Get a room full of B2B marketers together, and you’ll notice a trend. No, it’s not a passion for AI – it’s a sense of frustration that we don’t always get the respect and appreciation of the C-Suite and our fellow departments. Not to paint all marketers like moody teenagers – as this is far from the case – but the sentiment often boils down to this: “they just don’t get marketing!”
The frustration, no doubt, stems from the fact that we know we can provide huge amounts of value to our businesses. In fact, used correctly marketing can be the main growth engine for a business, especially in a world which is becoming increasingly reliant on digital customer journeys, and in which salespeople often don’t get involved until a decision has already been made.
So, why doesn’t marketing get the respect it deserves and, more importantly, what do we need to do differently in order to get it? Well, we went to our Propolis community of B2B marketers to find out.
In a roundtable attended by members of Propolis, we asked one tricky question: “How can marketing leaders build trust and influence with fellow members of the C-suite in order to enhance marketing’s strategic and commercial impact? The solution that emerged was that we must become commercial marketers.
What is commercial marketing?
We defined a commercial marketer as “a marketer whose primary skillset and value is in their ability to think strategically and drive measurable business growth through marketing. A commercial marketer thinks about the wider business objectives first and foremost, and marketing tactics and specialisms second. By comparison, a commercial marketer is not a marketer who is primarily occupied by achieving tactical wins, or results in one isolated metric.”
In becoming commercial marketers, we can prove to CEOs and CFOs of the tangible impact we’re having as marketers. No more conversations about impressions and questions of ‘what does this really mean?’ – just real, commercial conversations centred on the impact we can drive as B2B marketers. By extension, this will help us build trust and influence with fellow members of the C-Suite.
What is a commercial marketing strategy?
Unfortunately, there is no one way to build a B2B marketing strategy that drives commercial success. Ultimately, there are just too many factors (i.e. product type, business model, industry, etc) to make that possible.
However, a strong commercial marketing strategy will always focus on the overall business objectives first and foremost, with marketing used to drive that forwards. The important thing to consider here is that there are not different types of commercial marketing. Fundamentally, this about an approach to the entire profession of marketing.
That said, if you would like to see some B2B commercial marketing examples, we’d recommend you head to the winners report from our most recent B2B Marketing Awards. This report shines a light on the very best campaigns, marketers and initiatives in B2B, including a category dedicated to “Most commercially successful campaign”
How do I become a commercial marketer?
Saying it is one thing. Doing it is another. With that in mind, our Propolis Experts shared five key areas that a B2B marketer must be close to and focused on in order to qualify as a commercial marketer. These are as follows:
- Business strategy (why you’re selling)
- Product and portfolio (what you’re selling).
- Customers, community and team (who you’re serving).
- Market, industry and profession (where you’re trading).
- Brand, campaigns and channels (how you’re trading)
If marketers can start to get more involved in each of these areas, they can start to look above the parapet and outside of marketing, and starting becoming more well-rounded commercial marketing leaders. Ultimately, this is as much about a mindset shift as it is anything else. That said, we have also identified six key skills that a B2B marketer must have in order to become a commercial marketer. These are as follows:
- Insight skills: Understanding how your market works, and staying informed about industry trends and influences, whether those are regulatory, economic, social, technological, cultural or geographic.
- Analytical skills: The ability to understand and interpret data, in order to make commercially sensible decisions.
- Financial acumen: In other words, understanding the language of the finance team, and having enough knowledge to have conversations about marketing’s commercial impact in their terms.
- Strategic skills: Having the ability to lift your head above the parapet, outside of marketing, and looking at what your business overall is looking to achieve, and thinking about how you can support that through marketing.
- Agile decision-making skills: Being able to leverage real-time analytics and the latest market insights, in order to make rapid adjustment and improvements instinctively where and when needed.
- Communication and collaboration skills: Being able to build sustainable relationships with both your internal and external stakeholders, having the ability to communicate complex ideas in easy-to-understand ways, and spending time listening to key stakeholders and sharing ideas with them, asking for input where necessary.
What happens if I don’t become a commercial marketer?
As we defined in the Propolis marketing community, a commercial marketer is: “A marketer whose primary skillset and value is in their ability to think strategically and drive measurable business growth through marketing. A commercial marketer thinks about the wider business objectives first and foremost, and marketing tactics and specialisms second.”
Fundamentally, that means that a non-commercial marketer is essentially a marketer who is focused on tactical campaigns and isolated marketing metrics, and who isn’t focused on commercial marketing strategies. Ultimately, those marketers that continue down that road will continue to face the challenge we discussed with our Propolis members: having difficulty building trust and influence with fellow members of the C-suite in order to enhance marketing’s strategic and commercial impact.
What’s next?
Marketing has always had the great advantage of being close to the customer, and therefore being in a strong position to help lead not just B2B marketing strategy, but the entire business strategy. However, as our various activities in Propolis on this theme revealed, many B2B marketers aren’t all that close to those areas we identified earlier in this blog (in particular, product and portfolio – one of the four Ps!). In fact, in some cases, B2B marketers have even been reduced to focusing exclusively on communications, and not having the ability to input on wider strategic issues whatsoever.
Fortunately, as the world becomes increasingly digital, B2B marketers are now there alongside their buyers for every step of the buying journey. This is fantastic news. It means we now have the ability to play a greater role in driving revenue (and demonstrably so) than ever before. The key is to make sure you’re one of the marketers who can play this role, and not one of those left out in the cold.
Being a commercial marketer requires both a mindset shift and a particular set of skills. For those of you who are members of Propolis, our Experts, training resources and content are all there to help you become commercial marketers. For those of you not in the Propolis community, we urge you to join the club.
Propolis helps B2B marketers confidently build the right strategies and skills to drive growth and prove their impact. Full of relevant expertise and tools, it cuts straight to the answers and advice marketing leaders and teams need to overcome their biggest challenges. Interested? You should be.
