Catchy title right?  So marketing is once again going through a REVOLUTION (seems to happen every couple of years and with the advances in digital that is only accellerating). But all noise and pontificating aside, the practice of Marketing is changing. In her post on May 20, 2012 entitled The Future of Marketing | Social Media Today, Wendy Bryant-Neswick writes about how marketing is changing and the new skills today’s marketers will need.  Her article reminded me of a talk from last year’s Salesforce.com Dreamforce conference given by HubSpot’s Brian Halligan (HubSpot is an inbound marketing software company — more on that another time). In his talk he said marketers have to be DARC …

Brian Halligan’s Take On A Good Marketing Hire | Matt Middlesworth:

Digital – have an expertise in digital channels and technologies
Analytical – have the ability to measure and quantify the results of campaigns and activities (conversion rates, funnel velocity, effort ratios, etc.)
Reach – be able to leverage digital channels (web, inbound, email, digital, social media) to reach current and prospective customers
Content – be content machines; creating assets that help to move customers further along in the sales process (or funnel)

These are new skillsets for many of us but as marketers we need to adapt.  And if you think this only applies to B2C or not to highly regulated industrries (e.g., medical devices), I suggest you take a look at the following examples:

How Johnson & Johnson Uses YouTube to Drive Awareness
B2B Marketing: Reasons to Adopt Social Media Marketing
The Marketing Skills Gap (Eloqua)