If I think back over all the people I’ve met, seen, worked with, in this profession, I have to conclude that – to use the great football adage – it’s a game of two halves.
In this case, the distinct and polarized halves are to do with the skills and knowledge.
Half know what they’re doing.
The other half really don’t have a clue.
NOT… A… CLUE.
First, I must demonstrate a clear distinction between skills and knowledge.
Best to start with a story.
I have a client who operated in the world of high-value, complex B2B value propositions.
They had clear channels to market.
Their potential prospect base was so precise as to be pretty much individually identifiable (although still in the thousands per country).
Their value proposition was not a stand-alone, but a complementary offering always paired with a companion (primary) product.
Most business came in through vendor-partners.
OK.
So they hired a digital marketing manager. Very charming person. Skilled at the techniques of digital promotion. Bright. Hard-working.
On arrival, they immediately took out their digital toolkit. SEO improvement was part of their self-declared targets. ‘First we’ll get more visitors, then we’ll start to put on-page CTAs in place to drive enquiries.’
Sounds good?
Yes… in theory.
Only one problem.
No potential customer or partner started their commercial journey towards my client through a WEB SEARCH!!!!
None. Never. Nada.
Nor would they ever.
And here you have the skill/knowledge distinction.
The digital marketing manager was VERY skilled. But the marketing department as a whole had totally misconceived as to why they were putting resources into SEO in the first place.
They had failed to objectively research and analyze the customer journey.
It’s not hard, but it’s a discipline that’s often forgotten.
So, why does this happen?
I would suggest that the cause is often that marketing is insufficiently empowered. It’s often simply a service department for sales. And while that’s clearly daft in principle, it often turns out that way in practicality.
Now, a service department has no ‘agency’, no command, little respect.
Marketing has to have its own voice.
It needs to clearly articulate its role.
It needs to explain in simple, non-technical terms how it’s contributing to the company’s commercial goals.
It needs clear metrics and KPIs.
It also needs other departments to put away their tendency to sneer and scoff.
After all, most salespeople – certainly for B2B big names – are little more that expert order takers. Rarely do you find the true ‘hunters’ who are actively chasing down business (there are some, and they’re amazing of course).
To combat the sneer, the scoff, the ‘just a service for the rest of us’ attitude to marketing, one needs strong, straight-talking marketing leadership.
If your audiences know who you are, what you do, and how well you do it, then sales is going to have a much easier ride.
Simple. Obvious. But often forgotten.
My contention (based on observation) is that strong marketing leadership happens less than half the time.
More often than not, marketing is simply a marketing services engine – a sweet shop where everyone else is the customer.
In a minority of cases though, marketing achieves an equal (NOT superior) voice at the top table. And that voice is earned through transparent, clear targets and responsible budget management.
These organizations that empower and respect marketing actually tend to be more successful.
I’m privileged to know some of these marketing leaders (don’t be modest – you know who you are).
But they’re rare.
And they need to be less rare if our economies are going to thrive.
