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For marketing to plan and implement product campaigns in a company, they are too far away from the customer. It is common for companies to approach the sales chain in an ancient way. In order to sell your products or services, the order of the planned processes is wrong: manufacture, plan the sales on the rice board and let the marketing construct how the customer is persuaded that he should or wants to buy. Here the customer is not in focus, customer centricity is at most a buzzword in project plans.
The attitude of some individuals is just as troublesome or even inhibits sales. Since marketing is not responsible for sales or planning, it sees no reason to think outside the box and contribute experiences or ideas. Processing the assigned tasks is easier. Companies are already merging with service providers, suppliers and also with customers, but rarely within themselves.
But they have to in order to remain successful in the future. As the market evolves, so too must the company with marketing. Networked marketing that can immediately plan and make sales decisions is more agile. Agility wins, agility is smart. Tomorrow’s marketers recognize current customer needs in real time and deploy the right solution for each customer. This significantly minimizes budget errors and optimizes spending in a targeted manner. In this way, a customer-focused product becomes a situational solution portfolio. In other words: It is no longer about selling something, but about offering a solution.
But what is sought is not the egg-laying comfort milk sow of the sales industry. We are also not looking for a colleague (m / f / d) who blindly unwinds the Instagram marketing 1×1. Of course, knowing it doesn’t hurt. But in an increasingly technical market, understanding technology may be more important. Because: Every company today is ultimately a software-driven company. We are therefore looking for employees who can not only operate the software, but also recognize the potential of the software. Get out of a micro-Instagram level, into the meta-company level, just to be more agile.
To do this, marketing must also receive the mandate and the necessary backing in the company. Because: The requirements for employees inevitably result in requirements for marketing within a company. Needless to say, boosting marketing can be a great source of revenue. Marketing must be integrated directly into product decisions and information and also have access to other disciplines, which are also used to shape the brand experience. Then companies don’t just talk about it, they really focus on the customer. That is real customer centricity.
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The good thing about it is that it also has a direct impact on the company’s (sales) success. By putting marketing first, companies are not putting their own interests behind. With the newly created real-time status, the information on product development and market feedback is not played back every quarter. Marketing knows the timing and needs, can react quickly, positively influence production and makes a decisive contribution to ensuring that the company can act in real time according to the situation.
Of course, not all responsibility rests on the shoulder of marketing. From IT to HR: Other departments should also be more sales-centric in their orientation. However, as the spearhead of the customer, marketing is most affected. This is where a new understanding of the job description is most likely needed. Changing processes, re-sorting priorities and granting a say, of course, doesn’t just happen overnight. But with the best of intentions it is neither impossible nor an excuse to let it go.
It’s time to rethink. The new marketing lives in real time and is called Now Marketing.
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