Yes, marketing is your job! And my job! Marketing is the responsibility of every employee in an organization. Marketing is everywhere and is essential to the ongoing ability of an organization to generate revenue. If we are not supporting those efforts, we become a liability — and perhaps even unnecessary to the organization.
Every employee creates and manages relationships, connects with others and negotiates. We do this by engaging with buyers, suppliers, competitors and stakeholders, as well as with our co-workers. Business is not, in fact, executed between companies; but, rather between individuals. Almost every time we engage with another individual in the course of business, it involves some form of marketing.
In the past, organizations developed job descriptions that included unique tasks and responsibilities for each individual, and marketing wasn’t typically among them. Today, each individual has accountability for the company’s success and profitability and must be able to justify his worth to the company. We can no longer say, “That’s not my job.” An organization’s employees are now responsible for creating a better value for the customer, communicating that value in meaningful ways that contribute to the bottom line.
Even if your organization has a marketing department, marketing manager or sales team, your job supports their efforts in some way, either directly or indirectly. How are you helping market your company? Here are six tips to help you better market, engage with, and bring value to your organization:
- Learn your company’s backstory. Understand where the company came from and how it has achieved its place in today’s market. Think about your role in the organization and how you fit into that story. Being able to tell the company story provides customers context.
- Learn your company’s goals. Every organization has a mission statement and corporate goals. Where is your organization going? How does it plan to grow? What are the corporate-level strategies? Are there specific areas the organization identifies as opportunities or threats? Understanding the corporate goals helps clarify the big picture.
- Learn to be more personable. Too often we try to get right down to business and ignore the pleasantries. Developing a personal connection with others is valuable. Spend time getting to know people you deal with, in business relationships, on a deeper level. Personal connections are like glue that help maintain relationships between businesses and customers.
- Learn about your markets and customers. Where do you sell? Who are your primary customers and why? What, how much, and why do they buy? Is it different in each market? What characteristics do your customers share? Clearly identifying and profiling customers is a key element in understanding wants and needs.
- Learn about your competitors. Who are your competitors? What products and services do they offer? Why are your organization, your products and your services better than theirs? Comparisons of your offerings versus your competitors’ reveal potential advantages you have in the marketplace.
- Learn your company’s marketing materials. Marketing may be in print, on your company’s website, on television, mobile devices, or word-of-mouth. Looking beyond the advertisement, what is the strategy behind the ads and what benefits are the organization emphasizing? Finding the common themes in your company’s messages will help you understand its marketing objectives.
Dr. Chuck Hermans, Ph.D. is a professor of marketing at Missouri State University. He is an expert in international markets and market strategy. Dr. Hermans teaches international marketing, global supply chain management and advanced marketing research. He can be reached at: chuckhermans@missouristate.edu
This article appeared in the August 6, 2016 edition of the News-Leader and can be accessed online here.