When I audit a company’s marketing team’s health, I like to do a checkup on seven areas. Like a quick trip to the Urgent Care, I can tell with a few questions about their vitals for success and effectiveness.
- Does your crucial communication message focus on the benefit your customers derived from working with you? Whatever the tactic, a healthy brand will explain how you help customers and clients. Your message isn’t about the features of what you do – instead, they concentrate on the assistance you provide them to achieve their goals. Sound marketing professionals understand that by educating, informing, and being helpful, prospects will see you as friendly, knowledgeable, and worth the investment of their attention.
- Is your marketing aligned with the company’s business goals, not marketing’s agenda? Without a north star and core values, a marketing department might be disconnected from the rest of the business. When a company has a few clear strategic initiatives for the year, the marketing teams’ plans must have a thread line that supports the overarching goals. If the marketing plans aren’t in sync with the company’s annual objectives, fever can ensue.
- Is measuring success agreed upon upfront before you execute a plan? The best marketing efforts set expectations and get the agreement in advance, defining what success looks like. When you use a SMART metric, it is even better. A SMART metric means that the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. How good are you at setting expectations with critical internal stakeholders and partners? If you don’t know that 98.6 degrees are a healthy temperature, how will you know all is well?
- Does strategy come first before you wrestle with marketing tactics to achieve your goals? If you have this backward, you might be wasting valuable effort and energy. Always begin with a clear statement of the situation and build a strategy to achieve a limited number of goals. How you reach the goal is less important than the destination itself and how you measure it.
- Is your marketing team leader empathic, kind, and generous with a highly productive team? Nobody wants to work for a jerk, and fear is a terrible motivator. It shouldn’t be surprising, but I’m always amazed when marketing leaders are bullies. Make a note: humans want to work with friendly people – not jerks. Marketing leaders can be disciplined, structured, and kind.
- Is your marketing team agile enough to shift gears when something isn’t working? Strong marketing teams don’t try to push water up a hill; instead, they find smart paths to make progress. The best marketers understand that incremental improvement is progress. An urgent care doctor might start off treating a problem with an antibiotic but shift gives when new data presents itself.
- Does marketing effectively communicate what you are doing, both internally and externally? It isn’t that difficult to tell everyone in the organization what marketing is doing to grow the business at least once a month. Share stories of wins and failures. Ask for help, ideas, or inspiration. Marketing can help inspire and motivate an organization by demonstrating how you are telling your story. Great marketing teams remember that part of their job is telling stories within the company.
If you are looking for fuel for your marketing machine, perhaps a checkup would help? A marketing team’s health is critical to growth.
Do you want to evaluate your marketing department?
I can help. You can set up a time chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conver?sation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com. Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash
