Are You Setting Up Your Marketing Team for a Freefall?

As a CEO, are you setting up your marketing team for success or failure?

As your company’s leader you need to ensure that your marketing strategy and tactics are being implemented in a way that drives your sales and other business goals. Many companies delegate this responsibility to a single marketing resource, but is this really the best way to achieve company goals? Does your investment in marketing resources really align with your expectations of results? MarketingSherpa recommends that your B2B marketing budget be 4 to 11% of your total gross revenue. You are likely spending significantly less than that and if this is the case, then your expectations of your marketing resources is unrealistic.
Most people multi-task and wear multiple hats, but how many hats can one head really handle? It’s simply not realistic to ask one person to be the master of many domains, develop strategies, come up with, implement and project manage all of the associated tactics to produce top notch results, so why would we have this expectation of a lone marketing person?

Key areas marketing is expected to be an expert on:

1. Your Customer

Who they are and what they do
What they need vs. what they want
How they like to interact with your company (communication preferences)

2. Your Product

How it applies to your customer’s business
How it works
Features and benefits

3. Your Brand

Your brand’s identity and what it stands for
How it should be presented in the market
Branding Guidelines

4. Your Overall Marketing Strategy

i. Pricing Strategy

Plan, Develop, Analyze Data and Manage
In most instances this is and should be handled in-house

ii. Product Strategy

Plan, Develop, Analyze Data and Manage
In most instances this is and should be handled in-house

iii. Distribution Channel Strategy

Plan, Execute, Analyze Results and Manage
In most instances this is handled in-house

iv. Digital Marketing Strategy/Web Presence

Internet Marketing Strategy – have an expert develop and implement this for you
Mobile Marketing Strategy – have an expert develop and implement this for you
Content Strategy – have an expert develop and implement this for you
Keyword Strategy – have an expert develop and implement this for you
Social Media Strategy – have an expert develop and implement this for you; tactics can be handled in-house
Content Development – this is a heavy time investment; consider outsourcing this if you don’t have enough time to dedicate
Email Marketing – can be done in-house with the proper tools and a solid Content Strategy
Website Maintenance – not only making sure that the site is functional, but also ensuring that design and content are fresh and kept up-to-date

v. Advertising Strategy

Media Planning
Conceptual Development
Design and layout
Copywriting
Production and Execution
Tracking and Analysis
Recommend outsourcing this unless you have an in-house team comprised of at least one marketing expert, one designer and one copywriter

Marketing is also responsible for creating Editorial Calendars, developing and managing Marketing Budgets, Project Planning and Scheduling, Product Development and Management, Sponsorships, Event and Trade Show Marketing,Â developing content, writing copy (long copy, short copy, ad copy, web copy), editing, proofreading and gathering and analyzing data. This list is by no means exhaustive, but you get the picture.

Jack of many trades = Master of none

There is no possible way for one person to specialize in all of these areas, let alone get all of these things done at a professional level of quality and in a timely manner. If you just have one marketing person, most likely they are a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on your products and services, your target market and your brand. The best way to utilize your marketing expert is to leverage and focus on their areas of expertise (realistically 2 or 3 areas) and/or have them manage an internal marketing team or a group of vendors to get all of your Marketing Initiatives done on time and within budget. No matter how amazing your marketing expert is, you have to remember that he/she is only one person and the last thing you want to do is lose that person, due to overexertion or burnout.

Driving your business with the right marketing investment

If you’re a CEO who isn’t spending enough on your marketing strategy, in order to allocate the appropriate expertise in the areas that are going to drive your business, then your current marketing spend is doing your business more harm than good in the long run. Without the right people working on the right things, you’re creating an unrealistic expectation that a Jack of All Trades be an expert in an area where they shouldn’t necessarily be.

Gap in digital marketing expertise needs to be filled

If their area of expertise doesn’t include Digital Marketing, who is:

Handling this vital element of your Marketing Strategy?
Creating and expanding those digital (web, mobile, email, social media) channels/pipelines of leads for your company, channels that lead customers to you?
Tracking your prospects and clients through the buying process?
Telling you what content engages prospects, how they were ‘led’ to your website and how many of them converted into customers?

If there is a gap in your company’s Digital Marketing expertise, you’re not alone. According to the 2013 Adobe Systems study, Digital Distress: What Keeps Marketers Up at Night, most marketers are not confident in their digital ability.

Only 48% of digital marketers feel highly proficient in digital marketing.
Only 9% of respondents strongly agree with the statement “I know our digital marketing is working.”
66% percent of all marketers think companies won’t succeed unless they have a digital marketing approach.

Check out our Essential Guide to Content Marketing to get you started. Complete the form below to get your copy of the guide!

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