Marketing department
| Marketing department |
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| See also |
Marketing department is a department within a business set up which is responsible for activities such as public relations, promotion and advertising. Companies have increased their marketing budgets dramatically and spend millions of dollars now more than any time before and it is going up every year. The cumulative function of marketing is to communicate, deliver and create value for the consumer.[1]
Responsibilities of marketing department
The marketing department in a company has a number of responsibilities. All of them have crucial importance in ensuring the survival of the company. Some of the major responsibilities are [2][3]:
- Getting to know customer’s needs. To develop an effective marketing strategy, it is important for the marketing department to get closer to customers and listen to their needs in order to figure out what they really want.
- Keeping up with the competition. It is essential for the marketing department to keep up with the company’s competitors and be up to date about what they are up to. It is important for the company to know where it stands in the market and how its competitors are working. It is also beneficial to know what marketing strategies other competitions are using and whether they are successful or not. Once the department manages to reasonable amount data about their competitors, it can analyze it and come up with a better marketing strategy.
- Branding. Companies are identified by a brand, so it becomes necessary for the marketing department to come up with techniques to make sure that the brand is marketed appropriately. This can be done through images, words, ideas, or benefits for customers.
- Creativity and innovation. The marketing department needs to come up with new promotions, advertisements, and partnerships. It also has to come up with creative ideas for new products and services.
- Social media management. A good marketing department would be one that monitors social media effectively and knows what is trending. It also has the responsibility to manage and maintain different social media pages. Marketing through social media is the most widely used form of marketing these days.
- Managing events. The responsibilities of the marketing department also include managing events. This can include promotional meetings, promotional events, product exhibitions, product awareness seminars, training sessions, product conventions, etc.
- Coordination with other departments within the company. It is vital for the marketing department to take input from other people working in the company, so that it can come up with an effective marketing strategy.
- Budgeting and Calculating return on investment. As is the case with other departments in the company, the marketing department also needs to plan its budget and ensure a positive return on investment.
Relationship with other departments
Despite the fact that the marketing capacity is regularly done by the marketing department, this thinking must penetrate the whole association for better results. Working up a practical displaying plan will require close associations with other departments of the business. Which is why the marketing department works closely with other departments in the business set-up. Some examples are [4]:
- Production department: The marketing department should work closely with the production department to guarantee that sufficient research and development is carried out to fulfill current and future customer requirements. This co-ordination will also ensure quality products which will be according to customer needs. Sometimes marketing department want to launch a product quickly to gain an advantage over their competitors but this would not be successful if they are in full coordination with production department as it will need time to produce and test the products.
- Human resource department: Certain skills are required for research and development of new products, which is why the marketing department will need to coordinate with the human resource department to make sure that company’s employees posses the required skills. It will also help the company meet the production targets. Another outcome from this cooperation would be a strong ambitious and competent sales time which is vital for any company thriving to succeed.
- Finance department: The marketing department is mainly responsible for boosting sale of products, which is done by research, advertising and promotion. These processes will require a handsome amount of money which is why the marketing department needs to be in full coordination with the finance department, so that there are enough funds to carry out their tasks effectively and on time.
Need of a marketing department
If it is necessary for the company to have a marketing department or not, depends on the company structure and size. In small companies and even in some large companies it might not be necessary to have a marketing department. For example, the management of product can be done by engineers and pricing by accountants, and even selling can be managed by the sales management however there could be some mistakes in working as sales management will mainly focus on how much money they will make from selling products and the accountants will focus on the costs and forget about market values, so it will be hard to focus on customer needs and company goals. So in such situation the company needs to have a marketing department to organize the management of marketing as it becomes necessary to control the market.[5]
Footnotes
- ↑ Hooley G., Lynch J., Shepherd J., (1990), The Marketing Concept: Putting the Theory into Practice, "European Journal of Marketing", Vol. 24 No. 9, MCB UP Ltd
- ↑ Viardot E., (2004), Successful Marketing Strategy for High-tech Firms, Artech House
- ↑ Sparling K., Earls G., (1992), How to Evaluate and Improve Your Marketing Department (Business), Natl Textbook Co Trade
- ↑ Micu D., Ifrim L., Daraban C., Purdescu C., (2012), Cross-functional linkages between marketing and the other business functions in an industrial organization, "UPB Scientific Bulletin", Series D: Mechanical Engineering 74(3)
- ↑ McDonald M., Wilson H., (2011), Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, A John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, Publication
References
- Bradley F., (2003), Strategic Marketing: In the Customer Driven Organization, Wiley
- Feng H., Neil A., Lopo L., (2015), Marketing Department Power and Firm Performance', "Journal of Marketing", Vol. 79(5)
- Hamid A. (2002), An Introduction to Property Marketing, Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
- McDonal M., Warren K., (2002), Marketing Plans That Work, Butterworth-Heinemann
- Rao, R. (2011), Services Marketing, Dorling Kindersley
Author: Rawand Danha, Agnieszka Florczak
