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MarTech conference highlights digital marketers’ central dilemma

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The central dilemma facing modern marketers can be summed up in two words:

Infinite power.

That dilemma percolated throughout presentations and sessions on the opening day of our MarTech Conference, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”–Marketo CEO Steve Lucas

Marketers now have immediate and affordable access to infinitely powerful cloud-based tools, data and intelligence. The technologies allow anyone with a modest budget to blast out messages to big chunks of the human race, finely tune a precise offer to the needs of one potential buyer or, soon, shower consumers with product offers wherever they go.

As Spiderman’s Uncle Ben pointed out: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

But there’s also the consideration that great marketing power, used badly, is counter-productive. Marketo CEO Steve Lucas laid out the decision empowered marketers face.

“Just because you can,” he told a lunchtime audience, “doesn’t mean you should.”

[Read the full article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.


 

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