Why is there such a disconnect between the professional marketer and the rest of the organization?
Below are a couple of answers I’ve come up with:
- The organization confuses marketing with sales.
- Marketing is assumed to solve all problems in an organization.
- The organization believes marketing is strictly advertising and promotion.
“Marketing will bring us everything we need to succeed…”
Marketing and Sales work hand in hand and are often connected in 2025 by a “Chief Revenue Officer” or “Revenue Department.” In this case, marketing creates the opportunities/leads, and sales swoops in and closes on it. Who gets the credit? Most of the time, it’s sales.
“Marketing will solve all our problems…”
A company that has relied strictly on sales to grow finds it difficult to believe in marketing. When they start their marketing journey, they expect it to increase profits tenfold. No matter how good marketing is, it’s lost without a quality sales team, systems/processes, and a quality product.
“It’s just advertising…”
Marketing is not just getting your name out there. Marketing involves how customers perceive you (branding), how your employees perceive you (more branding), the overall customer experience (sometimes operations, most of the time marketing), and yes, advertising/promotion.
Quality marketing supports the rest of an organization, just like all departments do. The finance department controls the money, the day-to-day staff controls the customer, sales create and close new opportunities, and marketing… creates opportunities for the entire company.
BONUS:
The whole game changes when competition becomes fierce. In emerging markets, the organization needs to turn to their marketing personnel to position themselves against the competition. In older markets where pricing is at an all-time low, differentiation becomes a must.
I’m biased, but the most competitive person in your company needs to be your marketing professional. When a competitor is beating you, marketing needs to step up their game.
