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At Repeat, we love marketing managers and want to give them the credit they deserve. So without further ado, here are some of the reasons why we think marketing managers are one of the most important roles in any company.
They have to wear multiple hats
Marketing has so many avenues you can go down, from PPC and SEO, to print, email, expos, social media, graphic design, and so much more! What makes a marketing manager special is that they often have skills in many areas of marketing and need to switch between their hats at will. A lot of businesses think they can hire a single marketing manager to take care of it all. Now marketing managers are incredible, but they’re not superhuman and need support in areas of marketing where their skills don’t lie. Usually, assistance can arrive in the form of another in-house marketer or an agency to complement their existing skills.
They’re depended on to grow the business
Where do most company sales come from? Most people think it’s the sales department, but the majority of the time they actually come from marketing. Without an awesome marketing plan and strategy businesses often run around in circles with little direction. Sure, businesses can grow without a proper marketing plan, maybe through direct sales, referrals and upselling current clients. However, they grow a lot faster and more consistently with a well-thought-out marketing strategy.
It can be a lonely role
In smaller companies, there’s often only a sole marketer. When you have no one who talks your lingo in the company, you can’t bounce ideas off each other (Carol from finance doesn’t care about what creative would work best as a Facebook ad, she just cares about how much you’re spending on the ad!).
Having to deal with other departments (mainly sales)
When sales targets aren’t hit by the sales department, who do they blame? Once again it’s marketing! We’ve often seen marketing being used as a scapegoat for poor sales performance. When the monthly sales conversion rates are lower it must be that the marketing leads were rubbish, not the fact that Gary from sales kept picking his nose in sales calls.
Not always getting the credit
A wrong that needs to be made right is not giving marketing the credit it deserves. Yes, sales did close the incredible business deal. However, it was handed to them on a silver platter after the months spent nurturing that lead through the marketing funnel. The worst part is it’s the salespeople that get paid a commission when arguably the marketing department has had the biggest influence on winning the business. How is that fair!?
Dealing with people who think they know marketing
Another thing we’ve seen is a marketing manager being brought into a company but not being given much say in the actual marketing because the company owner thinks they know best. Sometimes it’s an operation or salesperson who was in charge of the marketing previously. Whoever it was, we know the pain and awkwardness of delicately having to pry the marketing responsibilities from them, dispose of their existing ideas and burn them into oblivion.
Having to keep on-brand
Marketing managers frequently have amazing creative ideas that will benefit their companies tenfold, only to be told that it’s not on-brand. We’ve seen many of our clients having to go back to the drawing board and tone back their awesome ideas, probably to the point where the campaign is less likely to bring in the results the business wants. The real skill that marketing managers possess is the ability to take something pretty boring, make it exciting and deliver results, all whilst remaining on brand.
Hearing “marketing isn’t that important”
What’s the first thing that gets cut when the business runs into some economic trouble? Yep, you guessed it, marketing budgets! Now this does make sense if the company truly does need to cut costs to survive while the overall market goes into meltdown. However, in most cases, the companies that come out the other side of a recession strongest are generally the companies that kept spending on marketing.
Conclusion (spoiler – marketing managers kick-ass)
From the above, it’s obvious that marketing managers frankly are the bee’s knees. From having to deal with a load of BS, a lack of appreciation and controlling company policies, it’s not an easy role at all. This paired with being an essential component of a successful and growing business only makes it harder but all the more valuable. Now we understand that not all these points relate to all companies but from our experience of working with 50+ marketing managers, these were the common themes our clients have shared with us. Anyway, this is dedicated to marketing managers who deserve more. We love you, stay strong!