Let me write you an answer based on my experience in both medium-sized businesses (so 25+ employees) and several large businesses (let’s say 400+ employees, though part of an international brand consisting of thousands of employees). The challenges are oftentimes similar.
In no particular order
Not being taken seriously
In many organizations, marketing is seen as an expense, not a revenue contributor. No, SALES is where the money is made. And so it’s the sales director that gets to make the demands and sit in on the big meetings.
The truth is that modern revenue generation is an inter-departmental sport. Sales may be the strikers who get the ball in the net, it’s marketing that oftentimes makes the plays and gets the ball upfield.
Practically speaking, I’ve seen marketing being dismissed as “the brand guys and girls”, but everyone who’s seen a B2B demand generation funnel work knows this is baloney.
Proving the part marketing plays in revenue generation is why I love marketing automation. Because modern technology allows us to track and report on campaigns, on systems and on what marketing is actually bringing to the table.
Marketing is an art, not a science
So, being “data driven” is all the rage right now. And sure enough, having actual data informing you how your marketing systems are performing is excellent and useful.
However, no amount of data is going to tell you what to do next. You still have to be creative and make the right decisions.
The worst part is that what worked for your last company, might not work for this one. Heck, what worked in your previous campaign, might tank this one. It’s frustrating at times (but oh, so sweet when it works).
Marketing operates on principles that apply across the board, like: “Write from your customer’s perspective”. But, just like art, it takes a skilled professional to take those principles and successfully apply them to reality.
Lack of focus
I’ve seen this especially in larger companies. Especially when there’s an emphasis on branding. Branding is very vague. It doesn’t give you immediate feedback like “we got X conversions on this landing page”.
For some marketers, that’s just fine. They want to be creative, they want to work with emotions and design. But for others, including me, not getting direct feedback from your work is immensely frustrating.
The result can be that good marketers can bog down in their work. If no manager is telling them where they should go or what their numbers are, they can get phlegmatic in their work.
Just like sales reps, I think marketers should have targets and bonuses – even if not as individuals, but also as a team.
