Stone Ridge, New York (February 15, 2016) – Despite the hundreds of marketing tools currently available, marketing has never been more complicated and disorganized. According to MarketingProfs.com, 70% of marketers are so "overwhelmed" by technology that 59% say they need a mini chief information officer just to manage the mess.
"It’s an epidemic," says Lately CEO and former marketing agency owner, Kate Bradley Chernis. And she’s not alone. Research shows that when it comes to marketing, "the skills and organizational processes needed at most companies are still lacking" (Forbes). In fact, 89% of marketers don't have the technical skills needed to use current tools and 56% are only novice-level or beginner marketers. Oracle Marketing Cloud Vice President Andrea Ward corroborates: "'Despite the clear and measurable impact on revenue, many businesses have yet to adopt modern marketing best practices'" (Forbes). The most modern of all best practices? Collaboration.
"Without a single, central location that pulls all the pieces together — where we can collaboratively plan, execute and track campaigns together, marketing has been left behind," continues Chernis. The result wastes $83 Billion each year (CMSWire). "Think of it like this," explains Chernis. "If you ask any business, right now, how they manage their books, it’s likely QuickBooks. Ask them how they manage their sales, it’s Salesforce. But ask them how they manage their marketing and it’s nothing. Or at best, it’s endless spreadsheets smashed together with a bunch of point solutions that only do part of the job. Dark Ages."
Enter Lately. The first, easy-to-use, all-in-one solution that organizes marketing tools, processes and people. Starting at $50 per month, marketers are guided through the marketing process, step-by-step, with best practice hints and tips prompting them along the way. Plus, inviting others to collaborate is a cinch. So whether it's channels, content, files, communications, analytics, calendars, advertising or budgets — across social and traditional media — your entire team is on the same page, in real time.
Before Salesforce, many believed that because every company is different — with different customers and different products — that the sales process couldn’t possibly be standardized. But Salesforce was revolutionary because it democratized the best practices previously only used by experts. "What we all learned was that there are best practices in sales that should be used by every company, regardless of size or industry," says Chernis. Similar beliefs were held about accounting, as many viewed it as a black box only understood by accountants; until QuickBooks democratized the best practices of accounting. "Amazingly, there is still a pervasive belief that marketing is somehow different and best left to the experts," Chernis adds. "In fact, there are a number of principles that every company needs to use for marketing, agnostic to size or industry. And it’s time to pull back the curtain. That's why we're building Lately."
Lately's turnkey marketing management software is slated for launch later this spring. Meanwhile, Chernis and team recently released a free marketing scanner, giving anyone the whole picture of how their marketing appears online, for free, by simply typing in a URL at the company’s homepage, www.trylately.com. Which begs the question: what has your marketing done for you lately? Now, you'll know.
Lately Cofounder and CEO Kate Bradley Chernis is a former marketing agency owner, whose clients have included Walmart, United Way Worldwide and everything in between, all the way down to mom-and-pops. She’s also an award-winning commercial and audio imaging producer, engineer and voice talent, having spent a dozen years in radio at XM and elsewhere.
