Ponder this question for a moment. If the marketing department isn’t helping to sell more, then what is it doing?

Wikipedia says that marketing is “essentially…the process of creating or directing an organization to be successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to buy.”

If we think about the above, then we assume that all marketing departments, especially those of companies who sell multi-million pound systems or services, will be central to the business and at the forefront of the go-to-market process.

But the reality is often far from this. Too often the marketing department is seen as an adjunct to the business. A situation it often exacerbates by focusing on the wrong things. Sometimes the marketing department become the corporate catch-all for tasks that are more of a distraction than delivering strategic impact.

These reasons and many more distract the marketing department from its biggest challenge of all: corporate alignment. 

What does every corporation have in common? In simple terms, they want to grow, they want to increase profitability. How they do this will vary from company to company, but the goals themselves are the foundations of modern business.

So all companies want (need) to increase sales. And this is therefore very high on the CEO’s agenda. IDC’s 2008 survey found that the top two CEO concerns were “Sales Productivity” and “Customer Care”.

So why is selling so often seen as the sole challenge of the sales department?

In my view great marketing departments fully engage with, and often help to drive, the business plan.

The business has to make money. Unless we, as the marketers, know how much money we need to support the generation of, and from where, we can’t create a sensible marketing plan.

I am constantly amazed at the number of people who kick off campaigns to generate leads with no idea how much revenue needs to be generated.

As B2B marketers our main job of work is to support the business’ sales. To be the closest ally of the sales department and draw a direct line from the corporate objectives to our own marketing plans. It’s also a good recipe for an indispensable marketing department.

So the aim of this blog is simple. To champion the cause of marketers taking the long view in their approach, to promote world-class enterprise B2B marketing and to provide tools and commentary to support those attempting it.