Marketing is Everything

In this post, we’re going talk about another way of looking at marketing that is often called in “marketing is everything,” or ME for short.

Through this approach, marketers are involved with shaping more than products and promotion of them.  They’re involved with shaping the values of the company and the entire customer experience.

This concept is especially important for companies that are serving marketing with a lot of competitors and a lot of products in the category.

When the customer has more choice, they have more power and often buy based on criteria that go beyond feature-function.

In fact, in these markets, consumers may make purchasing decisions more qualitative aspects of a company.  Today’s consumer factors in how a company interacts with their customers, the values the company holds, and the customer experience the company creates.

The ME concept is especially important in business-to-consumer companies.  But I would say that our expectation of consumer brands has influenced our expectation of any business interaction.

So more and more, I think B2B companies will need to consider how they can view their operations through an ME lens.

Therefore the role of the marketer is changing in a couple of ways.

 

Marketer as Customer Advocate

The first has to do with customer advocacy.

Today’s consumer wants more options and more specificity in their choices.  The niche is becoming the norm.

In order to uncover the level of detail in product features that will drive action, the marketers really need a continually feedback loop with their customer base.

Instead of creating products for customers, modern companies should strive to create products with customers.

Therefore, the marketer’s role is expanding to have more a more intimate relationship with their customer.

Marketing teams need to engage with customers constantly and understand them on a deeper level than they have in the past.

Many B2B are really proficient at this, creating custom solutions or at least using beta sites to refine their offering.  Consumer brands a are likewise taking note and developing products and even marketing campaigns through crowd-sourcing efforts.

Regardless of the tactics, it’s clear that marketing teams will need to be more in-tune with markets if they want to compete.

 

Communicating Beliefs

Another important shift in the tone of modern marketing is the inclusion of messages that have more to do with beliefs that offerings.

This stems from a desire by customers to support companies that share common values as them.  They want to know that their dollars are contributing to a greater good and will quickly find an alternative if the company they have been doing business with doesn’t share their ideals.

This affects marketing in two ways.

First, marketers need to find a way to highlight their company’s beliefs in a way that isn’t too on-the-nose.  There’s a fine line to walk here.  Customers are savvy, so any attempt to do this in a contrived or cynical way will get flagged for what it is – co-oping causes for profit.

However, when belief-centric marketing is done right, it can be very effective.  The key is authenticity.  Focus on delivering  a message that is true to your company’s real ideals.

This leads me to the second way this changes the role of the marketer related to communicating beliefs.

Marketers can play an important role informing and coaching the company’s leadership team about what their customers value.  This is a step beyond traditional buyer personas.  But given how important values are to purchasing decision for the modern consumer, this should be something marketers focus on.

 

Crafting a Brand Experience

Another way that marketers’ role expanded under marketing is everything is in creating a comprehensive brand experience.

Given that customers have what seems like unlimited options, they choose products based on which companies give them the best user experience.

Buying decisions aren’t just made on features and benefits but influenced by the way the company make a customer feel throughout the entire customer journey, including the purchasing process and support process.

Companies that craft better brand experiences create brand loyalty. This leads to repeat buyers and increased revenue.

In many cases, the credibility that’s generated with a good brand experience enables a company to expand their product category and offer new offerings.  Think of companies like Apple or Amazon that fall into this category.

Therefore for companies with the marketing is everything (ME) approach, all aspects of your operation need to be on-brand.

Think about the companies that you like to engage with.  What role do you think markers had in the experiences that you have with that company?

 

The Role of Enablement

While there is obviously some benefit to having oversight across all operations, not all companies need to have a “marketing is everything” approach in order to be successful in achieving alignment.

That is, marketing doesn’t need to be the owner of all those processes. However there is a case for integrating elements of marketing across the organization.

Create brand guidelines and corporate communication standards for all teams to abide by.  The are elements that marketers are well-versed in and very useful in maintaining consistency.  Define everything from the fonts and colors to the tone of voice and visual style of your brand.

Also, consider creating scripts and educational resources for your sales and support team messages so everyone is talking about your offerings in the same way.

By having a consistent presentation and messaging , it sends a signal that the company is professional, credible, and sophisticated.

 

Putting ME into Practice

If you’re a business owner think about the role that marketing plays and judge whether or not you should take a marketing is everything approach.  Even if you don’t restructure your org chart, consider what you can learn from your marketing team in order to improve your operations and create a more meaningful brand experience.

If you’re a marketer, think about how you could help other parts of your organization that go beyond the 4Ps talked about the previous post. Therefore you can create more value for the organization and increase the your own influence within the organization.