A Need for Efficiency in Digital Media

Last week, I attended the MRCC (Media Research Club of Chicago) “State of Media Today” seminar.  I had the opportunity to network with many digital research experts. One interesting conversation that I had was with a former Media Director who excitedly told me she switched her career after working more than 10 years at an advertising agency.  She was very candid about challenges she faced in regards to increased pressure and stress, limited resources (she was often a team of 1), higher client expectations and unbelievably large workloads. Simply put, she said, “I got burnt out.”

Dovetailing off this conversation, we had the great pleasure of listening to Mike Bloxham, Executive Director of the Media Behavior Institute, comically speak about the state of media today. While I expected to hear more about the continual advancement of emerging technologies and platforms such as online video, mobile, social and tablets, I was pleasantly surprised to hear more about the impact of the state of the media. For example, he highlighted how the downturn of the economy had led to budget cuts, tougher goals and higher performance expectations all coupled with an ever-growing, complex and challenging digital landscape that led to changing consumer behavior.

These two separate experiences further identify the key problems marketers and agencies face with digital media. Rather than continually talking about the problem, let’s start talking about a solution: efficiency.

It’s time to start thinking about how to move faster and think smarter when it comes to digital media. With efficiency, there is growth. Rather than cutting budgets and removing resources, marketers should start thinking about strategic ways to identify and improve operational tasks to extend their capabilities. These capabilities should be leveraged outside of internal teams, so a continued focus can remain on creative and strategic work that leads to greater ROI.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the media? Where are there improvement opportunities?