“It’s the age of the internet.”
We hear that phrase so often that it becomes almost cliche. Even though it’s overused, we understand the meaning and the gravity of the statement. We are in a time when you have access to essentially anything you need, concerning information. However, just because we have it doesn’t mean we know how to use it most effectively. So, how does this translate to digital marketing?
*cue Spider-Man by The Ramones*
In recent weeks, the Marvel/Sony summer mega-hit ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ made it’s global debut. This latest iteration of Spider-Man features Tom Holland as Peter Parker: the ever-lovable, friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man. Throughout ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ we see Peter’s struggles to balance being a high school student and superhero. While the main attraction of this film comes from the conflict between our titular hero and the villain, a development that was just as interesting was the difficulty for Peter to master his new suit; much like the trials of his mentor, and creator of his new suit, Tony Stark.
The following contains light spoilers for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
On his journey to become more than just a “B” hero, Peter takes on more serious and daring criminals. After being bested a couple of times, he calls upon his friend and “guy in the chair” Ned to help him tamper with his suit. Doing this, he uncovers a “Training Wheels” protocol that was placed on his suit and has Ned deactivate it, unleashing the limitless possibilities of his tech enhanced suit. Among these, an AI that he befriends and names Karen. Karen whisks Peter away with the numerous options and variables his suit has to offer and Peter becomes all too reliant on his new found capabilities.
All of this culminates to a pivotal moment in the film when Spidey causes a catastrophe and Iron Man (Tony Stark) has to clean up his mess. In an earnest heart-to-heart Peter pleads saying, “I am nothing without the suit”. After a brief moment Tony replies, “If you are nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it” and then proceeds to confiscate it.
At this point, you’re probably wondering:
“What does this have to do with digital marketing?”
Think of yourself as Peter Parker; and the internet is your suit. You can have all the tools at your disposal, but if you don’t understand the fundamentals of marketing, you will never be as effective as you should be. If you don’t understand the vision of your clients, you won’t retain any of them. If you don’t understand the importance of utilizing SEO, you won’t be able to expand your audience and reach.
A common theme throughout ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ was the idea that “times are changing.” That is just as relevant to our everyday reality. Times are changing, but digital marketing is still just marketing.
These all seem like relatively simple steps towards success in digital marketing. However, things are always susceptible to being lost in translation. Just as easily as I can identify when Peter starts relying on the suit more than his own ability, I can see myself making the same decisions if I were in his shoes. The internet is a great resource, but don’t let the bells and whistles detract from the core concepts that make digital marketing so vital to modern business.