move on. The marketplace already has. Before you can blink an eye, we will have moved on from anchored workplaces and desktop computing. We will not require clumsy laptops and clunky keyboards. We will think and communicate freely, and our devices will become a simple add-on to our biological being. Social media won't be a "thing" anymore. It will be a way of life, just like talking is now. It won't be years from now. This trend is here now, and marketers had better start getting on board.
So, what does this mean for inbound marketing, or marketing as a whole? It means we must stop thinking about hardware and software and start thinking about working in the cloud. Stop thinking about technology and companies, and start thinking about environments. Where will people be in 5 years (or less) and how will we reach them to sell our products and services? Will we even do that? Maybe we should focus on providing the goods, and let people find us naturally, like they did a century ago.
Why? Because technology is evolving so fast that it will soon enable us to be free from technology. Weird idea, huh? If we consider the very real possibility that we will all be "wired" in some way that literally frees us from devices and solution providers, it does seem possible that we will be more free to think and communicate without being encumbered by faulty solutions. This is what cloud computing is all about, and it won't be long before it permeates everything we do. OK, this perfect world seems far distant, but don't blink or you'll miss the tranformation.
Let's assume for a second that we will all be Jetson-like creatures wired internally to the semantic web. What will we be doing? Well, pretty much the same thing we're doing now, except more easily.
- We'll be finding what we need or want. Will we need advertising or websites for that? I doubt it. I think we'll have "local" virtual marketplaces that are filled with things we are interested in - without even trying. Think Yellow Pages, only far more interactive and powerful. Think mobile apps, only much more like a game than a database.
- How will we get business? We will naturally find ourselves and our companies "listed" in these virtual marketplaces. In our virtual "space" we'll market our wares, but it won't be a static website. Our store will be a natural place where shoppers can meet us and discuss their needs.
- What about capturing sales leads? Well, that's all completely automated via the cloud, and shoppers can easily opt-in or out of any form of advertising that goes on.
- What will advertising be like? Think short immersive experiences where people learn about you and what you do. Again, completely voluntarily.
- What about e-commerce? Again, it's all taken care of. If you want something and can afford to buy it, just say so and it's done. I know, all kinds of issues to solve, but they are being solved as we speak.
This all sounds very pie-in-the-sky, but is it really? It seems to me we are on a very rapid course towards making this vision become reality. How will we, as marketers, respond? If we don't start transforming ourselves now, will we miss the boat?
I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.
Photo Credit: akakumo
