Among all the functions involved in keeping your business going (and, ideally, prospering) – operations, manufacturing, finance, administration, customer service and support, and so on – you probably pay the least attention to marketing.
That is completely understandable. After all, those are either more tangible or immediate.
But one of the key functions that keeps your business going (and, ideally, prospering) is creating awareness of your business and the greater value your company offers – product or service –compared to the competitor across town or, more likely nowadays, across the ocean. And that function is marketing.
Yes, your company undoubtedly has a vice president of sales and marketing. But odds are, you view that person more through the lens of sales than of marketing (the former is both critical and tangible, while the latter can seem, well, squishy).
But today, while relationships between sales teams and potential or current customers are important, they are not wholly sufficient. This is particularly due to the economic impacts buffeting the industry, labor issues (according to HR consulting firm Mercer, turnover of sales professionals is 8.3%, so someone leaving can make a huge difference), and changes in how customers expect to get information about the products they’re interested in (think Google).
Your company and its products must be visible to customers and prospects, as well as to people who may want to work at your company because they like what they see. Assuming that they see it.
Marketing matters. But let’s face it: When a company must reduce spending, marketing is often one of the first things to get cut. After all, it isn’t that important, right?
Well, maybe not for the immediate future. However, if sales cycles last six to 18 months, at some point, cutting marketing will have deeper ramifications on revenues.
To better understand marketing’s what, how, and why, we interviewed three long-time practitioners who serve our industry.
They are:
Teresa Schell, president and owner, Vive LLC
Kyle Milan, CEO, chief revenue officer, and founder, Milan Media
Leslie Galbreath, CEO, DGS Marketing Engineers
While their observations differ, their approaches show a certain consistency: Marketing is more of a science than an art, more substantive than simply stylish.
Here’s what we gleaned that you may find useful for your understanding – and execution.
Measurement Matters
You likely have an operations dashboard that provides you with information regarding everything from inbound supplies to production operations to shipments. The data can show where things are working efficiently as well as bottlenecks and other opportunities for improvement. Similarly, tracking marketing performance is critical.
“I strongly believe that data has to support every decision in marketing, whether it’s a positive one or a negative one. This is no different than what executives track from their operational standpoint, right? If they want to make an adjustment to a process, they have to first identify data that supports that decision, and second, measure the results of their new decision.
“So, establishing KPIs [key performance indicators] for each marketing effort and implementing some way to track them and measure them and then making decisions based on that data is important.” – Milan
Marketing = Business Goals
The goal of marketing isn’t to have a website or a series of clever ads. It is to help drive forward business goals and objectives.
“It always has to start with strategy. So, our approach is very strategic. It’s insight-driven, and it’s really built for that long-term impact because marketing should be aligned with business goals. It should be driven by the audience and understanding who the company is and really designed to create a memorable impact that can be measured with numbers.” – Schell
Solid Approach
To develop a new product, you first determine whether anyone may be interested in buying it. Similarly, marketing needs to figure out the best way to help achieve business goals.
“My approach to marketing is rooted in substance over flash. Marketing should be substantive, not performative or decorative.
“We use the RPIE model: research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. We always start with research to understand what the objective is that we are trying to achieve.” – Galbreath
Money Matters
If you invest in a new machine, the reason is to generate more revenue. If you invest in marketing, the objective should be the same.
“My goal, at the end of the day, is to make people money, and that’s what our purpose is here. The best way and the fastest way for us to make people the most amount of return on their spend is to have involvement in the different facets of marketing.
“Creating content is one thing, but getting eyeballs on it – that’s what marketing is. Anybody can create an article, graphic, or social post, but turning that piece of creative into something that generates revenue – that’s what marketing does.” – Milan
One Approach: Three Cs
There needs to be alignment throughout an organization in terms of what it does and what it will or won’t do to achieve those ends. This must be consistent, not ever-changing. And to help drive it home, it should be articulated in a clever way. Externally, it isn’t a whole lot different.
“We focus on building communication plans that revolve around what I call the ‘three Cs’: clarity, consistency, and creativity.
“I think a lot of companies fall short because they don’t know what to say about themselves. So, the ‘clarity’ part comes in having a message foundation that clearly identifies what your core competencies are; what are those things that you do every day that might take for granted but set you apart?
“The ‘consistency’ is making certain that that message is delivered in all of the marketing channels on a consistent basis – your website says the same thing as your sales collateral, that says the same thing as your trade show booth. A lot of times, companies will have disconnected messaging – they put all of their energy into their website but don’t consistently have the same message for their sales tools or trade show booth.
“And then the ‘creativity’: We live in a day where our eyes catch things that are attractive to us. And because things happen in short periods of time, having a creative messaging foundation helps with telling your audience in a short period of time what you do and how you stand apart from your competition.” – Schell
How To Succeed
While it might seem that there is simply a universally accepted recipe that can be executed in order to achieve success, that’s not the case: Similarities notwithstanding, baking a pie and baking a cake are each done in their own way.
