Who We Serve Marketing Organizations
Marketing has a number of strategic and tactical responsibilities. The specifics can vary dramtically from one company to another; but they are typically very broad, spanning the entire buying cycle. For our purposes, we will define the marketing organization as encompassing traditional marketing activities and product marketing. The distinctions between the two - and between product marketing and product development - are not always clear cut. Because product marketing is more directly involved in the revenue generating process and is tied to the revenue organization, we include it in the marketing organization. Given that, strategic marketing functions include:
Corporate branding
Establishing and maintaining a presence in the marketplace
Generating leads
Promoting and supporting supporting the sales process by providing a variety of collateral and other resources
Providing data and feedback to product development for new products and product enhancements
Just a sampling of the specific marketing activities that might be conducted to achieve those strategic goals includes:
Defining target markets
Conducting market research
Developing and implementing a branding strategy
Developing creative materials (e.g., logo, Powerpoint templates, corporate color palletes, etc.)
Designing, developing, and maintaining the corporate website, social media, and other online presence
Creating advertising and messaging
Developing and leading media and public relations activities
Creating and distributing product data sheets
Planning, creating, delivering, and/or managing seminars, workshops, conferences, and other events
Creating and maintaining a library of reference stories, case studies, and whitepapers and other content and collateral
To successfully perform those functions requires a diverse set of skills and expertise, and corresponding personalities. Whether those skills are part of the internal staff or outsourced will be based on the needs of the organization. There is often a significant amount of outsourcing, which may be cost-effective but presents its own set of challenges. Some of skills needed are:
A variety of creative skills (graphic design, writing, etc.)
Technical skills
Analytical and research skills
Logistics and project management
Strategic planning
The challenges for marketing are as broad and diverse as their responsibilities. Some are strategic and others tactical. We will focus on those that have the most direct impact on the ability to generate revenue. In that context, marketing challenges include:
Gathering and analyzing market data to identify target markets
Creating customer profiles for each key player involved in the purchase decision within target markets
Cutting through the massive amount of marketing communications most people receive to engage individuals and be recognized
Establishing your position in the marketplace and being perceived as a viable option by prospects
Designing, developing, and maintaining the corporate website and other online presence - making certain both the content and design are engaging, informative, well-functioning, and up-to-date
Generating interest for your products and services
Qualifying leads
Maintaining effective engagement with contacts until they meet the criteria to be passed on to sales
Gathering and analyzing data on competitors
Developing collateral, sales tools, and other resources that are effective in promoting sales
Helping the target market(s) understand how they will use your products and/or services
Gathering customer success data and, when relevant, quantifying the benefits that can be realized by using your products and/or services
Gathering, analyzing, and prioritizing customer feedback for product enhancements and new products
Managing a very diverse staff, in terms of skills and personalities, and coordinating their efforts
Demonstrating and quantifying the contribution of marketing to generating revenue, when many activities are far removed from the actual sales transaction
You can review our approach to addressing these challenges and how to sequence them in our model for the development of a marketing organization.
As with the challenges, we will focus the list of best practices on those most directly related to generating revenue.
To effectively support sales, the marketing and sales processes should be aligned, in terms of strategy, sub-process inputs and outputs (e.g., lead qualification criteria), terminology, data, etc.
A comprehensive marketing plan should be developed and implemente - with periodic reviews and revisions based on key performance indicators - that integrates the entire range of functions and spans the buying cycle
Consider how every interaction with the target market(s) can be an opportunity to gather marketing information; but respect respondents time by not overburdening them with too many questions or requests
Use market research and sales data to continually refine your messaging and expand it to include all key players involved in making a purchase decision in each of your target market(s)
Educating the market on how your products and/or services are used, and the benefits that can be realized from that use can cost-effectively serve many strategic and tactical goals (e.g., establishing brand, initiating sales cycles, etc.) - if it is focused on educating, not selling
Develop and implement the messaging and means to initiate buying cycles by moving prospects in target market(s) from not looking to being qualified leads that are actively looking to buy
Implement tracking systems to enable the calculation of lead conversion rates and a revenue-based ROI for each marketing activity
Develop 360 degree feedback systems within the revenue organization and with customers to identify, gather, and distribute key information and collateral to support the sales process
We provide a comprehensive range of development services to help marketing organizations improve their performance. We can help with specific development efforts or assist in putting together an overall performance improvement plan. You can learn more about specific services and review our model of the development of a marketing organization. To best accomodate your needs, we offer a variety of services. They include:
Instructor-led programs
Distance-learning programs (web and telephone)
Individual coaching
Curriculum development
Self-paced workbooks and other instructional materials
Job aids and other support tools
Process mapping and process refinements
Change management
Project management
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