Future of Marketing: Marketing, Sales, Operations

Candidates often ask should I specialise versus being a ‘marketing generalist’. This is not just a question for candidates. Marketing Directors and CMO’s will look at the makeup of the marketing function and make investment decisions based on budgets and the availability of human capital. Businesses have been dividing roles into specialisms for a long time. Particularly larger organisations who have bigger budgets and associated requirements, on average teams are bigger and more specialisaed. Brands rightly believe in the increased returns to scale of specialising: dividing the widget making process into each dissectable parts. Of course, we are talking about marketing roles here not widgets, so we have seen teams set up in skills expertise, SEO, PPC, direct marketing, etc… 

Marketing Jobs - Start ups versus corporates?

But is this just a consideration of scale? Big businesses specialise and smaller business do not? Whilst this accounts for some of what we see the challenge start ups have posed to the status quo and the do so in the division of labour too. Often start ups shun the traditional ultra specialism that you might find in a more established business and this makes sense. Established businesses are looking for marginal gains rather than the leaps and bounds that one sees in start up businesses. 

But what for the future? Marketing Jobs - Blurred lines: 

We have seen that even in bigger businesses that have traditional held ultra specific and specialised roles that roles have become blended across specialisms and as such we believe that will not only continue but increase. 

Skills specialisms are crossing over. Rises of ‘new specialisms’ such as Chief Revenue Officers which requires a candidate to have blended experience and working knowledge of marketing channels, campaigns, and performance but also the hard end of commercial delivery in revenue accountability. 

Marketing Jobs - Marketing is just a support function right? 

For sometime marketing leaders have held revenue targets these can be completely separate to that of the businesses sales targets. With direct to consumer channels or specifically targeted channels Marketing Directors and CMO’s are accountable for revenue, and it impacts their performance, and bonus. 

Marketing is not sales and will not be sales, but as digitalisation continues marketing will continue to be revenue generative. We believe that this will only continue to do so. Digitalisation will continue to enable businesses to track and measure marketing performance and make more informed investment decisions. 

Marketing Jobs - What else do we expect? 

Marketing roles have taken an increasing ownership of accountability across sales and marketing operations which feeds into the broader business. We expect that this will only continue as a businesses functions become evermore integrated. 

As the economy changes and develops we will see new skills emerging and subsets in marketing. As technology has changed we have seen machine learning impact a number of skill-sets and industries. Machine learning, which is what some businesses call artificial intelligence will continue to be present in marketing, not only present but increase. Machine learning is one example. New technologies will continue to evolve and to impact marketing.