Marketing, discipline and the broader vision

Good marketers must exercise the self-discipline to stand by strategies that meet defined objectives, no matter the pressure to go with the flow of the rest of the market.

Why are we doing this, exactly?

“Marketing professionals must be able to have a broader vision,” Emma Diacono, director of the eponymous firm, says. “It is about having the backbone to put forward ideas and strategies you believe are going to add value. Being truly detached is a skill a good marketer must possess. It may put you in awkward situations, but seeing things from the outside in is a prerequisite.”

Ms Diacono, who started her own firm a few years ago after being part of a handful of in-house marketing teams, insists marketing is commensurate with perception management – strategies must be designed around an organisation’s defined objectives, particularly how they want to be perceived.

But it is an entire organisation – not only the marketers – which needs to come on board so that strategies and specific campaigns are implemented successfully. Sales and business development executives need to feed the information loop so that marketing effectiveness can be reviewed and strategies adjusted accordingly. Human resources teams also need to ensure that people across the organisation are representing the brand correctly. It is the marketer’s role to examine every contact point the organisation has with internal and external clients – and every stakeholder.

Ms Diacono says larger clients are increasingly open to new ideas, although some family-owned business leaders are still intent on sticking to what they believe they know best.

“If a business is to grow, it is important to let marketing professionals run with ideas,” she added. “There are organisations which employ people because they want to tell them what to do. They are becoming fewer, in my experience. Competition is increasing and more organisations are seeking to expand overseas even if they are tightening up intern-ally. It is one of the reasons organisations cannot have too much padding and must implement new ideas to market themselves. It is the smart thing to do.”

A fundamental element to positioning an offering or a brand is the differentiating factor, which has to be communicated in ways customers perceive are genuine. Ms Diacono is against “blitzing” media channels unnecessarily, preferring to reach out to end customers on a more personal level.

But just because we live in the social age does not mean that only social media provide the right tools, she warns. It is imperative that marketers are socially intuitive and have an appetite for continuous learning. Social media are constantly changing and social media ‘experts’ cannot be running their own campaigns – they run the risk of damaging the overall strategy if they are not part of the cohesive team.

Traditional tools, like advertising and direct marketing, most importantly in business-to-business scenarios, are still highly effective if implemented in the right measure so that the objectives are met. Relationship marketing is more effective than ever at building perception around a brand. Online tools are powerful if there is the necessary commitment to manage them.

Measuring marketing effectiveness continues to be a challenge, especially when efforts are centred on perception management. Metrics help with response rate examination and assess how much ‘noise’ an organisation is generating. Rather than solely counting ‘likes’ on a Facebook page, organis-ations must study how customers are engaging with a brand or a company and what they are saying about it.

Shrinking budgets have challenged numerous professionals over the past couple of years. But clients are increasingly coming to realise that marketing feeds back important – and useful – information about customers.

“Marketers are usually good at managing budgets, no matter how tight, or how high the expectations are,” Ms Diacono says. “Because they are committed to their mission – to meet the specified objectives – they are able to leverage a number of things, including customer information, to their advantage. It is always important to constantly ask the key question: ‘Why are we doing this, exactly?’”