Chasing Technology

I don’t know about you, but all the incessant talk about the latest and greatest tools and outlets that are perfect for online marketing seems to be much more lip service than anything else. Call me old school, but it seems everybody with a unique tool will tell you that you, too, need that tool.

With technology at a point where it seems to expand almost exponentially, sometimes it seems like you can barely make a decision to implement something, before the newer, better, quicker, more-efficient version is being pushed.

This rapid introduction and progression of tools can have a polarizing effect on organizations, who either:

• chase technology and implement it all for fear as being perceived as archaic if they don’t, or
• disregard it altogether for fear of wasting good budget money on flash-in-the-pan gadgetry

In actuality, like any other course of action you choose to take, decisions should not be made relative to the newness or “cool” factor of the move. One of the first staples of marketing is to:

• define the needs of your consumer base
• establish your corporate goals to meet those needs
• create a plan to achieve those goals

Changes of any kind should fall in the last category, and this includes technology.

When you have assessed the market for your product or service and devised a plan to help your organization satisfy the market, you can work backward to determine if there are new tools or avenues that will allow you to do this better–or better than your competition. My guess is that you’ll find a few things that could really make a difference. You’ll also find a lot of stuff that might be fun to play with, but that’s about as far as its usefulness extends. After all, when you need to pound a nail, the shiniest new screwdriver doesn’t help much.

Once you’ve found the tools you need as part of your larger corporate goals, and know how they are supposed to work for you, you can feel better about investing the time and budget into them.