The role of marketing has changed

People get into marketing, often because they think it is exciting with lots of variety and a tad glamorous. Some think its a sure way to make a lot of money. The latter can be true as in today’s market, the role of a marketing manager in an organisation is taken far more seriously than 20 years ago.

If I looked back over the 20 years I have been in marketing, there are been so many changes that the industry is comparitively no longer recognisable.

I started out typing scripts on an old fashioned type writer and my first office computer comprised of a Mac that did little more than typing in a couple of fonts.

Bromides were used to put advertisements in the newspaper and you didn’t really need a degree to have a marketing/advertising or PR role – just a bit of ambition and a lot of determination.

Now, not only do we use computers, smart phones and talk to people all over the world via the internet, we have to have a swag of degrees behind us in not just marketing, but also business and psychology as well. And… even then, we are not guanteed a top job.

A good marketing manager has many skills and small businesses often are left to the way-side when it comes to having the ability to have someone with these skills on-hand, helping make day to day decisions on where and when to spend a marketing budget.

Skills like;

• A firm understanding of the company and the dynamics of its business plan
• Strong and experienced marketing leadership to make decisions that are more likely to be successful than to end in failure
• Ability to bring a national or international perspective on marketing strategies
• Ability to know when to spend and when to keep the money in the bank
• Ability to bring your brand to life at every touch point in your organisation
• Ability to engage your team to believe in your brand and to ‘live it’ through every single communication internally or externally
• Ability to be not only your marketing champion but importantly your brand champion
• Ability to generate leads that result in sales.

The role of marketing has changed for the better. The demand on marketers to be smarter, faster and more equipped to tackle a changing economic environment, political turmoil and technology  advancements – is stronger than ever.

CEO’s and Managing Directors have a better understanding of the importance of marketing than they had even 10 years ago and budget is given where before it may have been withheld.

Marketing Managers and Executives are more equipped and are typically more rounded because of changes in marketing platforms but this needs to translate more to small business and what their goals are from a business perspective rather than simply a sales and brand perspective.

Has your business changed with your marketing needs, or are you still challenged to find the right mix?

Marketing Eye

Marketing Eye is Australia’s leading marketing consultancy firm. We help small businesses grow and connect with their customers to deliver sales results.

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