The Importance of Marketing Alignment

Is marketing aligned with the business? And who’s fault is that?

Too often we see departmental objectives not quite aligned with the overall business objectives for a particular organization. This isn’t a good thing, but it’s not uncommon either.

Surprisingly, this lack of alignment doesn’t necessarily come from different ideas of what marketing should be focused on. I’ve had CEOs clearly outline for me their business objectives and revenue goals, then two minutes later explain their vision for what marketing should be doing – and those focus areas have little if any linkage to the business goals.

Marketing isn’t about tactics. It isn’t about brand. It isn’t about leads or PR or sales collateral or any of that.

Marketing is about driving revenue. Marketing is about accelerating market share. Marketing is about delighting customers. Marketing is about growing the top-line, and increasing margins.

Marketing (just like any department) is still responsible for executing at a tactical level. But if those tactics don’t match the objectives, and the objectives don’t align directly with what the organization cares about most, there’s a problem.

In a well-aligned organization, there are no cost centers. Every department is a profit center. Every department is focused on delivering customer value and accelerating organizational growth.

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Matt Heinz is principal at Heinz Marketing, a sales & marketing consulting firm helping businesses increase customers and revenue. Contact Matt at matt@heinzmarketing.com or visit www.heinzmarketing.com.