In today's bigger, faster, newer marketplace when does better simply become too much of a good thing?

The technological advances of today's breakthrough lightening-fast world should enable you to get more ROI in less time. It should open new markets. But what happens when too much technology starts bogging down your marketing efforts rather than boosting them?

In an effort to be the first to the finish line are we bombarding consumers with too much glitz and glamour-and here's the question of the hour…do they want it and are they responding to it?

Do consumers really want talking banners, email on their TVs, or advertising messages on their cell phones just for the "coolness factor" and not because it is actually benefiting them in some way? Here's a question to consider…have we as asked the recipients of our marketing messages what they want from us?

Now companies are introducing, Ecommerce enabled Email. This is a concept that allows a person to read, decide, and order all within an Email message. There is nothing wrong with this concept. Actually, it is a very clean system with great potential. Eventually, this method will be a standard operating procedure, but not today. That statement probably accounts for most of the failures in the Dot Com explosion and bust. We just weren't ready to use most of the techniques brought forth at this time.

People are just getting used to being online. We are probably a full generation ahead of ourselves.

In tough economic times just as in good times consumers do need things. They will buy. The difference is that they will make us as direct marketers work a little harder for their dollars. So what we need to do is put our money where our 'mouse' is and start delivering substance with our advertising messages. Sure we need to come up with the big ideas that grab customers' attention. But we also need to be giving information that lets both BtoB and BtoC buyers make educated purchasing choices.

Put more simply, it isn't going to be the medium but the message that wins the day. Targeting the correct audience with the right offer at the right price will get the response. The newest technology without the correct ingredients will fail.

Everyone it seems is grabbing for a piece of the technology pie…it's sexy; it's the new thing. But we need to remember that we are marketers and all of our efforts are about being able to link right across all the gizmos, gadgets, and glitz-- to the customer. We need to use technology as the backbone that enables us to build customer relationships.

As a matter of fact, according to a study PricewaterhouseCoopers, few site tools are actually used by online shoppers. With the exception of search capabilities and "close-up" or "zoom" features. This might be a reminder to remember the old adage K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple…)

In a recent campaign Register.com did just this. Utilizing breakthrough technology never used before they designed a campaign that on the surface looked so simple but was actually more complex than virtually any email campaign ever embarked upon to date.

Here's what they did.
An email was sent to a prospect to let them know that they could get personalized domain names. Sounds simple, yes? The tricky part (and where advanced technology comes into play) is that each prospect link became personalized so that Jane Smith would click to a page that contained the message "Find out if Jsmith.com, JaneSmith.com, JS.com, etc is available-click here now!" John Doe would get a page customized to him and so on.

This marriage of 'behind the scenes' advanced technology with good old fashioned CRM was a huge success for the company because the customer was presented with proof positive that this company went out of its way to deliver more than just an off-the-shelf sales pitch.

So when is it appropriate to use the bells and whistles?
When it gives customers the purchasing information they need to make an educated decision. Titleist Golf is currently running a banner campaign on golf.com, which takes the consumer to an interactive ball-fitting site that is truly both unique, and at the same time informational. While the technology is certainly there with flash movies, audio voice overs, and interactive operability-the basis of the entire campaign is a desire to help players select products that will improve their game - a learning experience, where the consumer (golfer) actually will receive immediate information - whether they buy or not. The direct response comes into play when consumers are offered the opportunity to buy online.

High tech marketing needs to reflect on the basics. We need the time to catch up with ourselves. The results of the recent past clearly show that the 'pioneers do get the arrows in their backs'.