Ashley Payne, CPIA’s Post

Back in my client-side days, I had an executive tell me she wanted marketing to create a printed collateral piece that featured every single person who worked in one of our business verticals. Her sycophantic sales team thought it was a great idea. I the lowly marketing person did not for several reasons. 1. A piece like that makes it super easy for your competitors to know everyone in the vertical and come poaching. Why make it so easy? 2. The company had like a 40% turnover rate. We would have to reprint this thing every two weeks to keep up with the comings and goings. My boss and the other execs freaked when they heard this idea and it was killed. Just because an executive (who is brilliant at her job) has a marketing idea doesn't mean it's a good one.

🎯 Career in Marketing: First Sales, then Marketing? But why so? You must have heard that you first end up getting a sales role before getting into marketing. This is true as well as not true. For some companies, you can directly get a marketing or branding role, but for most, it won't be the case, especially the best ones, i.e. FMCG. Therefore, you generally have a training period of 2-3 years, and then you eventually get a brand role. But, you get paid well [if you're in a top company] But what is the rationale behind the same? 1. To make you understand how things work on-ground, how the distribution channel works and potential opportunities and threats. 2. Know Your Consumer better. Once you interact with your TG [Target Group], you eventually learn a lot from them and gain key insights into your product. 3. Understand your Competitor: You get to know what your competitor is doing and what you can do better. 4. You become a master of the entire value chain: You understand each and every bit of the value chain, which eventually leads to a better understanding of the business. My perspective: I feel it is extremely important for one to learn each and every aspect of the business before getting into marketing. I can't make a strategy for a brand without even knowing how my brand looks on a shelf and my customer journey. [Yash ka Gyaan] Let me know your take in the comments. I'll be more than happy to reply. Let's Connect: Yash Prasad

What helped me grow my career as a marketing manager? ✏️ As soon as I resumed the position as the marketing Manager for Enviable Transport Services, I leverage on the existing relationships and networks I have built over the years. Not much of a network but, it gave me a starting point. I strengthened my existing networks/relationships (customer relationships); using them as an entry point for a much larger network and this did the magic. For every network/relationship, I nurtured, ensuring it wasn't all about sales but, meaningful relationships, giving me access to more networks. A marketing manager needs viable network to succeed.

📣 Good Signals is ready to come out from under a rock and is looking for a *Marketing Manager* Everybody has heard of the tale about the cobbler’s shoes. Well, in this story, we’re the cobbler. We’re so focused on client work that we never get the time to do our marketing. Rather than taking time away from clients, we are seeking an enthusiastic and driven marketing manager with a growth mindset to raise the profile of Good Signals. I'll link to the deets in the comments. #marketingmanager #marketingjobs #marketingcareers

My guess is a lot of first time Head of Marketing roles don’t succeed because they can’t conceive a wholistic strategy to move the business forward. There are a lot of great individual marketers out there who excel in a function. They know the ins and outs of how to do various marketing tactics. And when given a goal or direction they can execute on it proficiently. But it’s a lot different when you are the one steering the ship. Translating a marketing plan to a business strategy requires more business knowledge than it does marketing skill. Why do you think first time Head of Marketing roles struggle? #b2bmarketing

COMING SOON IN MY NEWSLETTER: What is B2B field marketing? For most people, it is all about events. But field marketing is much more than just events. I’d say that events are just one aspect of field marketing. Let's face it, folks often confuse the role of field marketing. There is a lot of ambiguity and that is often due to the way various organizations define this role. Also, the name ‘field’ doesn’t really help its cause. Somewhere, very similar to how ‘product’ marketing is confused with different companies having different scope of work for PMM right from who product marketing reports to. Field marketing isn't just about building booths, organizing cocktails and passing out brochures. For me, B2B field marketing is integrated marketing for a region or segment. Field marketing is more specialized than general marketing, and it involves direct interactions with target people to build connections and brand recognition in a specific area With this context, I thought of penning down my thoughts on field marketing where I’ll break down certain elements and how they work along with central marketing. Let me know if there are any queries or topics you'd like me to cover

A demanding position in marketing

This. Marketing is "not one job, it’s at least three". It's strategy, promotion, sales support, project management and more. Yes, making things look pretty is in there somewhere too but: 🔹 Without good messaging and stories, marketing campaigns won't be effective. 🔹 Without promotion, no one will know who you are or that your product could solve their challenges. 🔹 Without alignment with sales, there's no way marketing can help drive pipeline. I highly recommend Seth's blog and books - currently enjoying "This is Marketing".