I recently spent some time at a convention in….let's call the city…. Dallas, which was hosted by a digital marketing company that specializes in digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry. Which is already crazy to me, as an advertising/marketing professional, it is not beneficial to advertise to a vertical….shouldn't we be advertising to consumers? Thus we should be experts in consumers right? I know I'm mixing words and intent of the specialization in a particular category, I digress. Before I digress…if you are in the automotive industry, aren't you already an automotive expert??? Ok I actually digress meow (excited about Super Troopers 2). 

While at this convention, I had the pleasure of meeting some really talented digital marketing professionals, that do truly work hard. The problem is, said company works with MANY, MANY manufacturers and that requires the dreaded enterprise solution. What is an enterprise solution in its most basic form? Here is what Wiki says about Enterprise software and you can easily apply it to any enterprise fill in the blank: Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. 

Here is where I am going to point out the obvious issue if you are a business. The definition of enterprise is to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Now there are MANY applications where an enterprise solution works, I won't go there, but when I read the line “satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users”, I see it like this – A big digital marketing company as the organization, and each of its clients as individual users.

So think about that for a minute all you decision makers out there, the Enterprise Solution for your digital marketing, is only “Enterprise” to benefit the organization billing you for time, and not for you specifically as an end user. THAT IS CRAZY! But so many decision makers just don't know, and don't want to look “dumb” for going with the problematic enterprise solution. If you read my previous article, you would know you have fallen for Buzzword Billies. So don't be scared to make a change and just because something is enterprise, doesn't mean it is the right choice for your organization.