In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the role of marketing can often be misunderstood. We've all been there—marketers working with colleagues who don't fully understand marketing's role or hold outdated stereotypes of its value-add. Modern marketers know that marketing has evolved far beyond traditional promotional activities, becoming a crucial driver of business growth, strategic decision-making, and long-term customer relationships. For both B2B and B2C leaders, understanding the full scope and impact of marketing is essential to unlocking their company's true potential.
Having spent my entire career in business and marketing, I've witnessed an incredible evolution over the past 25+ years. The pace of change has only increased, keeping me continually engaged from my early days as an intern at a database marketing company, through my time in the advertising agency space, and on the enterprise side, to co-founding Growthential with my business partner Chris. Each experience has brought unique learnings, continually shaping my perspective on marketing's possibilities and its undeniable value for business growth.
Marketing as a Strategic Driver
Marketing is a cornerstone of business growth, playing an essential role in shaping and guiding strategic decision-making. For business leaders looking to unlock their company's full potential, it's crucial to recognize that marketing is far more than just promotional activities. It provides vital market intelligence, helps identify target markets, and deciphers complex decision-making processes, all of which are pivotal in crafting effective business strategies for both B2B and B2C sectors. By appreciating the depth and breadth of marketing's capabilities, leaders can leverage its power to drive sustained growth and success.
Building Awareness and Relationships
Through compelling messaging and strategic outreach, marketing drives awareness, generates leads, and converts them into long-term business relationships, directly contributing to revenue growth. Marketing also plays a crucial role in building and maintaining customer relationships, fostering loyalty, and encouraging repeat business. Moreover, marketing helps position the subject matter expertise and thought leadership of brands, establishing them as industry leaders. In today's digital age, marketing leverages advanced technologies and data-driven personalization to reach decision-makers and consumers more efficiently and effectively. This enhances brand reputation and market presence, differentiating businesses from competitors.
Informing Business Strategy
Additionally, marketing informs product development, pricing strategies, and competitive positioning, ensuring alignment with business goals and optimal resource allocation. By identifying and capitalizing on growth opportunities, marketing helps businesses expand into new markets, secure key accounts, and introduce new products or services. Marketing's contributions extend across cross-functional departments, supporting a cohesive and integrated approach to achieving sustainable business success. Recognizing the full value of marketing is essential for driving growth and ensuring long-term competitiveness in both B2B and B2C environments.
Embracing Modern Marketing Technologies
Furthermore, marketing today is a multidimensional and highly technical discipline. The number of marketing technology solutions has seen meteoric growth over the last decade, from a modest 150 in 2011 to a staggering 14,106 in 2024. These solutions introduce capabilities and efficiencies that address legacy issues negatively impacting growth potential. Business leaders must invest in learning, including spending time with their CMOs and strategic partners, to deepen their knowledge of modern marketing tools. Additionally, partnering with technology leaders within the business is crucial for ensuring seamless integration with existing workflows and infrastructure. This collaboration enhances the effectiveness of marketing efforts and ensures that technological advancements are fully leveraged to drive growth and competitiveness.
Perception Challenges in Marketing
Yet, many modern marketing leaders still grapple with the perception of their role. In a recent McKinsey podcast analyzing the CEO–CMO relationship and its effect on growth, a troubling finding was highlighted:
"The troubling thing is that the CMOs are being more moved to being the executors of the strategy than helping create the strategy. But where we see it work really well is that they’re at that table doing both."
Evidence of Marketing’s Impact
In The power of partnership: How the CEO–CMO relationship can drive outsize growth, McKinsey provides insights from a survey they conducted last year with input from the Growth Council and board of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). The results reinforce the impact that marketing can have on business growth:
"Companies that put marketing at the core of their growth strategy outperform the competition. Specifically, those who view branding and advertising as a top growth strategy are twice as likely to see revenue growth of 5% or more than those that don’t (67% to 33%). This is true for both B2C and B2B companies."
