man and woman shaking hands

  

     

" ... It's increasing difficult to gain attention amid constant digital noise ..."    

 

"  ... Competition in the digital space continues to grow as marketers seek out real-time opportunities and intensify their speed of interacting in "the moment" ..."  

   

"  ... We will see increased pressures on companies of all sizes to pay to sponsor their posts to get more visibility, as getting consumers' attention in social media becomes increasingly difficult ..."

  

Is 2014 sounding like an Orson Welles futuristic horror story already?  Don't worry. Thought leaders are predicting these new digital tools can actually make it easier for us to live better by combining the best parts of social and digital to integrate and add value to our lives. Read all about it in this month's newsletter.

 

Let The Batten Group make it easier for you to serve your customers by harnessing the best talent to complete your leadership team.  We seamlessly integrate passionate and experienced nonprofit professionals to fill key positions in your organizations.  When making your list of important action steps for 2014, make sure "Call The Batten Group" is at the top. 

 

Best regards,

 

 Jim Batten  

  

The Batten Group
(704) 841-2099
 

  

 

What will 2014 bring and what should organizations and individuals expect from the continued digital revolution?  Forbes Magazine contributor, Ekaterina Walter interviewed 26 marketing gurus for their thought-provoking expert opinions. Here are 3 opinions. Click here to read all 26.

   

What Is Really Important To Me?
With the rise of social media, there has been a trend to structure life around technology in the pursuit of constant connectivity. In doing so, it was inevitable that we would eventually reach a point of max saturation at which people would begin taking a step back to ask themselves, "What is really important to me?" As the "return to real life" becomes a higher cultural priority, we're going to see people eagerly embracing technologies that empower them to achieve greater balance. As an alternative to surrendering our lives to digital technologies - or surrendering  

the technologies themselves - expect to see an emergence of more things like the Nike+ Fuelband, Google Glass and the Nest thermostat. These tools make it easier to live better by harnessing the best parts of social and digital, seamlessly integrating and adding value to our lives, hobbies and interests, rather than taking our focus and energy away from them.

Robbin Phillips 


Listen and Co-Create 
with Customers  

In 2014, the Marketing Department will fall out of love with social media and

responsibility for the medium will shift even further into other corners of the organization, such as PR and Customer Service. Of course, Facebook and Twitter still own too much of consumer time for marketers to ignore them, but a focus on paid media will increasingly eclipse earned media in marketing strategies. The drivers for this transition have been in place for years, from marketer frustration with low engagement rates on Facebook brand pages to hashtag campaigns that backfire to desperate social stunts like fake account hacks to auto-responder embarrassments. The best value brands can provide in social in 2014 is to listen, co-create with customers, integrate social into the product experience, furnish customer service, educate and evolve for the growth of the sharing economy, and in most cases, these are responsibilities that fall outside the marketing department.

Augie Ray 

 

2014:  The Year of Advocacy 
2012 was the year of acquisition, large fan/follower numbers, and fast-growing communities. 2013 was a year of engagement and content optimization: marketers realized that vanity numbers were not enough, that to continue to show real growth they needed to engage their communities in a more meaningful way. 2014 will be a year of advocacy: marketers realizing that with growth of their social communities stagnating and the big content machine churning 24/7 they need a more cost-effective and more impactful way to reach current and new customers long-term in a sustainable way. The next major business impact will come from very targeted niche communities (passionate and sometimes highly influential advocates) and from marketing with them, not to them. 
 
Source:  Ekaterina Walter, contributor for Forbes Magazine

 

Testimonial
 

 

 

Since 2009, The Batten Group has been most productive in identifying top talent for many executive leadership positions for LLS. Jim has assisted in identification and placement of an Executive Director in many markets.  The Batten Group's support has been invaluable to us as a resource and a great partner.   

 

George J. Omiros, CFRE, CAE

EVP, Chief Campaign & Field Officer
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

 

 

  



 

4017 Margaret Wallace Road
Matthews, NC  28105 
 
 (704) 841-2099 office
(704) 651-7858 cell
(704) 849-2582 fax