I have a fundamental problem with several names that describe technology. I think that some of the great names that IT folks have come up with fall short from meeting business expectations.
Take for instance BI (Business Intelligence) great name and it has a lot of potential to live up to its name but the problem is that too often the term is used describe the tools and technology and not the value it brings to organizations.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) create term and when done properly it can add tremendous value to an organization. However, once again the term now applies to a piece of technology and not the art of managing the relationships that businesses have with their customers. So what happens is that business owner look to a piece of software to try to resolve their customer issues and when it doesn’t work as they perceived it would because of the name they want to throw out the CRM application and Nix the budget for all future IT projects.
Then there is the term Internet Marketing. Great term! But it has now become synonymous with SEO/ SEM which is only a very small piece of what a term like Internet Marketing should really do. Then add to that the never ending websites and spam-o-grams that promise you that “for just $29.99 you can have millions of visitors to your website in minutes.” I think the term Internet Marketing and the vultures around have taken a term that could have meant a lot and put it in the same light as “Network Marketers” or the “Carpet Baggers”.
So I have had a problem coming up with a name for what I do then it came to me, if it was a snake it would have bit me. MANO (Marketing, Advertising, Networking, Online) that’s what I do.
True marketing centers on a strategy and Marketing 2.0 involves the 6Vs as outline in Denise Shiffman book Age of Engage. Advertising is a form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and use them. Networking is about connecting people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. All of this is done Online that means do just on the internet but the variety of ways that people are and will interact with the web, be that through phone, GPS units, Cameras, you name it.
Adam over at Audetta Media also wrote and interesting blog on terminology. That inspired me to vent my frustration here. I am on a mission to rally the industry around MANO (marketing, advertising, networking online)
Byte or get bitten
Yes….obviously internet marketing is a great term that is leading the business world. SEO and SEM are the part of the internet marketing . The name you have given to the vultures around the internet marketing is very good….Great Post
Very good points! I concur that in todays internet Marketing landscape, this phrase has become very loose, but I also feel that because IM is relatively still new, it will continue to evolve and take on wierd shapes. SEO, SEM, IM, SMM, these are all really under one umbrella, but is continually changing!
I love your concept and name…I’ll certainly spread the word!