Content is critical, don’t get me wrong. But in order to get that compelling content to the right person, in the right format, in the right place at the right time, you also need technology.

If you were head of marketing at huge corporation you’d be heading direct to Google or Apple or Microsoft to talk about how their technology can help you deliver marketing. For everyone else there are very accessible formats that enable a company to establish and maintain individual relationships with thousands of people concurrently and in real time – in a way that’s also economic.

Whether it’s listening and monitoring to conversations online to pinpoint opportunities or creating the channels to deliver personalised content direct to the individual, there are many ways to create deliver a 1:1 marketing experience – but to make it happen you need some tech thinking in there with the strategy and messaging people. If those individuals are not already in your team, either hire them or get some external people who can guide you.

Ignore technology today and you’re effectively pedalling a bicycle on a motorway.