Strategic Integration for Growth
In Put Marketing at the Core of Your Growth Strategy, the authors emphasize that
"Four out of 10 Fortune 500 companies don’t have anyone in marketing and customer-related roles on their executive committees. Those that do are more likely to outperform; we found that companies with CMOs highly involved in strategic planning grow 1.3 times faster."
To fully harness marketing's power and overcome existing challenges, it is essential to understand the underlying issues that hinder its perception and effectiveness. From my experience, addressing these root causes and visible effects can pave the way for strategic improvements that enhance marketing's role within the organization. This involves recognizing marketing as a strategic driver, integrating advanced technologies, and fostering collaboration across departments. By doing so, businesses can unlock marketing's full potential and achieve sustained growth and competitive advantage.
Root Causes of Marketing Perception Challenges
Lack of Tangible Metrics:
Marketing efforts can sometimes be difficult to measure in terms of direct ROI, leading to skepticism about its value.
Unlike sales, which has clear and direct revenue attribution, marketing's impact is often more widespread and long-term.
Misalignment with Business Goals:
Marketing teams may be seen as not fully aligned with the broader business objectives, leading to the perception that they are not contributing to the company's overall success.
Misunderstandings between marketing and other departments can exacerbate this issue.
Historical Stereotypes About Marketing:
Persistent stereotypes portray marketing as merely a cost center focused on advertising and promotions rather than a strategic driver of business growth.
These outdated views can be hard to shift, even as the role of marketing evolves.
Challenges of a Rapidly Changing Marketing Landscape:
The marketing landscape is continually evolving with new technologies and platforms, making it challenging for other departments to keep up and fully understand its value.
This rapid change can lead to a perception that marketing is always in flux and not a stable contributor.
Focus on Short-Term Marketing Tactics:
An overemphasis on short-term tactics can undermine the perception of marketing as a strategic function focused on long-term brand building and customer loyalty.
Visible Effects of Misunderstood Marketing Value
Marketing Budget Constraints:
Marketing departments often face tighter budgets because their value is not fully recognized.
This can limit their ability to execute effective campaigns and further perpetuate the cycle of underinvestment and undervaluation.
Reduced Influence of Marketing in Strategic Decisions:
Marketing may not be included in high-level strategic decisions, leading to missed opportunities for integrated business strategies.
This exclusion reinforces the perception that marketing is not a key driver of business strategy.
Impact on Talent Acquisition and Retention in Marketing:
The perception of marketing as a less critical function can impact the ability to attract and retain top talent.
Talented marketers may seek roles in organizations where their contributions are more valued.
Interdepartmental Tensions Involving Marketing:
Misunderstandings and lack of appreciation for marketing's role can lead to friction between marketing and other departments like sales, finance, technology, or operations.
Strategies to Enhance Marketing's Strategic Role
Align Marketing with Business Objectives:
Ensure marketing strategies are clearly aligned with overall business goals and communicate this alignment across the organization.
Emphasize Measurable Marketing Outcomes:
Use data and analytics to demonstrate the impact of marketing efforts on business growth.
Develop clear metrics that link marketing activities to business outcomes like revenue, customer acquisition, and retention.
Advocate and Educate Internally About Marketing's Role:
Regularly educate other departments about the strategic role of marketing.
Share success stories and case studies that highlight marketing’s contribution to business success.
Focus on Long-Term Brand Building in Marketing:
Balance short-term tactics with long-term brand-building strategies to showcase marketing's strategic value.
Foster Cross-Department Collaboration with Marketing:
Foster a culture of collaboration between marketing and other departments to ensure marketing is seen as an integral part of the business.
As marketers plan for 2025, it's crucial to position marketing as a key driver of business success. Recognizing and addressing issues that hinder marketing's perception and effectiveness can pave the way for strategic improvements. This involves recognizing marketing as a strategic driver, integrating advanced technologies, and fostering cross-department collaboration.
Many marketers have already embraced this approach, demonstrating marketing's strategic value in driving business growth. By following their lead, CMOs and marketing leaders can help their organizations leverage marketing’s full potential for long-term competitiveness in both B2B and B2C environments.
~Lynda Koster
Cofounder & Managing Partner at Growthential
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