Last Monday at MediaPost's OMMA Global Summit in San Francisco, I lead a panel discussion about the current state of email marketing and the opportunities for using customer data to do better email marketing.  The panel comprised both vendors and client-side marketers - Eric Kirby from Connection Engine, Sameer Kazi from ExactTarget, Anita John from HP and Seth Berman from BlueShield CA - so we had a nice mix of what the market is asking for and what is being offered.

Once considered a ‘nice to have’ the strategic importance of marketing to an organization’s success is no longer open to question.  Marketers are judged on their ability to be creative and produce stunning media campaigns that support the sales effort. At the same time, they are expected to be au fait with the latest marketing technologies being introduced at an ever-rapid pace, all of which are supposed to make their lives easier.  The life of a marketer is no walk in the park that’s for sure.

How often do we describe things as easy?  Let’s meet at my office in New York – it’s really easy to get to.  Let’s grab a sandwich for lunch – it’s quick and easy.  Let’s save that on the Wiki – it’s so easy to navigate.

That’s right, as a marketer you are no longer dependent on the annual capital spending plan to expand your digital technology capabilities or the 18-month queue of IT projects. Today your strategies and tactics can be automated and enabled by selecting the right platform and tools in the Cloud. There is a SaaS tool for every critical function that you might need to increase revenue, build customer loyalty, improve conversion rates and test or personalize everything.

Most businesses have probably felt the pinch of the recession this year, and chances are that if you're a marketer this would have translated into a hacked marketing budget. Obviously this isn't ideal, but what it's done is separated the men from the boys and forced marketers to spend more wisely, measure more accurately and operate more efficiently.