Marketing is delivering, but is it time to rethink its purpose?

It’s clear, marketing as a profession suffers under a strange cloud of definition. Each sector I’ve worked with has had a different concept of what the profession stands for and its purpose within the business. FinTech and financial services are no different. 

So why is this? Research from a range of leading organisations reveal that a lack of upskilling and development over the years has contributed to a lack of understanding of marketing, creating a multitude of definitions and no clear identity for the profession. CIM’s own recent research into the views of 1,200 people found: just 23% of respondents believed their colleagues had a firm idea of what marketing was. More than half (53%) of those surveyed agreed that their roles were poorly understood by society as a whole and 36% believe those outside marketing don’t understand the value of marketing specifically to the organisation.

What’s in a word?

So what is marketing? The word’s origin is in the latin ‘mercatus’, meaning to buy. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) marketing is “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably”.

This definition is laudable; however, does it ring true? In a recent survey of 1,200 marketers carried out by the CIM ‘championing the views of customers’ was ranked last by respondents when asked “what are the most consuming tasks for marketers and people undertaking marketing activities?”, with customer experience ranking first. 

People’s opinions on what marketing is and what it’s professionals should be undertaking is vast. Take product management and sales for example, these functions might feel that marketing is the process by which products and services are introduced to potential customers. On the other hand, an AI programmer or someone in implementation might think that marketing is more to do with customer experience and insight. 

Changing roles

Some of the traditional activities’ marketers in financial services undertake are changing too. For instance, FinTechs, global IT organisations and new start-ups of all types have all started to refer to ‘Growth Hacking’ projects. A relatively new concept for early-stage start-ups, who require a large amount of growth in a short space of time, on a small budget. 

Growth hacking and marketing share common principles, including increasing levels of engagement at precise times and identifying key channels for customer acquisition and measuring success for businesses. Although, the role marketing would play in such a project wouldn’t stop there.

Data marketers and brand professionals now also analyse engagement rates over multiple channels and then craft brand messages and activities in line with customer/market demand to drive high levels of awareness. 

It’s not just the activities we undertake that are changing; how we are described, and our job titles are being changed too. Job specs in the financial services industry are being redefined to meet evolving customer and market requirements.

For instance, CMO titles are being re-framed as Chief Customer Officers and titles with data in them within the financial services industry are popping up increasingly, as technology and people’s buying behaviour becomes more valuable. 

This evolution of role inadvertently creates further confusion. It’s clear that many businesses within financial services and across many other sectors continue to perceive marketing as a cost rather than an investment. Research carried out by the CIM, identified that over half of employees were confused over marketing’s role, and there is little evidence that this has changed.

Perhaps some of the confusion about what marketing does, arises from the fact that at its base it is about communicating a business message, and communications methods have changed somewhat over the last hundred years. Where once a marketer in financial services may have put up a billboard or placed a printed advert in a newspaper or magazine and hoped for a return on that investment through some sign of buying behaviour, the profession has rapidly digitised and analytics platforms abound. 

While this should be seen as a golden opportunity for marketing to prove its value, actually the proliferation of channels and shortening attention span of the average buyer means it is even harder to track and prove that a certain touchpoint or last touch was the crucial decider to the sale. Let alone the growing regulations around data privacy.

A growing disconnect?

Part of the issue can be that there can often be a disconnect between CMOs and the rest of the C-suite. A recent research paper from The Economist suggests that CMOs are currently at risk of getting caught out by their own myopia and are focusing on the short-term impact of marketing, rather than taking a longer view.

If CMOs fall into the trap of not fully appreciating the influence that their C-suite colleagues have on setting the strategy for the whole business, while at the same time over-estimating the influence of quick marketing ‘wins’.

When this topic came up at the 2019 CIM Financial Services Marketing Leaders’ Summit (the next one being planned for November 2020), we identified that in the financial services industry, while most of the C-suite agree that ‘growth and profit’ is the number one priority, there is a split in subsequent priorities. C-suite marketers were found to rank brand reputation and awareness after growth and profit, in contrast to the rest of the C-suite who on the whole, prioritised customer experience or operational excellence.

It was also revealed that 85% of the marketers that were spoken to felt their efforts were very important to business performance. Similarly, three quarters (75%) of marketers agree that marketing is valuable for society as well as business performance.

The suggestion that awareness of a marketer’s objectives may not always align with those of the wider business, does not imply a lack of value, but rather a disconnect. 

How to bridge the divide

Marketing needs to help the C-suite recognise the value marketing brings to strategic planning and how it can deliver against business objectives. If they haven’t done so already, elevating marketing to a board level role is essential because with marketing’s voice heard at the top level the board can allow for its strategic execution to be realised and in turn, ensure customer trust to be translated into longer term returns.  

Failing that, the status quo risks a profession, proven to deliver commercial and societal value, being restricted and under-utilised. By better applying measurement of outcomes, we can ensure that marketers in financial services and other sectors better understand their worth, their contribution and their role – and equally identify their skill gaps and development.

Our digital future

Even before the recent crisis, traditional sales roles and techniques were morphing and changing, with digital self-service becoming ever more important as more users interact with the financial services sector from home or on the move via a mobile device - and indeed in current times during lockdown. Sales like many other departments heavily rely on marketing to promote their work, position execs as thought leaders and to help drive revenues.

Marketing is vital in helping sales teams find and qualify leads and maintaining contact with clients throughout the entire sales cycle. Although sales and marketing are placed in different departments in most organisations, the linking between the two disciplines can help to improve overall performance in terms of both revenue and profit.  Marketers play a crucial role in delivering business growth and senior marketers have been driven by revenue targets and conversions for some time. CIM research found that the average revenue growth driven by marketing is estimated to be 19 per cent annually.

I would argue that in this evolving world, the need for marketing is more relevant than ever. To cut through the noise, to come up with an original angle, to uncover and share authentic and interesting stories, to create a unique brand and proposition - marketing is at the helm to make all these goals a reality and help businesses stand for something that people respond to.

Call it what you will, marketing is here to stay.