James Cameron is the Godfather of Inbound Marketing

The last decade has not only ushered in nearly ubiquitous digital, social and mobile communications, but has also seen the rise of marketing automation technologies. A solution category that literally did not exist on its own in the early part of the 2000s, and a category that has seen gigantic acquisition activity in the past two years.  These technologies are not only disrupting application software but are driving a new reality in corporate technology spend. The CMO, says Gartner, will ultimately outspend the CIO.

How dramatic is the shift and have we seen anything comparable to this in any other industry? I would suggest that the best example lies in the impact that Computer Generated Imagery has had upon film making. To reinforce this perspective consider this recent behind the scenes look 2013’s The Great Gatsby. The clip is a little long but give it about one and half minutes, and really watch it.

Gives you a whole new level of respect for Leonardo DiCaprio doesn’t it? And it isn’t only the actors that have a more difficult job, what about the cinematographer on such a production? Over the past decade they’ve had to learn an entirely new aspect of their art.

And that is the greatest challenge for the marketer looking to deploy an inbound marketing strategy. Your art has radically and rapidly changed.

So how do we harness the power and strength of this new age of communication, and how do we tap into the strength of the tools that provide so much more flexibility and control over how we communicate to our audience?

We look to James Cameron.

Cameron has consistently been on the bleeding edge of film technologies taking the most advanced filming and special effects capabilities available and applying them deftly to his unique storytelling ability. His portfolio of work literally reads like a Hollywood guide to major advancements in the technical art of film making. And while today some films serve merely as technology demo platforms (think 2009’s disaster pic 2012), Cameron’s art has actually molded these technologies and taught an entire generation of would be directors how to make technology the servant of the master.

The lesson here is twofold. First the story telling is ultimately what matters. Content is king, sure, but the story that we are telling has to be genuine, impactful, elicit emotion, and exist mostly for the benefit of the audience. Secondly the story telling absolutely has to be made better by whatever technologies or communication platforms we choose to use in our inbound marketing efforts.

This is not necessarily an original perspective (I just read a post about repetition today from Marcus Sheridan linking it here as it is worth the read), everyday I’m reading more and more about the efforts we should take in our craft to adequately use different platforms in the appropriate manner. Every day there is more digital ink being given to the creative necessity required in a genuine Inbound Marketing approach. And every day there are more how-to posts and videos being offered up to help marketers learn how to make technology their servant.

The action to take? Read it all and pay attention to every perspective so you can develop your own. But most of all if you are executing an Inbound Marketing strategy, or you want to, take some time this weekend to watch Terminator 2 Judgment Day while reminding yourself it was released in 1991. Then watch Aliens, the Abyss, Titanic and Avatar over the following weekends. And when you’ve finished those. . . commit to putting on your James Cameron!