How to improve the perception of Marketing in your business – and perception of you as a Pivotal Marketer

Essential advice for aspiring Marketing Managers and Directors

In one of our previous posts, we talked about The six key skills every modern marketer needs to master to be successful in 2022.

Many of the points we discuss including becoming more customer centric in your thinking and driving this agenda within your company, thinking strategically and getting more comfortable with data are actually all geared towards helping you elevate marketing, yourself and your team in the eyes of the decision makers in your organisation.

Organisations that are market-led – that are designed to service specific customer and stakeholder needs – traditionally achieve much greater success than those that don’t.

And it is the marketing professionals in an organisation that are responsible for educating and encouraging an organisation to embrace the benefits of being market-led.

However, in so many organisations, marketing remains under-represented at board level and many practitioners are often in junior and mid-level roles which means marketing is seen more tactically and as a support service to sales.

Consequently, it can be difficult to be seen, heard or valued.

We’ve heard during qualification discussion calls that some prospective students struggle to be heard and seen professionally and this can be a major stumbling block personally and professionally.

This can be especially tough to take in meeting situations where you don’t feel able to contribute because of your team role, the team you sit in or the dominance of other voices.

Question: What ways can an aspiring marketing manager or director seek to raise their voice within an organisation where marketing isn’t perhaps as valued as it could be?

Read below to access six tips curated from our expert team.

1. Frame your work in business goals

The number one way to improve your standing in any organisation is to offer creative solutions to meeting critical goals. This is especially important for marketers especially as it can be viewed as a variable and unmeasured cost to many organisations.

By consciously and consistently linking any ideas and activities back to key goals, you’ll start to gain recognition for having the organisation’s best interests at heart.

2. Build strategic relationships

If you’re a lone marketer, it is important to locate a senior colleague whose input and opinions are always respected. It doesn’t have to be sales but if there is synergy in sales and marketing it makes marketing much easier.

Alternatively, look to technical or production leads as they always have the ear of the C-suite because they are innovation and revenue centres in most businesses.

Solicit their feedback and get comfortable sharing your ideas with them especially ahead of meetings or presentations where you know it’s often difficult for you to get your ideas heard. Being able to ground it in feedback from across the organisation supports the case you’re making and shows again you’re a team player with organsation interests foremost in your mind.

3. Forget about being liked, focus on results

When you’re working your way up, it’s common to think that being liked is the best way to operate. But by compromising, by not offering a view or constructively criticising current plans you know might not achieve goals, you are not showing all you can.

There is a truism that you don’t have to be liked to be respected. What is more important is being critical in your thinking, being able to argue a course of action, demonstrating a firm understanding of objectives and always seeking to progress forward.

4. Think about the language you use

It’s hard when you’re working your way up to not want to rock the boat. So when talking to or presenting to senior colleagues we can use filtering language without realising it.

Filtering language means we infil with words and phrases that might give us time to think but actually make us sound less confident. So instead of using phrases “I think” or “I feel like,” get straight to the point. Also do your best to remove filler words such as “like” and “um,”.

It’s critically important, especially when presenting for project, budget or resource sign-off that you keep your senior colleague’s attention and focus on the messages you want to get across.

Tone and body language plays a big part in this. Stand tall, speak slowly and clearly. Focus on positive action words like “It will” rather than “It could” or “It might”.

5. Look for other ways to build confidence

Confidence doesn’t come overnight and is often forged from experience. Are there opportunities to take on additional, highly visible roles within the company – perhaps taking a leading role with the social committee, working on sustainability projects or on community outreach?

Moving outside the business, there might be speaking groups, networking groups and charities that would benefit from your help whilst offering you a great way to develop skills and critical thinking.

6. Get qualified

You’d expect a training company to recommend qualifications. But it’s true.

Knowledge and application expertise are a compelling combination in the workplace and we’ve helped thousands of marketers improve both their knowledge of marketing processes to become better, more valuable versions of themselves.

Many of our prospective students start on their first discovery call with a goal to obtain a strategic grounding in marketing so they can have the confidence to propose plans that will be looked upon favourably by senior colleagues – and ultimately impact their own career and life.

Which of these ideas could you start to action today?

Let us know what you think on our LinkedIn page or Facebook group.

Do you need to talk to us about how we can help you upskill your team and become a more successful marketer today?

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Rene Power

MMC Learning’s Director of Marketing, Rene is passionate about making marketing more accessible and has an interest in businesses in the industrial and professional services sectors. Among his responsibilities as a member of the MMC Learning team are designing and delivering the company’s own marketing activities, and assisting clients with their team training.