That article really mirrored the thought process that I went through when I first heard the phrase “Marketing Technologist”, an important moment in how I perceived the direction of my professional life.
I instinctively felt that the implication of someone who combined Marketing on a broader level (as opposed to Search Engine Marketing, for example) with a high degree of technical ability, was a great answer to the business needs that I was seeing. At the time, my main focus was on a start-up in which I am an investor, but I was also consulting with a few small to medium sized businesses, helping them establish their websites. My main role was to act as their project manager, sourcing and working with web design companies, contributing my knowledge of design, user experience and information architecture. I found that these businesses were also asking me to set up their social media accounts and help them manage their social media content.
It was when I heard the phrase “Marketing Technologist” that the need for a more comprehensive solution to my existing and potential clients crystallised. This captured exactly what they needed – someone who understood the underlying technologies driving web based marketing and who was able to align these with their overall marketing goals. A very simple example – not just someone who said “You need a blog” but someone who could say “If your goal is to humanise your CEO, let’s get him a tumblr account, which is easy to post to and psychologically less demanding, where he can post more personal content”. In my experience, for straight-up marketing people, a blog is a blog is a blog and technology oriented person would think “OK, install WordPress – job done”.
It is the marketing techologist who can look at the marketing need, decided on the appropriate technology and then implement the solution.
That wasn’t the end of my personal journey – I went from the idea of being a “Marketing Technologist” through brief detour of aspiring to be a “Social Media guru” to where I am know, which is providing “Content Strategy” for businesses. I’ll write about that, which led to the creation of Copacetic – Digital Web Media, in a future post.
Some other great resources on the idea of a Marketing Technologist:
- The Time Is Ripe For A Chief Marketing Technologist – Six Pixels of Separation article
Hi, Rajit — thanks for the mention of my blog.
I love your example with a blog for the CEO that illustrates the difference between how a marketer might approach it, how a technologist might approach it, and how a marketing technologist might approach it. The blend of the two worldviews can be a qualitatively different perspective — and a critically important one these days.
Thanks for your comment Scott! I appreciate the feedback from an industry leader such as yourself.