Marketing
Manager
The true role of the
Marketing manager is often missunderstood
and mistakenly assumed to be the person
who prepares promotional material, perhaps
sells a bit and does a few other things.
This is very wrong
and undermines the vital
and wide ranging importance of those
who fulfill the true role, it can also
be very unsettling during the recruitment
process when when jobs are miss-titled.
The marketing manager
should have a holistic role in that they
will have an understanding of the way
that the business relates to the market.
To an extent that sums it up, but perhaps
it is important to identify the key components
of the role, depending on the size of
the business, discrete components can
be delegated:
- What do we sell and
why
- What are the costs
of production, sale and support
- What is the market
- who buys the product, why do they
- who should buy
it, why don't they
- How do we tell these
people about our product
- What channels of communication
do we use
- What channels could and should we
use
- What doesn't work and why not
- Statistics: ratio of promotion to
contact to sale
- Feedback: is there something else
we should sell to our customers
- Is there something we should stop
selling
- The bigger picture: What changes
are on the horizon
The problem with
the web
The web is changing
the way that we communicate. The tendency
is towards more rapid cheap mass communication,
and the change that has happened over
the last few years has occurred so quickly
that too many people (SMEs in particular)
are missing out on the opportunities.
Its new, its different its frightening
and by its nature is easily sidelined.
What has happened
in too many cases is:
The company saw the
challenge years ago and got the entheusiastic
office junior or IT department to knock
up a web site. It was then forgotten
for a while.
Somebody notice dthe
site looked a bit unprofessional and
paid for a web designer to make it pretty
(a vanity site)
Then a bright web company
persuades the company to install content
management at a cost and annual fee so
the site can be kept up to date.
The content management
company is paid annually, they're happy.
The site can be updated easily (it isn't)
you're happy
With a larger company
there will most likely also be a web
manager (web master) who is responsible
for the website on a technical level
and who knows how to update it.
Marketing and Web
Manager
By combining the
roles and bringing full understanding of
the web within the marketing remit,
the marketing of the company can move
up a step. The use of traditional
and new media can be integrated and
a far more efficient process can be
developed.
How and Why and
what are the pitfalls?
There is a surprising
potential for synergy between the
various media when they are managed
in a balanced and mutually supportive
way.
One of the major
benefits of the web is in the immediate
and concise feedback that it offers.
An email campaign
to existing customers can be configure
so that you know how many respondents
read the emai, then went on to take
some kind of action and to an extent
what that action was.
You can tell what
people are looking for on
the web, how many and when!
You can tell how
many people click on your web site,
what they look at, how many then
contact you - that's easy. You can
also tell how many didn't look at
your website!
References to
the web site on traditional marketing
can assist in understanding the
impact of that promotion.
A traditional brochure
campaign might just result in increased
landfill, you might never know.
The web can allow
for an increased level of feedback
that can be automated and be used
as a barometer of the health of the
relationship between you and your
customers / market
A Marketing and
Web Manager can bring all this together.
The pitfalls?
Traditional marketing
managers can have either an aversion
to the web or misunderstanding of
it. Being of long standing or importance
they can easily sideline it. This
is especially so where it represents
a threat and a need to significantly
change working practices, or to work
and think and act faster!
Equally, the marketing
manager might accept the role then
pay lip service to the changes required.
What next? Who to use?
This is as difficult
as any recruiting problem in that everybody
ultimately has to be taken at face value.
The following extract
from a job advert describes the marketing
role brilliantly!
Skills and attributes
• Develop and maintain a consistent
image for the company at all points
of contact with the market
• Manage the production and
delivery of product and vertical
market literature both in print and
online
• Develop and maintain strong
press relationships
• Preparation of copy for press
releases and other articles in trade
magazines
• Monitor and report on press
articles in which the company features
• Liaise with external suppliers,
particularly marketing agencies and
other contractors
• Management of the marketing
communications budget
• Production and implementation
of mail and e-mail newsletters and
campaigns
• Production and implementation
of exhibitions
• Production and implementation
of advertising campaigns
• Organisation of in-house events
such as open houses, parties, etc
• Specifying and producing simple
content for the company’s website;
managing domain registrations, site
hosting arrangements; supervising
search engine optimisation
• Monitoring and routing leads
from campaigns and the web site
Press Releases - excellent command
of written English with the ability
to compose press releases and pre-prepare
copy for trade publications or magazines.
Creative input – play an active
role in developing creativity and
work closely with product and market
managers and the agency both to develop
new, and build on existing ideas.
The role would suit an energetic
individual, with three to four years
experience managing marketing communications
activity, preferably with a degree
in English. While direct experience
of the industry is not essential,
the candidate must be comfortable
with the marketing of technical products
and services.
The ideal candidate will be energetic
and assertive, good at developing
relationships with clients, suppliers
and colleagues with the ability to
make a strong case for marketing
activity, work under pressure and
meet deadlines.
Strong copy writing, editing, project
management and organisational skills,
with excellent command of the English
language, and close attention to
detail.
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