By Deb Dietz, President and CEO of SMB Value Partners, Inc.
SMB Learnings from the "Marketing 2020 Study”
“The Marketing 2020 Study” is the most comprehensive marketing leadership study ever undertaken, recently conducted by the Association of National Advertisers, the World Federation of Advertisers, Spencer Stuart, Forbes, and more. There are several key learnings / takeaways that every sized company leader must pay attention to. The study found that companies that are sophisticated in their use of data grow faster and that these organizations understand that the Marketing function is no longer a back office, operational entity but a driver of revenue growth, extending their reach throughout the firm, engaging virtually every department.
The study uncovered the winning characteristics of successful firms; success being described in the study as over performers on the basis of their companies’ three-year revenue growth relative to their competitors’. The winning characteristics of these over performers are:
- Data focus, deep insights. The high performers were distinguished by their ability to integrate data on what customers are doing, with knowledge of why they’re doing it.
- Purposeful positioning. Top companies excel at delivering on their brand benefits. These benefits lie at the heart of their brand strategies, but also their employee and operational strategies.
- Total experience. Companies are increasingly enhancing the value of their products by creating customer experiences; long-term, highly engaging customer experiences.
The study also resulted in an understanding that Marketing has become far too important to be left just to the ‘marketers’ in the company. To deliver a seamless experience, one informed by data and instilled with brand purpose, all employees in the company must share a common vision. These successful firms connect a full spectrum Marketing function to the company goals while bridging organizational silos by integrating marketing and other functional areas, and ensuring the marketing leaders don’t just plug in some operational services with the company’s plan, they actively engage in creating those plans.
If your organization’s Marketing department is siloed and not engaging in cross-functional strategic alignment, you may want to consider a different organizational structure that will support your company growth goals. If most of your Marketing resources are strictly communications-focused, consider adding/shifting to more strategic marketing resources. Strategic marketing initiatives will help achieve the company’s growth goals by connecting cross-functional teams, ensuring those teams are working towards common objectives and being held jointly accountable for results.
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