Anyone who knows me well, knows I believe in the power of three.

I know I am not the first to realize the near mystical properties of this tool, and as a marketer and leader, I do my best to take advantage of it. Lions, and Tigers and Bears; the Three Little Pigs; and for our purposes today…three wishes for marketers in 2011. And since simply wishing won’t make them come true, let's sprinkle in some actions as well.

Wish #1: All of our emails result in the desired action.
Let’s face it, email is not going away anytime soon. In fact, surveys continue to reflect that audiences prefer to receive email communication over all other channels. This is the year to use optimization to get the best impact. The right offer to the right contact, and a message that gets you noticed.

Wish #2: Provide valuable content to the prospective buyer.
We know that content is king in marketing. It is time to understand the lifecycle of our customers and provide useful content that reflects our understanding of their buying process. A recent Harvard Business Review article, Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places, outlines a new way of thinking about buyers, challenging any notion of a funnel and instead proposing a lifecycle…

Wish #3: Become the conductor of the marketing orchestra, rather than a slave to its complexity.
Marketing has become highly complex and the winners are investing in marketing automation and customer analytics. The discipline of marketing is one of knowing the questions to ask of the data and then trusting the outcomes…

These are my three wishes for all marketers in 2011. What are yours? Let's get to work to make them come true!