It’s no secret that the role of marketing leaders has come a long way—or that it continues to evolve. Today, while marketing priorities may differ between B2B and B2C enterprises, it’s the head of marketing’s responsibility to ensure that the performance and outcomes their team produces align with the organization’s overall priorities.
At first glance, aligning marketing with company priorities may sound straightforward. But when it comes to the development and implementation of a comprehensive marketing plan, the marketing lead must consider everything from brand strategy, go-to-market tactics, messaging and positioning, public and analyst relations, digital marketing, content creation, analytics, market research, the customer experience, and more. These aspects stand to show just how varied the role can be. Critical to the role’s success is aligning performance metrics with expectations in an ever-changing environment.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
To be most effective, it is important for marketing leaders to be well rounded and approach their role holistically. Beyond spearheading the traditional components of marketing, such as supporting revenue generation, an effective marketing leader must also align with other executives in the organization on shared business goals and work together to achieve mutual objectives. For example, the marketing head might partner with the Chief Information Officer on digital marketing and the technology stack or collaborate with the Chief Human Resources Officer on talent acquisition strategies. This holistic approach creates synergies, enabling multiple company goals to be realized at once, driving significant additional value for the business—and for the industry as a whole. Let’s dive into a few examples.
As a connection point between the company, its customers, its employees, and its community, today’s marketing professionals have numerous opportunities to support ESG efforts not only in terms of messaging and championing, but also with respect to taking action and driving results. Due to the expanding role of marketers, they now have a unique lens into the needs of each of these audiences, which is advantageous when it comes to advocating for and influencing change. In addition, they have an ability to tell compelling stories that reach the intended audience and inspire positive action. They can draw on this perspective and storytelling to support the business by:
