How Can B-to-B Marketers Take Back Their Territory from Sales, Ops and IT and Regain Control of the Marketing Function?

I see a disturbing trend in marketing. More and more marketing functions are being distributed to other parts of the organization. (Just think about the 4 Ps — price, placement, promotion, and product. How many B-to-B marketing organizations own pricing or product? Very few.) This trend of marketing dilution persists as technology continues to transform the role of marketing.

A few years ago, I began to notice how marketing and sales operations (SMOPS) groups were being combined. I’ve seen SMOPS report to marketing as well as to sales and operations. When I spoke with SMOPS leaders about why they were in one organization or another, it really came down to relevant mindset and skill set. This new structure could mean more dilution of marketing responsibilities if marketing has the wrong perspective and capabilities.

Sales is also owning the demand generation function. If you are a marketer, you might think this is a crazy idea, but I was a vice president of sales for many years, and if I had that role today, I would do just about anything to ensure that the demand generation team reported to sales. The demand generation team is a revenue impact team and, I’d want to control the entire funnel, beginning with marketing activities.

How do you marketing leaders guard against the watering down of their departments? First, you need to accept all the new responsibilities inherent in being a B-to-B marketer in 2018. This means adopting a new mindset, developing a new skill set and instituting a new tool set.

A New Mindset

Your mindset is a way of thinking. Your mindset is the collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your behavior and habits. How do you think about marketing? What do you believe is marketing’s role?

There are two beliefs about marketing that shape today’s successful B-to-B marketer: that B-to-B marketing is a revenue- and growth-driver of the organization and that B-to-B marketing is enabled by technology.

In companies where marketing is a revenue- and growth-driver, marketing isn’t facing dilution. Rather, marketing in these organizations is actually acquiring more responsibilities. To cease and reverse the dilution of the marketing function requires the right mindset. This is often the most difficult step because not just marketing, but sales, finance and the executive team may have to change as well.

In organizations where marketing is diluted, marketing is often viewed as a “pens and mugs” and “activity-based” department. I was working with a company that had recently merged sales ops and marketing ops and the new combined team reported to sales. I asked the sales leader why? His response was that marketing just did not have a sales mindset. They were creative types and happy in that role.

Once the right mindset is established, it can then be supported by the right skill set and the right tool set.

A New Skill Set

More attention is being paid to new technology than training marketers to acquire new skill sets, creating more opportunities for dilution of marketing.

I was working with a large company whose marketing team was not viewed as very technical or analytical. When the marketing ops group was formed, it fell under the IT department. This is often a mistake as marketing ops is not an IT function — it is marketing on steroids. Had marketing might acquired the right mindset and skill set, it could have owned marketing operations.

A New Tool Set

The tool set required for modern marketers is typically not a problem, although some B-to-B marketers still operate without marketing automation. Most marketing teams actually have too much technology. They don’t know how to optimize the tools they have. Determining what to buy, how integrate and what to capture becomes a highly technical and analytical role within the company. For this reason, I often see marketing borrow this capability from other parts of the organization — especially around analytics. This is a big mistake. If you want to own all of your potential, you need to have this capability fully in marketing. Not doing so sets up more potential dilution and eliminates new responsibilities.

The Plus in the Equation

It’s not all negative news for marketing. One exciting addition to marketing responsibilities is customer engagement. Marketing is beginning to lead the pivot away from product-focused to customer-focused companies by creating optimal customer experiences at every stage of the life cycle. Customer engagement is an exciting set of new responsibilities for marketing, but marketing groups that are highly diluted will never get the chance to lead and participate.

As the role of marketing continues to evolve, marketers must also evolve and become customer-focused change agents, accountable for revenue. Guard against dilution by understanding the changes, challenges and possibilities open to you as a modern marketer. Then take proactive measures to get your mindset, skill set and tool set in alignment. This alignment is key to helping your company become a customer-centric organization.

About the Author | Debbie Qaqish

Debbie Qaqish is principal partner and chief strategy officer of The Pedowitz Group. She manages global client relationships and leads the firm’s thought leadership initiatives. She has been helping B-to-B companies drive revenue growth for over 35 years.