The 10 responsibilities of marketing departments - Sales ...

Conceptually, a brand is a representation of the feelings that the products, services and company shares show. The marketing department is responsible for ... CatalogManagement SalesTips ProductInformation ManagementTools Insider GetStarted CatalogManagement SalesTips ProductInformation ManagementTools Insider GetStarted SalesTips The10responsibilitiesofmarketingdepartments ÁlvaroVerdoy · December23,2013 Inmanycompanies,marketingdepartmentsturnintoakindofcatch-all:theydolotsoftasksthatinmostcasesarenotrelatedinanywaytoeachother. Acommonsituationisthatataskarrivestothecompanyandthesequestionsarise: Wouldthiscorrespondtothepurchasingdepartment?No. Wouldthiscorrespondtothesalesdepartment?No. Wouldthiscorrespondtotheaccounting?No. Thenthismustbeataskforthemarketingdepartment. However,acompanywithoutamarketingdepartmentoratleastadepartmentinchargeofmarketingisunconceivable.Allcompaniesarebeingawarethattheyneedtogettheirmessagetotheclientthroughthemarketingdepartment. Ifit’sthatimportant,howcomeendsupbeinga‘doesitall’department?Whataretherealdutiesofamarketingdepartment? Inthispostyou'llfind10tasksthataretheresponsibilityofthemarketingdepartment.Allofthemhaveacrucialimportanceinensuringthesurvivalofyourcompany. The10 responsibilitiesofmarketingdepartments 1.Listeningtocustomerneeds Toestablishamarketingstrategy,it’snecessarytogetclosertotheclientsandlisteninordertofindoutwhattheirneedsare.It’samarketingdepartmenttask,toplanthenecessarymeansforreceivingcustomerfeedback: Companyinternalchannels:Createsurveysorcaptureinformationofthesalesteamandcustomersupport(departmentsclosesttothecustomer)thatmayberelevanttoenhancingorredirectingthemarketingstrategiesinthefuture. Channelsoutsidethecompany:Performsearchesandcreateactionsinsocialnetworksthathelptobetterunderstandtheneedsofusers,inordertoconvertthemintocustomers.   2.Tracktrendsandmonitorcompetition Similartothepreviouspoint,it’simportanttoknowthepositionofthecompanyregardingthemarketandthecompetition.That'swhyfrommarketing,youmustwatchthecompetitiontolearnwhattheydobestortoidentifytheirmistakesinordertoavoidfallingintothem.   3.Workandbrandvalues Conceptually,abrandisarepresentationofthefeelingsthattheproducts,servicesandcompanysharesshow.Themarketingdepartmentisresponsibleforcreatinganddisseminatingimages,messagesandideasthatbestcommunicatethebrandvalues. Additionally,youmustensurethatallcompanydepartmentsconveythesemessagesinaconsistentandunifiedway.   4.Searchingfornew(andhelpful)marketing'tools Beenupdatedinallwhatconcernsthemarketingfieldisamust.That'swhyasmarketersweshouldbeconsciousaboutthenewtrends,strategiesanddigitaltoolsthatarisebythetime. Nowadaystherearethreetypesofmarketingtoolsthatmusthaveapresenceineverymarketingdepartment:  ProductManagementtools Therearemanytypesofproductmanagement softwaredependingonourproductmanagementroutine.ItcanincludetoolsforProjectTracking(suchasBasecamporSlack);UserFeedback,perfectforcollectingcustomersimpressions(toolslikeSurveyMonkey,Cannyareuseful);andobviously,analyticstoolssuchasGoogleAnalytics(wellknownglobally)orKissmetrics,thatareamusttodeterminedtheourproductsuccessandthosewebareaswithgreatestorlowestinteraction.  Marketingautomationtools Thepowerofthis"allinone"platformsisthepossibilityofmanagingandcontrollingalltheprocessesofourdigitalmarketingstrategy.Thesetoolsincludethepossibilityofcreatingcontent,landingpages,emailmarketing,leadnurturingwithautomatedworkflows,CRM,etc...Hubspotistheperfectexampleofacompletemarketingautomationtool. ProductInformationManagementtools Maybeyouhaven'theardbeforeaboutit,ormaybeyouknowitasPIM.Thisdigitalsolutionallowsyouinrealtimecollecting-storing-analyze-distributeallyourproductcontentinalltheplatforms,marketplacesandchannelswhereproductsarepublished.Also,ithasbecomeanallyforthecreationandupdatesalesmaterials:catalogs(online&offline),pricelistings,etc.It'spossibilitiesseemunreal,butitoffersmorebenefitsandadvantagesforyourmarketingteam,finditallinthisguide. 