Date: December 2016

Just when we thought the new role of Martech was up there with new and innovative, the marketing industry just became seriously disrupted.

If you thought your marketing degree would teach you what you need to know to get a job in marketing, think again. While some think that understanding the basis of marketing technologies will give them the edge, it may so for the next year, but after that - forget it.

Personal growth is not something you just stumble upon. It's something that you have to acknowledge, own, believe in, and work at.

As we are about to farewell this working year, with just a few days to go until Christmas, what better time to have a look at what is coming at us in 2017! As technology keeps moving at warp speed we love the challenge of keeping on top of the latest, so here’s our little sneak preview of the key marketing trends for 2017.

I'm so excited to start a new year and go full steam ahead on both my personal and professional goals.

I'm not one for a party as I quite like my own company and that of my closest friends. Other than the odd glass of champagne, I don't find drinking to be my vice either. So, when it comes to Christmas, if only everyone would agree that all the money involved should go to charity, I would be in my element.

I guess if I posed this question to my team, they would possibly agree, but this year has been a big one and they deserve their moment of letting loose and enjoying each other's company outside of work, celebrating their success.

I had an early mark yesterday as I wasn't feeling the best and of course, after falling asleep at 3pm, I woke up in the middle of the night.

It's that time of year where even I am reflecting on the year that has passed and the one I am about to have. My family Christmas is being replaced with a trip to Aspen, skiing the festive season away in a winter wonderland where both exercise and a lot of time to think are part of the parcel.

Lead generation through sharing content on social media has grown in importance over the past few years. Many marketers have caught onto this concept and have used it to the fullest potential by sharing news, blogs, customer service information, and tips...with a twist. The thought up images and carefully curated canva posts that marketers are making are becoming more and more like a subtle sales pitch. In the past, seeing any promotional components in posts would turn off potential leads, however, because of this shift and slow, easy transition, it is a new norm.

Some people are satisfied with minimal sales and minimal income, and there is no motivational factors that will ever change that. All motivating them will do, is change their expectation of entitlement.

Innovation is notoriously hard, and for those selling the service of innovation, one must ask, "are they innovating themselves or are they just selling a dream?".

I constantly have people contact me in relation to disrupting my industry and I laugh. Clearly they don't read my blogs as I am 5 steps ahead. First mistake. Second mistake is I take the opportunity to look at their businesses and while the buzzwords come in hard and fast, they have no substance to break it up.