Strapline

Copy - Content - Marketing Communications Planning

Sunday 15 February 2015

Marketing - do you really buy into that sort of stuff?

Have you heard these spoken before?

"Marketing is a load of bollocks - a waste of time and money - just makes sales!"

"Marketing people just cost money and hide behind smoke and mirrors - looking after our customers the right way and finding new customers is the only way to grow"

"All marketing want is a budget without responsibility for results"

Marketing is not an option

Well the truth is there all right and represent why over the past 20 years most marketing departments have lost credibility and totally lost the ability to deliver improved profits and competitive advantage.

Here are 5 reasons why:

  1. The majority of business owners, MD's and Boards have no understanding of what marketing is all about, even if one or more are qualified most have to compromise marketing activity to fit into the concept of collective responsibility
  2. Marketing folk rarely have the necessary accountancy and legal experience to be able to make commercially astute recommendations
  3. Marketing now requires a cross media inbound and outbound strategic plan delivered by market sector / audience specific tactical solutions that need real-time monitoring and adjustment - simply put it's getting more complicated!
  4. The decline in margins, overall profitability, shallow growth have been offset by cash reserves, low interest rates, low wages, and the fact that most companies for the past 5 years have been happy to tread water
  5. Great marketing only happens when the whole company from the Board Room down is driven by creating and managing expectations, and there are very few companies who have the ability or vision to even begin to get their heads around that idea
Why is this something you should worry about?

Well here's just 3 reasons to start the week off with:
  1. Within the next 12 months interest rates across the world will begin to rise, so the need to generate profits will become critical - so you need to get your marketing/sales act together fast
  2. Over the past 5 years most companies have relied on Google to deliver sales - when the economy moves just a little bit, those companies with a tried, trusted and responsive marketing plan will pick up those vital new green shoots first and then keep them
  3. If you have any marketing skills at all they are probably within one or two members of staff - if like in a load of SME's they have been under valued for many years, just watch then fly away as soon as new opportunities arise
I urge you to start to build a team on internal and external marketing and communications specialists to create and maintain a marketing programme for the next 5 years. In my opinion you have 1 to 2 years to invest or you'll have very little left to invest in.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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