Why marketing managers are now responsible for revenue

As clever as I use to think marketers were, they are now becoming the masterminds of how to run a more efficient, effective and profitable sales department. Using technologies like marketing automation, e-marketing, webinars and so on, marketers are sourcing prospects or having them find you, then nurturing them all the way to a sale. 

For old school CEO's who foolishly drop marketing budget when times get tough, be prepared to pay the price. It's not by accident that the "small guys", many of which work with companies like Marketing Eye, are capturing marketshare at a speed you could only dream of. They have embraced the "now" and let go of what use to work, to spiral their companies in an upward direction.

And I say all of this... talking from experience.

Organisational restructure

Not only do my team at Marketing Eye work with hundreds of small to medium-sized businesses, we also are spearheading change in their organisational structure. That means delivering a model that encompasses an inside sales platform to better support revenue growth and give marketers greater ownership of the financial outcomes derived from their expenditure.

It is with this experience that we restructured Marketing Eye last year, changing what we do and how we do it to accomodate the role change of marketers within organisations that we work with.

Marketing takes the lead in customer experience

With the rise and rise of the internet, marketings role in taking the lead in the customer experience is key to having a competitive advantage. Taking responsibility for the end-to-end experience of a customer's lifetime has become much easier with a firmer understanding of the customers life cycle and relevant availability of analytics that help shape how marketers communicate brands across each touch point.

Digital and data is everything

Who would have thought that the marketing budget would be dominated with technology spend - think e-marketing, marketing automation, analytics tools, marketing dashboards, customer relationship management software, influencer reach software, and sales automation. It's dominating the mix and powering one-to-one marketing like never before. I am personally waiting for one software to bring everything together on one platform - but this sadly is yet to come.

Revenue means accountability 

Old school marketers or those who don't exactly know how all of these different platforms that are available to the marketing function roll-out, are in for a rude shock. CEO's and entrepreneurs READ and as such they are becoming more equipped on what to expect from their marketing managers. It's scary because no-one knows what is going to be asked of them next and it is difficult for marketers to keep up with what is going on in the marketing world. There also is not one platform that a marketer can go to to find the answers - so time poor marketers are losing their grip on what's best for the companies they are responsible for.

Australia is behind the times

I love Australia and am the first to say that we have some of the most talented creatives in the world, sitting in the hotspots of Sydney and Melbourne. But I would be lying if I said that in general Australian marketers are at the forefront of this changing marketing world that we live in. I am constantly interviewing marketers and am gobsmacked at their lack of understanding on marketing automation, content and technology in general. Too many are living under a rock.

What changes need to occur

The role of industry bodies needs to be restructured to be less focused on what "speakers" or "education" mediums are available and more focused on the best of the best notion. That means bringing in people who actually have been there and done that in the newer marketing paradigm. People that can show how through their marketing leadership they were able to increase sales significantly. 

Marketers need to be talking more about revenue and what it means to the marketing department - less about creative or catching up on content. The ladder will fall into play once the responsibility of revenue is given to the marketing team.

What do you think?