Marketing Roles are Changing. Is Your Company Adapting?
As the business environment has become increasingly digital and social, marketing professionals are finding themselves at the forefront of a customer-oriented revolution. Because customers now have so much information at their fingertips, they have increasing control over the buying process. This means marketing professionals are in a unique position, and their roles are changing very quickly.
The website, ClickZ, noted that this rapid digital transition hasn’t been friendly to all companies. They cited data from Forrester Research, which found that more than 70 percent of the companies on the Global 500 list 10 years ago no longer exist. A chief marketing officer working in 2004 is facing all new challenges now. Because of their customer-facing positions, marketing departments are often leading the rest of the company toward the digital transformation.
However, marketing is still at a crossroads. A report from Adobe called “Digital Roadblock” found that 40 percent of marketers see the need to reinvent their roles within their organizations, but only 14 percent know how to do it. In addition, these individuals fully anticipate that marketing will undergo a rapid change.
According to the report, 64 percent of marketers believed their roles will change within one year, while 81 percent agreed it will change within three years.
Interestingly enough, one of the main barriers marketers listed in being able to pursue this goal was the organization’s inability to adapt to the new digital realm. However, the higher the digital spend of the company, the more likely it was to believe in reinvention.
It’s an exciting time to be in marketing, particularly for asset management and other financial services firms. Marketers in this industry are already leading the way in social media adoption. More sophisticated document automation platforms are also likely to become a priority for marketers within the next few years, as targeted, customer-oriented documents and pitchbooks become essential.