We think marketing directors (and managers/coordinators) are heroes. They are tasked with the almost impossible job of creating visibility for the companies they work for, trying to integrate with sales, staying on top of trends, managing metrics,generating leads, and pleasing boards and bosses all at the same time.
It’s a tough job but those who live and breathe marketing can’t get enough. It’s exhilarating to watch website traffic steadily increase from SEO efforts, leads increase from inbound marketing efforts, and your company’s sales increase as a result of all these efforts.
Marketing directors often have it rough, though. There are a lot of factors working against them. While we do everything we can to support them, it kind of breaks our hearts to see some of the challenges they face.
So what are some ways that you, as a CEO/CMO, can (hopefully inadvertently) set your marketing director up to fail?
Impose unrealistic deadlines
We get it. We know you’re a hard-charging business leader with creative vision and ambition. This is a good thing. However, it’s important to balance this with a realistic understanding of timelines. We’ve met with organizations that were in need of a new website and the CEO wanted the new site launched (with thousands of pages of content) in a few weeks. During the meeting, we could see the visible panic and anxiety on the face of the marketing director sitting next to him. She knew exactly how much time and effort was involved in redesigning and launching a new corporate website but she was terrified to speak up because the CEO was so insistent on an unrealistic timeline.
It’s true that great people will often excel and do even better work when pushed, but be sure to listen to your marketing director when he or she gives you feedback on timelines. It’s likely based on years of experience “in the trenches” and should be taken into consideration.
Set goals that are moving targets
CEOs are fast-moving, quick-thinking, creative people. We can also drive people crazy because we want everything now and we want it all done at the same time. Oh, and it needs to be perfect, too.
While this is admirable from a business growth perspective, it can frustrate those who have to execute because it can be difficult to latch onto what the target is. This week it might be focused on optimizing the website for SEO. Next week it night be a total redesign. Next month it might be a campaign targeting a specific industry. Then it might be developing a new product. And suddenly everything is important and nothing is getting done.
As a business leader, it’s important that you learn to speak in priorities. Have open conversations with your marketing director in which he/she feels empowered to ask for feedback on where goals fall in order of importance. If you add something new to the list, understand that something else might get bumped further down.
Don’t give them the right tools
Do you know what else breaks our hearts? Working with marketing directors that are full of great ideas but struggle to implement them because the CEO won’t invest in the right tools. Marketing professionals need the right software to be as effective and efficient as possible. From basic apps like HootSuite for social media management to HubSpot for inbound marketing, marketers need software support to be effective.
Can they cobble together spreadsheets and hop between networks while trying to maintain a website with a broken CMS? Sure, in theory. But is that really practical or fair? Listen to your marketing director when he/she ask for help and set a reasonable policy for purchasing software.
Don’t set a marketing budget
There’s a somewhat cruel joke that we hear from marketing directors all the time. It goes like this:
- SpinWeb: “These all sound like great ideas and I think we’re in agreement. So what is your budget? That will help us prioritize.”
- Marketing director: “Budget? Haha… we don’t have a budget.”
That last sentence is usually delivered in a dry tone that is part lighthearted joking and part plea for help. Stop the madness! You’re the CEO. You have a lot of freedom to invest in things that you think are important which means you have the tools you need to do your job. Meanwhile your poor marketing director can’t even implement good decisions because he/she doesn’t even have any spending power.
Your marketing team needs a budget (or at least the ability to ask for one) for things like social advertising spend, software, professional development, books, courses, professional service, and other resources that can help boost ROI. Be intentional about investing and support your marketing director with a budget.
Keep them separated from sales
Marketing and sales should be two tightly integrated parts of your business. Your inbound marketing program brings leads to your sales team. Your sales team turns those leads into business. In order for marketing to get better, it needs feedback from sales and vice versa.
Unfortunately, many organizations keep these two departments separated. There is no formalized way to share information and there is no support from leadership to create a culture of marketing/sales collaboration.
If you champion the idea of sales/marketing integration, your marketing director will be much more effective.
Hold them accountable for things over which they have no control
Few things are more frustrating than being responsible for something you can’t control. A common example of this is holding marketing directors accountable for revenue when they have no input into sales. Your marketing department could be doing a great job of increasing website traffic, generating leads, and optimizing your inbound marketing system but if your sales team is not effective (or doesn’t have the right tools) you’re not going to see revenue.
In these situations, CEOs can sometimes blame marketing directors for lack of revenue and cut their resources even further which creates a self-fulfilling vortex of marketing despair that can be difficult to get out of. Hold your marketing team responsible for metrics they can control.
Expect them to be super-human experts at all the things
You’ve hired a marketing director so now you have everything you need, right? Obviously your new marketing director should be an expert at SEO, social media, design, website development, analytics, strategy, project management, content writing, inbound marketing, PR, and sales integration, right?
Wrong. This is a common misconception. It’s virtually impossible for one person to have all the skill sets necessary to run an effective inbound marketing program. Even if that were possible, there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Understand that your marketing director is there to lead your marketing strategy. This includes working with partners (like agencies) or outsourcing certain tasks. This is not a sign of weakness or inadequacy. It’s a sign of a good leader. Allow your marketing director to take point on strategic vision but also bring in partners to complement his/her efforts.
Setting your marketing director up for success
So how do you set up your marketing director for success?
- Set realistic timelines
- Stick with consistent goals and prioritize accordingly
- Give then the right tools
- Set a marketing budget
- Help them integrate with sales
- Hold them accountable for what they can control
- Empower them to bring in partners
As a CEO, I’ve made every single one of these mistakes before so I know first hand how destructive they can be. I also know that empowering your marketing director with the right support can lead to amazing results and strong improvements in revenue. So keep this list handy and your marketing director will thank you.
Article By:
Michael Reynolds
President/CEO of SpinWeb, Professional Speaker