In 2008, inspired by a post by John Jantch, the creator of Duct Tape Marketing, I wrote a blog post about the marketing org chart. I loved the metaphor of the org chart as a way of describing the interrelationships of different marketing functions.
Employees, supervisors and departments are visible at a glance in a traditional organization chart. The graphic unites the pieces of a company, visually demonstrating how each department or individual contributes to the common goal.
In a way, the marketing org chart does much the same thing. It defines a role for each element of marketing, individually and as part of the larger plan.
Over the last eight years, I have returned to this topic periodically, looking at how the chart changes over time. For example, the expansion of social media added new tasks to existing roles. Today much of the emphasis in small business marketing has shifted to inbound marketing. So today’s post looks at how many of those digital strategies fit into the marketing org chart.
Inbound Strategy
Messaging & Key Words
The biggest change in the strategy portion of the marketing org chart is the increasing importance of keyword planning. As a marketer, it has always been important to get inside the head of the customer and understand what is important to them.
Without that intimate understanding, it would be impossible to develop relevant messaging. Now you have to do more. You have to learn how to think like them and talk like them, guessing the words they are likely to use when they are looking for a product or service like yours.
While I don’t think keywords should replace good messaging, clever headlines or interesting text, they should be a part of your planning process as you pick topics for your blogs posts. They should be the critical last step after you have written your content. Go back and look for ways to naturally include a few mentions of relevant key words into the text.
Inbound Lead Generation
The Impact of Social Media
Eight years ago, Facebook was where your kids hung out. It was just beginning to apeal to people who were no longer in college. Company pages were still well into the future.
Fast forward to today. Most small businesses have a company Facebook page which they originally saw as an extension of their face-to-face networking. But the platform has shifted. As Facebook looks to generate revenue, there are more and more advertising options.
For as little as $5/day, a business can reach hundreds or even thousands of prospective customers. Leveraging the information Facebook knows about their users, small businesses can now do the type of precise, targeted advertising which was only available to large companies in the past. The challenge? It is more important than ever to have a clear definition of your target customer before you start running your ads.
Inbound Conversion
The Role of Email Marketing
It would be wonderful if people dropped by your website, browsed around a bit and were ready to buy. That just isn’t how the sales process works in most industries. You need to assume prospective customers will need multiple touches along the way. That is where email comes in. With automated drip campaigns you can alternate between live (phone or in person) touches, and a gentle nudge from email.
If you have created very targeted conversion offers, now you can write very specific, informative follow-up emails. These short emails are designed to answer the most logical “next questions” your prospects are likely to have.
Same Marketing Org Chart – New Tools
The reality is marketing hasn’t changed. It is still about starting with a clear definition of your customer and leading them through a sales process. The tools we use today are different, but the end result is a customer who feels good enough about the process to want to buy from you again and again.
