Latest blog, Marketers – the voice of a company
I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to bet that marketers in B2B companies are sitting a little easier at their desks these days. Why? Mostly drawn from my own experience this, but I remember when it was a battle to be seen and heard over the salespeople, the engineers and everyone else in the business.
Now, finally, in this complex B2B communications world, marketers are being propelled to the front of the decision-making process because that little thing called “the brand” that used to sit far, far down the agenda has finally got a voice. And, oh my, isn’t it a loud one! Brand awareness, and associated communications creativity, are now pushed to the fore in the B2B world and are essential in driving new business.
Brand awareness and storytelling
Customers are demanding ever more from brands; they want to feel part of the journey; they need to be able to relate to it. Customers now care more about service quality and (more topically this year with GDPR, see our previous blog) how a company handles data and privacy.
Of course, any brand needs to be supported by creative and consistent narratives about products and services as these are also key to loyalty and understanding. Here’s where you need a good communications agency that has got your back. You need that agency to really know your brand and have the skills to write engaging and on-point stories and to create other relevant content that supports it. Consistent and powerful messaging is vital. So even though it would be nice for us marketers to rest on our laurels, it’s more imperative than ever to work on internal communication throughout an organisation because information is power. Marketers must listen to the sales team, the product development team and senior executives while acting on customer needs; as we all know, it’s customers not products that drive revenues.
So what else does the marketer face?
Marketers oversee the external voice of the company and that voice is heard from all directions. Ensuring targeted, PR, video and social campaigns – as well as creative design – that talk to the customer rather than dictate are an essential part of a communication strategy for any business. The return on marketing campaigns is also being measured in minute detail and, in many cases for the first time, marketers are being held responsible for acquiring and engaging customers and to retain them based on modern analytics. Yikes!
It’s not all roses over there in the marketing department then, is it? Don’t pass them by next time you see them in the company canteen, or, if they are working remotely or as an external agency, give them a call and tell them about your day and, who knows, together you might even instigate a new campaign that really drives revenue.
Victoria Orford