Gartner highlights the role of the new marketing in driving connections at different levels within companies
Carlos Guerrero, senior director of Gartner, stated during the Gartner Marketing Symposium 2021 that “it is time for marketing leaders to take on their role of serving the creation of vital connections within the company”.
To this end, in his speech Guerrero referred to a transformed marketing, in which marketers must align their day-to-day activities with those of other professionals, as well as with the changing needs of customers.
In the current context, marketing, more strategic and connected to its environment than ever, is key to the success of large organisations.
Marketing for collaboration cross functional
According to Gartner, 90% of CEOs believe that the crisis resulting from Covid-19 has increased the need for collaboration cross-functional.
In recent publications the same company states that the marketing department is the best prepared to carry out collaboration between different departments, a need for a large part of today's companies.
Why the marketing department?
Mike McGuire, VP Analyst at Gartner, explains it in these words: “Marketers are the voice of the customer” and states that they “are in a unique position to collect, interpret and analyse information about customers” so that they can see how the company's decisions affect the customer experience.
Today the marketing team must use this privileged position not only for the creation of content for its department, but also to enhance the work of others involved in the company's actions.
To this end, as Guerrero pointed out in his speech, it is essential that marketing leaders “explore new paths to revitalise connections between all interested parties”. This includes the company, as well as customers, collaborators and workers.
How has marketing changed?
The impact of COVID-19 has confirmed that entities that commit to digitalisation are the best equipped for the continuity and resilience of their business.
As we have seen, in the current situation it is essential to find a cross-cutting strategy that involves all departments. Transformations in marketing practices have brought companies advantages beyond the department itself:
- Digital resources help the marketing team to generate up-to-date content that Sales can use for commercial actions. Digital tools enable agile and automated communication of content between marketing and other teams, which is reflected in greater efficiency and productivity.
- Thanks to this connection capability it is possible to detect which communication elements give the best results and combine channels to offer regular customers an improved experience - thus boosting loyalty - or attract new customers.
- Finally, the brand image that marketing generates for the external recognition of the company. Presenting itself as a company adapted to the new technological reality attracts customers, investors, suppliers, etc.
And in all this it is once again highlighted the importance of Marketing taking a step forward and leading the connections between the different stakeholders.
To take advantage of these opportunities, collaboration between departments is key and spreading throughout the company a mindset that understands the advantages of new solutions and processes.
