By: Michael Palmer
Marketers are the Rodney Dangerfield of business – they just don’t get no respect. Seventy percent of marketers say they are second guessed when they make decisions. What’s behind this lack of respect? Two things: too great a focus on getting stuff done, too little ability to demonstrate to management the results of their efforts.
Marketers in general have been focused on getting projects accomplished. While important, the projects we spend most of our time on are less likely to be strategic in nature. We worry about brand logos, packaging graphics, commercials and brand awareness when we should be concerned with developing big new ideals that drive both top and bottom line growth. Spending more time on customer insights – both the collection of the data/information that leads to customer insights and the translation of that insight data into actionable steps that will make our brand revenues growth. Too often marketers do not translate insight into action. They do not find ways to imbed their customer knowledge into new strategic initiatives that drive competitive initiatives. In the end, this is what senior management really wants. Business is in business to make money. Marketing should be the engine that drives that growth. Focusing on tactical elements is important, but it is not what in the end will help management accomplish their goals.
Marketing accountability is confusing and difficult, but not impossible. There is a way to take hope out of the marketing equation and put accountability in. Companies like Enterprise
Rent-A-Car won’t do a marketing program they cannot measure. They therefore find a way to determine the value of a program before they invest. You can too.
ANA School of Marketing offers those marketers who wish to become “Marketing Growth Champions” the opportunity. Our marketing curriculum can help an individual elevate their knowledge and performance, our right learning process will help teams become more effective and efficient growth drivers. Interestingly we have discovered via our research that most companies fall short in two areas – customer centric marketing and integrated marketing – the ANA School of Marketing therefore has comprehensive programs ranging from ½ day speed sessions to full 3-5 day boot camps covering these areas. Let us know what we can do to help you all achieve “Growth Champion” status.
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