The Marketing Chain

As marketers, our jobs aren’t as simple as others seem to think.

We are idea generators, planners, and executers; but it doesn’t end there. Marketing Campaigns must be executed throughout the sales process as well. Your sales department must be informed of the ins and outs of the campaign; whether it be by email or face-to-face; they must be so familiar with it, they could explain it in their sleep.

You put the effort into developing a sales promotion, execute every strategy; on time and within budget. Your sales staff is the first contact with your customers when they walk through the door. They may have heard your ad on the radio or seen it in the local Saturday newspaper; regardless of the ad source, the process is the same. If a customer walks out the door wondering why they didn’t receive the offer when clearly they purchased the right product or service from you, then sales did not follow through with the promotion.

Would  you consider this a Marketing Fail?

Perhaps. Once the promotion is executed, it is up to the sales staff to follow through. If clarification is needed, then all they have to do is ask. No one knows the campaign better than you, you created it and it was approved; considering you need to get management's approval.

There are circumstances when we, as marketers, must take responsibility for sales results being low. In the case that the promotion didn't help sales, we must be accountable. It sounds obvious, but it also rings true if it were the other way around, you could pat yourself on the back for a job well done if the company exceeded its monthly sales budget; you helped get the customers in the door.

Needless to say, marketing is a high pressure career.

If the marketing tactic that's been executed has gone array, you will definitely be held accountable. In the case that it causes a stir in the marketplace, or tarnishes your company's image, then you have bigger problems and you may have to put your crisis communications hat on for a while.

Maintaining a company's image is much easier than doing damage control when something's gone wrong.

How do you avoid this in the future?

There are many things that you can do in order to avoid future marketing fails.

1.     Do your research first.

2.     Pitch your idea to management before following through with the planning process, provided that you don't have to do that already.

3.     Communicate the plan through all departments, perhaps even a follow-up email or printout of the campaign.

4.     Ask for feedback in the early stages of development of your sales campaign.

How to market is your area of expertise, but the ideas can be, and should be, developed in a group brainstorming session with experts in your industry, whether it be fashion or automotive.

It's a group effort.