“Success requires clear alignment on goals. It requires measurable objectives and an understanding that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. We often get asked some version of
‘What will it take for us to be fill-in-the-blank?,’ whether it is market leader, increasing market share, or whatever is on the client’s mind.
“And it’s not always the answer they want to hear, but there is no magic bullet. What works for one organization won’t necessarily work for another.
“It comes back to having a research-based model and making sure that marketing is driven by strategy.” – Galbreath
Don’t Jump
It’s like the old saying: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Some firms are really good at creating websites. Some firms are really good at creating ads. And yet both are just creating tactics that may not coordinate with the business’s overall strategy.
“If someone jumps straight to saying, ‘You need social media’ or ‘You need paid ads’ without first going through the process of understanding the organization’s goals, challenges, and what the resources are, that’s a red flag.
“Everything has to be grounded, researched, and strategized first; the tactics come after.
“The tactics need to be designed as part of a strategy that then supports objectives.” – Galbreath
Know What You’re Getting
The point of marketing is not just creating awareness. It is about creating opportunities that can be turned into profitable sales. So, knowing whether those opportunities are paying off cannot be overlooked.
“Whether it’s selling a machine or selling a service, you have to track where that opportunity came from and what was done to influence that person to find you. So, if it’s from searching, then what are your current rankings on the search engine? What optimization is being performed so that your specified strategic keywords show up? If it’s paid media, is your paid media strategy generating not just leads and conversions but actual deals in the pipeline? If it’s efforts on social media, are you getting more positive brand awareness from those efforts on social, or are you generating leads from it? And by ‘lead’ I mean actual bodies that are qualified.
“If you exhibit at a trade show, are you measuring the results 12 months later? People will say, ‘We got 140 leads.’ That’s great in the moment, but how many of those resulted in deals? Usually, the response I get is, ‘Oh, our sales cycle is so long.’ OK, but that doesn’t mean you can’t track it. Even if your sales cycle is 12 months, you should be able to look back 12 months and say, ‘Where did that deal come from?’
“It’s a way to justify the marketing spend. You have to be able to track every single interaction back to some sort of source to justify why you’re spending money in those areas.” – Milan
Consistent
Although some people expect instant gratification, most things of value take time to achieve. You don’t just buy a pair of Nikes and then run a marathon.
“Marketing isn’t just a creative exercise with a checklist. It’s a disciplined process that needs clear ownership and sustained effort to deliver real ROI. Some companies will get impatient because they’re looking for immediate gratification, but when done right, an effective marketing program will build trust over the right period of time.” – Schell
Executive Function
Executives who say “I’ve got people for that” and then relinquish responsibility may have an easy go of it – for a little while. There has to be commitment. This doesn’t mean execution. It does mean understanding. This is true whether it is achieving quality or getting value from marketing.
“Marketing is an executive function. This doesn’t mean that a company president should be mired in the day-to-day execution of tactics. But they have to be invested in marketing as part of the value creation process. And without a seat at the table, so to speak, marketing will always fall short of its potential.
“To be effective, marketing professionals need direct access to the president and senior leadership team. Otherwise, you will find yourself executing tactics in a vacuum, rather than shaping strategy with the right inputs from the right people.
“So, marketing is an executive function. It shouldn’t be relegated to something that’s kind of done over here on the side. It needs to be championed by leadership to really give it its opportunity to work for the organization.” – Galbreath
Maintaining Flow
While marketing can be iterative – as in repeatedly promoting a particular message – and sequential – a series of actions that follow one another – it also needs to be consistent. It is not “one and done.” And while financial pressures from everything from supply chain disruptions to tariffs may necessitate spending cuts, taking a quick axe to the marketing budget may not be the way to keep business going in the not-too-distant future.
“Marketing is not a faucet that you turn on and turn off. It’s something that has to continuously flow at some level, otherwise your pipeline is going to become dry.
“Whenever I train industrial salespeople, I tell them the problems that they’re facing today with their pipeline are from their actions from 60 days ago or from six months ago, something they weren’t doing six months ago. And now they’re paying the price because their pipeline has dried up. To start that up again, they’ll need a three- to six-month runway.
“Some companies think they can turn off marketing, and then when they want more revenue, they’ll turn it on again.
“But not only is it going to take six months to build up, but maybe their competitors didn’t stop their programs, and they kept taking market share.
“It may be the fastest area to cut, but I think what people need to realize is that cutting your entire marketing budget isn’t a smart move.
“Being more strategic about how you execute it is the better play.” – Milan
Your Marketing. Your Market.
Manufacturers interested in improving their marketing tactics through better data on markets, market direction, and customer base are invited to contact AMT Research Services. While open to general manufacturing companies, AMT membership benefits include complimentary research requests.
To read the rest of the Sales & Marketing Issue of MT Magazine, click here.
