How to Build a Flexible and Efficient Marketing Team

How to build a flexible and efficient marketing team Starting from the functions of the marketing department, this article proposes a new perspective - comparing the marketing team to "engine" and "fuel", corresponding to the functions of quickly acquiring customers and continuously promoting business growth. Through this metaphor, the article explores in depth how to balance the "engine" and "fuel" capabilities of the marketing team according to different enterprise scales and business models, and build a flexible and efficient marketing team. In the impression of most CEOs, sales, and technical colleagues, the work of the marketing department includes but is not limited to: Providing product information, participating in various exhibitions, organizing customer activities, designing official websites, placing advertisements, WeChat public accounts, video accounts, holiday poster design, building good relations with associations, gift customization, miscellaneous work... It seems very busy, but can't help... Marketers smile bitterly: "There is no way, they have no concept of digital marketing, product marketing, content marketing, and branding..." For a long time, the business team did not understand marketing terms, and the marketing team could not explain what value it could bring to the business. This contradiction has not been resolved. I have seen senior CMOs put down their status in startups and work hard on official websites, search, and self-media. I have seen marketing departments of companies that only serve big customers and have to bear the number of leads, while sales are unwilling to follow up on "small fish and shrimp". I have also seen marketing departments helpless when business teams urgently need new product launch plans... Recently, Emily Kramer on MKT1 wrote an article about the value of the marketing department. She used the terms "fuel" and "engine" of the machine (electric vehicles may use electricity and electric motors), which made communication simple and intuitive. After working as a product manager for 8 years, this is how I view product managers I personally started as a very junior product manager, and then I was responsible for the project management of a large product. Now I am fortunate to jump out of the daily basic work and look more at the product's PMF, product strategy... View details > Emily said, "Building a successful marketing function requires high-quality fuel and an efficient engine" Engine: The ability to quickly find customers and sell products For example, quickly open up the situation in new markets (going overseas, sinking markets); new products are launched, new industries break through... The methods can be SEM, live broadcasting, precision delivery, customer activities... Fuel: The engine has been started, and the continuous fuel supply will make it run more steadily and accelerate continuously For example, in a complex competitive environment, the continuous operation of enterprises requires brand influence, continuous content, community maintenance, customer operation interaction, etc. The main methods include providing sales toolkits, planning brand promotion theme activities, publishing customer cases, industry research white papers... Both fuel and engine: such as exhibitions, new product launches... Here is just a simple distinction. (The above picture is compiled into Chinese version based on Emily Kramer's picture) If we follow the definition of current marketing professional terminology, it is probably: Digital marketing is mostly an engine, which is what we often call effect type, Demand generation. It can bring leads and convert them into orders step by step. Market activities, product marketing, and content marketing are both fuel and engines in different companies and at different time points. For example: product marketing, new product launches are engines, and after the launch, product information, cases, sales manuals, event presentations, etc. are all providing a steady stream of fuel. Communities, public relations, and brands are mostly fuel to keep the engine running efficiently. (The above picture is inspired by Emily Kramer's article) The proportion of fuel and engine varies in different company sizes and business models. Mature large companies need more fuel from the marketing department, while start-ups need more engines to get the wheels turning first. The proportion of fuel and engine is also different in key customer sales (value selling) and scale sales (volume selling) and channel sales models. For example, for a low-unit-price, high-volume business model, the marketing department needs to bring in more leads as a driving force. For channel sales and key customer sales, providing high-quality content fuel is particularly important. Two common misunderstandings are: 1. Startups usually spend too much time creating fuel and miss the opportunity to build a good engine; while large companies ignore the role of fuel, and lack acceleration or the ability to continue to operate. 2. Ignoring the balance between fuel and engine. For example, only creating fuel, when there is no growth promotion, blindly deciding "we need a different and better fuel." But the actual problem may be that you need to have a good engine first. So how to balance? How to build a flexible and efficient fuel and engine team? I will try to talk about it briefly from the following perspectives. 1. What kind of marketing department does an enterprise need? When a startup business starts running, it needs a team that can act as an engine, such as professionals in SEO/SEM, placement and analysis. Do you need a full-time CMO with senior experience? Do you need a new media editor and video production team? I think you can wait until the engine starts and then gradually complete it. Otherwise, it is easy to waste resources due to insufficient budget and insufficient content. Large enterprises need a continuous supply of fuel to ensure sufficient acceleration. At this time, systematic content marketing, event marketing, brand public relations and other configurations are needed. The requirements for marketing processes, team management, and cross-departmental cooperation are high, so a senior CMO and various management talents are very necessary. 2. Set reasonable marketing goals Clearly meet which tasks are to ensure the engine and which are fuel, and make clear plans to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs). If the goal is just to "generate XXX sales opportunities", is the demand for the engine greater, and no time is left to focus on the fuel? At this time, you must also consider the planning of fuel and KPI to ensure continuous power. These indicators include the completion of work in each position, market feedback compared with competitors... 3. Fuel and engine capability combination Some positions mainly create fuel, some positions mainly build engines, and some positions have both. "Both" positions are crucial to ensure better coordination between fuel and engine. For example, PMM product marketing may be the first marketing person recruited by most companies. They are experts in combining fuel and engine. When building an early team, you can try to recruit alternately to reduce risks. It is better to have 1 fuel-centric person, 1 engine-centric person, and 1 person who has both... Not every recruitment can achieve a balance between talent and demand, but putting the right people in the right positions can maximize the energy of the team. 4. Choice of personal career development Distinguishing between fuel and engine can quickly identify what value the company needs the marketing department to play, and thus reasonably allocate talents, resources, and strategies. For marketers, you can also use the following steps to choose a suitable company. Step 1: Choose the type of work you like and are good at, such as media public relations, etc. Step 2: Is it an engine or fuel? Is it a fuel Step 3: What kind of company needs it most? Companies with relatively large scale and mainly large customers Step 4: Does your ability match the needs of the company? Comprehensive ability can also meet the needs, try it Are you an engine type or a fuel type talent?