What does a failing marketing department look like in a small or midsize business?
Marketing is one of the last core business functions to come in-house as a company grows.
When that first marketing employee is brought on, they are generally young, with little experience and sometimes without formal marketing education. But they are given a laptop, the title “marketing manager,” and then put to work.
In many cases, the newly minted marketing manager is working as a department of one with no colleagues or mentor, and is being asked to report to either a CEO or VP of Sales that may or may not have marketing experience either.
This means that there is an entire aspect of a business being operated and run by people who don’t truly understand how to do it.
This can look like:
- Marketing managers that think they are in charge of the marketing work: formatting email newsletters, updating social media feeds, writing copy, and managing any outside freelancers and agencies.
- CEOs that assume the marketing manager will also be in charge of marketing strategy: a job the marketing manager likely doesn’t know how to do on their own.
And so from day one, a fledgling marketing department — and its sole employee — are set up to fail.
I enable effective marketing management and revenue growth by fixing what’s really broken…
Dysfunction in marketing is rarely a result of bad vendors, employees, or tactics. Marketing fails when internal communication fails, when we lack real marketing leadership, and when our efforts are disconnected from business goals. Repairing marketing requires a few different levels of intervention:- Coaching for the executive to help them become a better manager of their small marketing department
- Mentoring for the marketing manager to give them the direction and skills they have been missing
- Installing a framework and tools for planning, budgeting, and prioritizing marketing goals and work
- Establishing a cadence for marketing collaboration and accountability
How I engage:
I’m available for monthly coaching contracts, project-based consulting, and workshop or retreat facilitation.