5.Coordinateeffortswiththoseofthemarketingpartnersofthecompany Aroundthebusiness’smarketingtherearelotsofcontributors:publishers,designers,journalists,consultants...Theworkofthesecontributorsmustbealignedwiththeobjectivesofthecompany,andisthedepartmentitselfwhoshouldcontrolittodoso. 6.Innovate Customersneedtobesurprised,andeveryday,giventhehigheroffer,theyaremoredemandingwiththis.Themarketingdepartmentshouldworkonnewpromotions,affiliateprograms,customerretentiontechniques,improvementsintheconversionoftheirmessagesandactions… It’snotamatterofinventingentirelydifferentdisruptiveactions;you’llfindinnovationinthesmalldetailsandinthecontinuousimprovement.   7.Communicatewiththerestofthecompany Acompanyisachainofmemberspursuingacommongoal:tofulfilitsmissionandmaximizeitsprofits,whilerespectingtheprinciplesofbusinessethics. Achainisasweakasitsweakestlink.Itdoesn’tmatterthatthecommercialorproductiondepartmentaredoinganimpeccablejob,ifthemarketingdepartmentfails,theentirecompanywillfailandtheeffortsofotherdepartmentswillbeinvain.Thatiswhythemarketingdepartmentmustensurethattheiractionsarealignedwiththeoverallobjectivesofthecompanyandthattheyreporttheworktheyaredoing.   8.Helpimprovesalesprocessesandcustomer Asmentionedabove,it’stheresponsibilityofthemarketingdepartmenttoknowtheusersandespeciallythecustomers’feelings. Agoodwayforbetterknowingthecustomeristhatalldepartmentsthathavemoredirectcontactwiththecustomershallbeworkingwiththeempathymaps.   9.Managemarketingbudgets&CalculatetheROI (ReturnOfInvestment)ofthecompany’sactions Likeanyotherdivision,themarketingdepartmentshouldbeabletoplanitsbudgetforthenextyear’sactivities,stretchingitinordertomakethemostofit,forensuringapositiveROI.Becauseasyouknow,marketingactivitiesareaninvestmentoftime,moneyandeffort.Andlikeeveryinvestment,itrequiresmeasuringactionsinordertocheckwhethertheymeettheintendedobjectivesandinordertocompareacertainactionwithothers.Facedwithquestionsas'shouldIinvestintelemarketing,socialmedia,traditionalmedia...?'Theanswerisunique:measurethemallandchoosebasedonthenumbers.   10.Definestrategicmarketingplans Themostcost-effectivestrategiesarethosethatareplannedforthelongterm.Todoso,youmustdraftadocumentsettingouttheobjectivestobeachievedinthefollowingmonths;theactionsthataretobeundertaken;thestrengthsofthecompany;thecompetition;thetargetmarkets...Inaddition,thesestrategicplansmustalsobealignedbothwiththestrategicplanofthecompanyandwithotherdepartments’plans. Attheendoftheday,planningistheonlywaytoachievethesetobjectives. →Tips&tricks:Howtodesignatopbrandmarketingstrategy   Finalthoughts Byreadingthese10obligations,you’llbethinking“howcanIfindtimeforthat?”. Ifyouglanceatwhattakesmoretimeinyourbusiness,surelyyou’llfindthatrepetitivetaskswithlittleaddedvalueoccupythemost.Forthisreasonit’simportantthatyouremovethesetasksfromroots,otherwiseyou’llfailtoaccomplishthetasksthatamarketingdepartmentshouldreallydedicateit’stimeto:reach,attractandretaincustomers. SalesLayercanhelpyougettingridofrepetitivetasks,disseminatingproductinformationinallsaleschannelsautomatically(web,e-commerce,Amazon,eBay,mobile,paper...).Requestfree30-daytrialtolearnhow.   Relatedarticles SalesTips WhatisLeadScoringandHowItCanHelpYouBoostSales Howtoapplyleadscoringinyouronlinestoreandqualifyyourleads. MiguelGiner SalesTips ProductExperience:Thebestwaytoboostyoursales HowtoimproveyourProductExperiencewithaPIMplatform. SusoTormo SalesTips WhatisLargestContentfulPaintandHowtoOptimizeItonYourWebsite PracticesforimprovingtheloadingspeedofyourecommercewebsiteinGoogle. MadalenaCastro Subscribetoournewsletter Getallthelatestnewsandtrendsaboutproductexperiencedirecttoyourinbox. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Close About Company Jobs Blog LegalNotice Privacypolicy SLA SalesLayer Organize Connect Analyze Pricing Catalogs Resources Helpcenter Webinars CaseStudies eBooks BrandAssets Social Twitter Linkedin Instagram Facebook EN ES DE