Courtesy / Fluent IMC
Marnie Grumbach is the founder of Fluent IMC.
April 7, 2021
How To sync your marketing and business development efforts
By Marnie Grumbach
Marketing. Business development. These terms are used interchangeably all the time. If you want more business, everything you do to achieve that goal could be called business development, right? Maybe. That mindset is a bit confusing and can quickly lead to unmet expectations.
While the disciplines may be different, marketing and business development teams can achieve more goals when in sync. Before thinking about how to sync efforts, it’s worth exploring the differences.
Marketing vs. business development
Marketing is about identifying your key differentiators, developing your message and establishing a positioning within your market(s). Think advertising, events, website/digital content and building thought leadership through public relations — a few examples that fall under a broad marketing umbrella.
Business development is about making connections. It’s building upon the brand that you have established through marketing efforts to connect your audience to your products and services. It’s prospecting, qualifying leads and then converting those leads into clients. It is all about creating relationships.
Some in-house marketing directors wear both marketing and business development hats. A talented marketing generalist with some business acumen can provide strategic advice and coaching in both areas. But the truth is that the efforts are quite different and usually require a different set of skills and expertise.
Marketing and public relations people tend to be creative. They’re usually good storytellers and know how to develop a message through a brand look and compelling marketing messages. They create new and interesting ways to build awareness for your brand. They’re scouting opportunities and thinking of new ideas. They also probably pitch stories to the media, write content and provide creative direction and/or design.
Business development people go out and develop business, sometimes without realizing that they’re even doing it. For many professionals, business development takes training, coaching and a couple of steps outside their comfort zone. For many organizations, professionals got into their field to practice their craft, yet they still need to generate new business.
Here are a few ways a business can get marketing and business development to work together:
Strategy. When thinking strategy, it is essential to understand the audiences your business development team wants to reach and convert. Marketing and Business Development teams should also identify methods for communicating (and nurturing) with those audiences and KPIs for measuring results.
Messaging. Seek to understand the questions coming from those whose boots are on the ground. What are the most common questions coming from potential clients, or your audience? From there, both teams should ask: How can we integrate those findings into marketing, public relations and advertising content?
Multi-channel integration. Increase visibility by sharing the expertise of your business development team. Pitch team members for key speaking engagements, bylined opportunities, and media interviews. Celebrate your team’s accomplishments through PR and paid advertising to increase name recognition for your business development team in their markets.
Networking. With more businesses prepared to showcase in the virtual environment, that expands opportunities for networking. If viable, virtual or hybrid events could help promote the business development team's efforts. They also provide opportunities for the business development team to speak, network and nurture relationships with attendees. Pre and post event promotions are also opportunities for the marketing team to introduce the brand to new audiences.
Marketing is an essential piece to business development. Likewise, a branding and marketing strategy should be built with your business development goals in mind. The two complement and depend upon each other but that doesn’t make them the same. As you consider your marketing and business development goals, look at the strengths and weaknesses. You may find that you need more exposure and new marketing tactics for generating leads. Or you might find that you have warm leads, but just need sales training to help convert them into clients.
To find the right answers to these questions, the first step is getting marketing and business development in sync.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments