I was excited to be asked to talk about the future of marketing at the July 10th meeting of IABC Charlotte (see details and register here).

As a kid, I loved reading science fiction and thinking about what the future would look like. Lots of fanciful stuff still hasn’t yet materialized (flying cars, teleportation) but many mind-boggling things have (electric cars, the Internet, cell phones). And I’m still mesmerized by movies like Ready Player One that provide a glimpse of where technology might be headed.

I’ve spent a lot of time during my career trying to peer ahead. A few times I’ve been fortunate (or opportunistic) to be on the cusp of the new-new things, including Web development and social media.

The Next Big Shift

One major hunch I’m feeling in terms of marketing is that the future will be much less fragmented and isolated in terms of marketing providers (i.e., firms and individuals competing against each other) and the clients they serve. Instead, there is already a shift happening in which collaboration and cooperation will become the new “normals.”

The biggest reason? The pace of change is simply happening too fast and the amount of knowledge to process is too overwhelmingly for individual marketers to keep up—and things are just going to get worse. Those who try to tough it out on their own will get left behind.

It was this insight that recently led me to coin a new term, comarketing.

What Comarketing Is All About

While the world has had the practice of co-marketing (with a hyphen) for awhile, comarketing (one word) is different. 

The old definition of co-marketing is a marketing practice where two companies collaborate on promotional efforts for a co-branded offer. In a co-marketing partnership, both companies promote a piece of content or product, and share the results of that promotion, according to HubSpot.

My new definition of comarketing is:

An evolutionary practice in which businesses help each other by sharing best practices and experiences, developing collaborative partnerships and learning modern marketing strategies in a community setting

Announcing A Place for Comarketing to Flourish

I’m passionate about breaking down barriers and building communities. That’s why I am also launching a new virtual platform to evolve the concept of comarketing in real time. 

It’s called Comarketing Space. 

A New Type of Marketing Mastermind

Think of Comarketing Space like a virtual coworking space, aimed at helping marketers up their game, stay on top of trends and tactics and find the right resources they need.

In Comarketing Space, members can explore various topics ranging from online to offline marketing tactics. They also can ask for help sharing their company’s news and promotional announcements, participate in videoconferences and message each other privately or in groups.

The primary goal behind comarketing is to impact small businesses in much the same way that coworking spaces stimulate collaboration in a shared environment.

Comarketing Space will foster a supportive environment where members feel comfortable asking for advice and posting useful tips for others.

We’re also introducing some innovative features including “Discourses”—quick, actionable conversations to teach current marketing best practices.

Want to Learn More?

If you’d like to learn more, visit the new promotional website for Comarketing Space. From there, you can join if you’re interested.

There is special introductory pricing for the first group of members—just $39.99/month or $399.99/year.

Here’s to the future of greater collaboration between marketers!

- Brandon