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With UK Plc in a state of progressive flux it’s little wonder some marketers are feeling the strain.  But what’s the biggest headache?

 

A recent survey from the UK Marketing Lounge asked: “What are marketers’ top five pains so far in 2010.” 

These are the results:

 

1. Lack of support

For some, redundancy equals opportunity.  So the saying goes: there is never a better time to start a business than in a recession.   And with the prevalence of independent marketing consultancies (especially digital) it seems this adage has been taken literally. 

But redundancy also equals void: gaping holes in businesses, where creativity has been replaced by administration.  Marketing manager and discussion leader, Jill Frood, suggests many marketers are directed to undertake “glorified admin tasks”, as business owners seek a more budget-pleasing return on their investment.

Staff shortage is also contributing to a sense of isolation, as shrinking teams reduce knowledge impartment through sounding-boards or internal ‘think-tanks’.  This can have a detrimental affect not only on creative output, but morale, too.

2. Budget deficit

No doubt marketers will always lament the lack of money afforded their campaigns, but this is clearly accentuated in a time of financial depreciation.  Budget reductions – or freezes in many instances – will suppress ideas that could very well turn fortunes around.  There seems a certain irony to pulling in the purse strings to a potentially profitably proposition. 

But media planning director, Edward Alexander, suggests it isn’t the size that counts, it’s what you do with it: “Having a smaller budget than the competition needn’t matter if you have a clever marketing strategy.  With great creative you can be perceived as having a bigger voice in the market.”

3. Management misunderstanding

A board that is “detached from reality and sets unachievable targets” is a real challenge, continues Alexander.  And this argument is supported by marketing team leader, Einat Tahor, who believes that [B2B] environments are very sales focussed so filter any spare coffers into a more immediately tangible return-on-investment.  “Proving the value of marketing and aligning this with managerial priorities can be difficult”, Tahor concludes.

And it’s not just about proving ROI.  Some senior figures are bereft even of a fundamental understand of what marketing is, let alone what it can return.  This can lead to the thought that marketing is merely a ‘function’, rather than a recognised talent.  Marketer, Wayne Coulter, opines: “A management board that don’t appreciate the [benefits] of marketing makes the job very difficult.”

4. Unplanned sales integration

B2B marketing consultant, Simon Fletcher, cites the failure by businesses to properly integrate marketing strategy with sales plans, as a particular challenge:  “If the sales teams don’t understand the plan, are not engaged, led, managed and incentivised then much of what marketing do is wasted.  Sales teams are 90% of the marketing effort in many B2B organisations”, he said.

5. Outsourcing nightmares

“No matter how good they are”, harrumphs marketing campaigns chief, Stephen Mills, “a ‘hired gun’ cannot understand or be as passionate about your customers as you are.” 

This is a point understood by marketing and advertising specialist, Gary Woodward, who suggests: “Suppliers that aren’t on the same wavelength for quality of service will tarnish the reputation you’ve built with your client.”  Woodward adds that “a lack of understanding in the value of creative work by some individuals can significantly alter [the proposed] ROI.”

 

The conclusion is reserved for business owner, Mark Stephens:

As a business owner responsible for overseeing the marketing functions across the group, what I look for is:

• A strategy that looks at ROI: If you come to me with a marketing plan that considers the outcome first and clearly works its way back through the process, demonstrating how to get there and I believe in it, then I am likely to invest in it
• Success monitoring: understand all the activity and results, so that there is no room for doubt that your strategy worked
• Synergy between the sales & marketing process: In difficult times marketing and sales must come closer together and sometimes it just needs a back to basics approach

For me, the biggest frustration I find is an overly creative marketing plan with no obvious signs of ROI.

 

The result of this opinion may resonate with you.  Do you agree with these comments?  What else provides you with daily challenges as UK Plc continues its quest to market itself out of recent troubles?

 

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

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