Do you really understand what marketing is?

What are the signs that you are missing the real value of marketing?  Are you only seeing part of the story and missing out on the real opportunity?

If you find yourself thinking along the following lines, you may be missing the point and the true value of what marketing can and should be doing for you… (my thanks to the plethora of marketers that provided this insight on a recent discussion group):

“they use lots of buzz works; not able to articulate the details. Does not understand that marketing has a lot to do with math and not just creative”.

“they confuse marketing with advertising, or make promises and then don’t achieve the results. We have to face it. Marketing is a results focused industry”.

“when they confuse marketing with sales support. Efforts solely focused on slick brochures, receptions and logo bearing giveaways aren’t “marketing”.

“people who confuse activity with marketing. People who dislike visiting plants, stores or talking to customers. People who mistake graphs as insight. People who spend more time on award entries than talking to the CFO. People who think they don’t have competition. People who say, “Well, this has always worked for us”.

“if I ask someone to explain their marketing strategy to me, and they launch into a twenty minute dissertation about their tactical forays into social media, it is obvious to me that they are probably clueless about marketing”.

“the moment they begin using words interchangeably .. marketing, sales, promotion, PR, publicity, etc … without regard to context”.

“where digital/e-marketers simply talk about Twitter and Facebook and sell SEO snake-oil expertise”.

“people that don’t think of the customer first”.

“people that equate marketing to advertising”.

“people in meetings that say statements like “well, I would never…” forgetting that they are not the customer”.

“when non-marketers within an organization believe they are experts and constantly try to dictate marketing tactics such as “I saw a great TV commercial and think we need to do a commercial too to build our brand”.

“a person might understand email marketing very well but not understand other channels and how they must leverage each other. Whether you call it integrated marketing, or connected marketing an accomplished marketer may not be a guru in every channel but will have a good understanding of how they can fit together to drive more powerful results”.

“they don’t get that it is an integral part of the entire process – from the conceptualization of a new product or service to pricing and naming and packaging, to the closing of a sale and to then managing the customer relationship afterwards.  Many people think that the time to engage marketing is AFTER they have a finished product idea, packaging and pricing and then the marketing guys will come in and figure out how to “sell” it by developing some collateral or creating some ads, etc. It is a short-sighted but not uncommon way of looking at marketing”.

“when they believe their opinions are truth and their own buying habits reflect something more than a sample of one”.

“want to “do marketing” but not willing to work on strategy first”.

“when they think marketing is just advertising or public relations or social media or lead generation. Their eyes narrow and they get suspicious when one begins to talk about integrated programs”.

“when marketing reports to sales because, after all, it’s just a sales support function”.

“when an executive says, “Hey, let’s do a roadshow,” or “We all know advertising doesn’t work,” or “Just buy a list and send out some emails”.

These views are just a sample of the descriptions of where the understanding of marketing falls short.  Can you see yourself in any of these?  If so, opportunity beckons – because you are definitely missing something from your marketing effort.

As a leader in an organization, truly understanding the value that marketing brings is critical your your sustainable success.  You cannot grow if you cannot lead your organization clearly and concisely, and marketing is one of the most critical components of that growth.  If you want to know what is missing and would like to unleash a comprehensive marketing approach that can help you dominate your market niche: be SMART.  We can help…. or email me.

Author: Neville Pokroy