Is Marketing a Strategic Contradiction?
April 30th, 2011 Posted in NewsletterIs Marketing a Strategic Contradiction?
by Paul DiModica
Is marketing a staff position designed to support the sales team or the marketing department’s own agenda?
Is marketing a line position responsible for creating corporate revenue?
Should corporate management cut back on marketing investments and just hire more salespeople?
All of these questions are asked by executive management on a monthly basis. We all know that we need marketing, but do marketing investments help salespeople or do they fail to deliver strategic help?
Marketing Investments Should Increase Revenue.
The goal of marketing investments should be to help salespeople sell more. Here is a Marketing Success Test based on independent research of approaches that work in today’s market.
Marketing Success Test
- Does your marketing create at least 3 qualified leads per month for each salesperson?___Yes ___No
- Does brand marketing have higher budget allocation in your company than lead generation for your sales team?___Yes ___No
- Do you create documented inbound leads from your web site every month?___Yes ___No
- Do you know what your Customer Conversion Ratio (CCR) is from your web site leads (i.e., unique visitors per day that become sales leads)?___Yes ___No
- Do you have weekly electronic marketing devices for customers and prospects (i.e., eNewsletters, email offerings, etc.)?___Yes ___No
- Do you calculate marketing ROI for each marketing investment?___Yes ___No
- Is your print material budget greater than your lead generation budget?___Yes ___No
- Have you redesigned your web site during the last 12 months?___Yes ___No
- Do you have interactive business-to-business offerings (i.e., downloadable white papers, sign-ups for webinars, etc.) for new prospects and existing customers on your web site?
___Yes ___No - Has your marketing department gone on sales calls to new prospects with the sales team during the last 12 months?___Yes ___No
Correct Answers:
| 1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes 4. Yes 5. Yes |
6. Yes 7. No 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes |
Each correct answer is worth 10%.
“Marketing is not brochures, brand advertising or attending trade shows. Marketing is creating revenue or it is a wasted investment.”
The following charts reveal some interesting facts and trends:
Top Three Marketing Priorities this Year
According to US Marketing Executives, 2005
(as a % of respondents)
| Drive revenue growth | 45% |
| Customer acquisition/retention/satisfaction | 36% |
| Align the marketing function with business goals/strategy | 35% |
| Measure marketing program productivity/RO | 22% |
| Sales/marketing alignment | 21% |
| Cross-functional coordination | 18% |
| Integrate marketing programs | 17% |
| Enhance/increase the usage of interactive marketing programs | 16% |
| Drive new product development | 16% |
| Drive innovation | 14% |
| Build a stronger relationship with executive peers | 11% |
| Manage loyalty to brand, channel, and employees | 11% |
| Strategic planning and portfolio management | 10% |
| Transform the marketing function from a product focus to a corporate focus | 7% |
| Increase the marketing budget | 6% |
| Build a stronger relationship with the press | 6% |
| Build a stronger relationship with the CEO | 5% |
| Internal education about marketing practices and results | 5% |
| Understand and capitalize on advancements in technologies for marketing | 4% |
| Source: CMO Magazine, April 2005 Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract. |
|
US Technology Vendors Who Have
a Methodology for Measuring the Quality
of B2B Sales Leads to Determine the
Return on Marketing Investments, 2004
(as a % of respondents)
| Yes | 74% |
| No | 26% |
| Source: TechTarget, Bitpipe, December 2004 Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract. |
|
ROI Metrics Tracked by US Marketing
Executives 2005 (as a % of respondents)
| Customer satisfaction | 51% |
| Market share relative to key competitors | 44% |
| Web site traffic | 43% |
| Feedback from sales and channel groups | 36% |
| Brand awareness | 34% |
| Revenue impact of select marketing programs | 34% |
| Qualified leads | 34% |
| Advertising effectiveness | 30% |
| Do not have a formal marketing measurement system in place | 26% |
| Revenue impact of all marketing programs | 25% |
| Customer churn | 18% |
| Stock price | 17% |
| Share of mind and brand equity | 15% |
| Others | 3% |
| Source: CMO Magazine, April 2005 Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract. |
|
Methods that US Technology Vendors Used
and Plan to Use to Generate B2B Sales Leads,
2004 & 2005 (as a % of respondents)
|
Used in 2004
|
Plan to Use-2005
|
|
| E-Mail promotion |
85%
|
88%
|
| White papers |
79%
|
86%
|
| Webcasts |
57%
|
74%
|
| Search engine listing optimization |
55%
|
70%
|
| Direct mail |
60%
|
68%
|
| Online newsletter advertising |
55%
|
68%
|
| Search keyword purchase |
59%
|
67%
|
| Telemarketing |
58%
|
65%
|
| Print advertising |
52%
|
59%
|
| Promotion of product literature |
47%
|
58%
|
| Banner advertising |
49%
|
55%
|
| Blogs |
7%
|
17%
|
| Source: TechTarget, Bitpipe, December 2004 Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract. |
||
Marketing Functions that Provide the
Greatest Return on Investment (ROI)
according to US CMOs, Q4, 2004
(as a % of respondents)
| Direct response (e-mail and mailings) |
31%
|
| Event marketing (trade shows, conferences, etc.) |
15%
|
| Public relations |
14.4%
|
| Web site and interactive programs |
9.6%
|
| Channel programs and marketing development funds |
8.6%
|
| Advertising (online and offline) |
5.9%
|
| Research and competitive intelligence |
5.3%
|
| Promotions and incentives |
4.3%
|
| Packaging and point-of-sale |
0.5%
|
| Other |
5.3%
|
| Source: CMO Council, February 2005 Provided to Paul DiModica by eMarketer.com under contract. |
|
Walter Wise
Business Success Architect
BPI Strategy Group
617-532-0918
TWITTER: BPIStrategy
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