The Most Important Thing the Marketing Department Can Do
I am often asked a question similar to this: “What’s the most important thing for marketing to do for an organization?”
There are a myriad of possible answers:
- Translate the product or service offering into an engaging message to reach prospective buyers
- Communicate the brand of the company
- Fill the sales funnel
- Create advertising that gets looks, clicks, or responses
- And many more good answers as Marketing can do so much!
Start with the Big Picture
I believe the most important thing the Marketing Department can do is understand the strategic and financial goals of the organization and develop strategies and tactics that support those goals.
It is easy in any department of a company to be focused on the trees rather than the forest. Day-to-day work is the only thing in view daily, so tasks become the focus. For marketing, making sure that campaigns are running, watching results, checking inquiries on social media, providing sales support materials, and creating content can become the daily-task focus. That’s why it is important to keep the big goals in the forefront.
Integrate the Goals into the External Plan
Being cute in advertising is a thing. It can create engagement and could drive response. After all, wouldn’t we all rather watch a fun ad during the Super Bowl rather than a dull ad? However, hours or a day after the big game, ask anyone who watched what their favorite commercial was and then ask for what product the ad ran. My experience is that less than 30% can recall the ad offer after describing the engaging creative they enjoyed. This is a loss for marketing, because the effectiveness of the ad is not directly correlated to the creativity of the ad.
The goal must be integrated into the external marketing plan, tactics, and creative. If you want clicks, leads, or awareness, more sales from existing customers or to introduce a new product line… the organizational goals (including budget considerations) must be part of the plan and tactics and be effectively communicated to the prospect.
Integrate the Goals into the Internal Plan
Likewise a focus on the goals of the company should always be in front of every staff or team member. People are more motivated when they understand that their daily task impacts the overall goals and growth of the organization. Sometimes that can be difficult, but an internal communications plan that uses various media – from leadership presentations to intranet posts to bulletin boards – is essential to keep the focus on the big picture while each person works on their daily tasks.
As professional communicators, the Marketing Department can help shape the messaging and media choices to insure that both internally and externally the goals of an organization can be communicated and understood by the target audience.
If you need help developing a marketing or communications plan, contact us.
SLEckert