How to make sure Marketing becomes integral to the overall business

Two pieces of advice for how to make sure Marketing becomes integral to the overall business.

Marketing should not be conducted in isolation. When done right, marketing and communications is key to successful business transformation and growth. But to make that happen, the marketing strategy needs to tie back to the company strategy and business objectives. Here are two pieces of advice that will help make Marketing an integral part of the overall business.

Don’t accept silos

Get to know different stakeholders in the organization, and make sure you understand the products and services (value proposition, USPs etc) and the sales process. You also need to understand the challenges and opportunities that the company is facing, current market climate in your industry and what the competition looks like, and what your customers really need. Sometimes you also need to educate leadership teams about how your specific marketing strategy and execution will contribute to achieving the overall company objectives – including the risk of not doing what you are proposing, i.e. the risk of not investing properly in marketing – to justify the budget you’re asking for.

Successful brand building and growth involves everyone in the company, from understanding and adhering to company values to enacting them through leadership, employee behaviors, product development, documentation, packaging, sales, as well as external marketing and communications.

To be effective in the long run, the head of marketing and communications therefore needs to be able to tackle a broad range of issues, from company culture to change, to communications with multiple audiences, both externally and internally, as well as analyzing and reporting results to make sure you are on track to achieving the objectives or be able to course correct along the way. Creating visibility for the results in your organization will help boost employee morale, set examples for others to follow, and build trust in marketing’s ability to deliver on the strategy.

Don’t stop marketing in tough times

When there is a downturn in the economy, many companies unfortunately look at cost savings. My advice is to not view Marketing as cost to be saved but as an investment in future growth. Successful companies take the time to revisit messaging, content, channels and develop marketing strategies to make sure the company comes out of the downturn accelerating, instead of being forgotten.

If you need help, don’t hesitate to bring in an experienced executive marketing consultant to bring strategic insight, act as interim manager and help the organization understand what to prioritize and how to work smarter. This is usually a cost saver in the long run and a good investment in future growth.

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