Is marketing really dead or just evolving?

With the surge of social media, there is no doubt that marketing has drastically changed over the past decade. Bill Lee (@bill_lee), President of Lee Consulting Group makes a bold and controversial claim with the title of his most recent blog post at the Harvard Business Review, “Marketing Is Dead.” Followed by his opening paragraph:

Traditional marketing — including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications — is dead. Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they’re operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear.

I might not go as far as to say that marketing as a whole is necessarily dead, however some components of traditional advertising are irrelevant in today’s society. As Lee points out, consumers are going about getting information about products and services in their own way; through the Internet and word-of-mouth customer reviews. Even CEOs are becoming weary and fed up with their company’s unsuccessful marketing attempts.

CEOs have lost all patience. In a devastating 2011 study of 600 CEOs and decision makers by the London-based Fournaise Marketing Group, 73% of them said that CMOs lack business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth, 72% are tired of being asked for money without explaining how it will generate increased business, and 77% have had it with all the talk about brand equity that can’t be linked to actual firm equity or any other recognized financial metric.

It doesn’t make sense for a company to hire on or outsource a marketing team to endorse a product or service when buyers really just want to hear from other buyers. Companies need to realize that peer influenced marketing solves the problem for both the buyer and the seller.

Lee offers his input on what the new marketing model will look like with four main concepts:

Restore community marketing: When making a big purchase, the buyer is often more likely to reach out to community members than to the actual seller. Consumers trust their peers more than they trust the company. The best marketing solution to this would be to set up a community for your buyers to interact with each other and share trustworthy reviews.

Find your customer influencers: Don’t spend resources finding outside influencers who have gained a reputation on the Web and through social media. A better method is to find and promote customer influencers and give them something great to talk about.

Help them build social capital. This is ultimately what the customer wants. Instead of encouraging customers with cash rewards and discounts, help advocates and influencers create social capital. This will help them to build their association network and boost their reputation.

Get your customer advocates involved in the solution you provide. You want your customers to endorse and support the end result. As Lee says the most spectacular example of this comes from the non-profit world. Show your customers that your service will not only benefit them but will make a difference in others.

This is good news for lawyers and law firms. With these four simple marketing ideas, you can prove your expertise and build trust with potential clients without spending the extra money on traditional forms of advertising. These are all concepts that lawyers and law firms should already be using.