The science of marketing demands companies to place customer relationships above profit. Having great prices and developing a new product every year isn’t where effective marketing ends. Marketing is a human function and thus requires the study and management of complex human behaviors.

Generally, meeting customer expectations and maintaining trust might seem like a daunting task (especially for small businesses without the financial muscle to finance plans or hire the right professionals). On that note, here are some essential tips for marketing departments seeking to take their efforts to a new level.

Focus on Growth

Keeping an eye on growth requires complex but worthy changes. Your marketing department might be all set. But as customer needs evolve, making additions to your marketing team becomes necessary. A marketing strategy targeted at consumers in a specific location might be enough. But what happens if it needs to expand its services beyond the United States?

Marketing doesn’t always follow a linear process. As your company grows, consumers may grow weary of your messaging, rendering your campaigns obsolete. A great marketing team isn’t the one to wait for sales to take a downturn before acting.

It takes a CMO with a keen focus on growth to disrupt its marketing efforts, finding opportunities everywhere, even outside its circle. Sometimes, all it takes is your marketing team to adopt a fresh perspective in its thinking. Connecting your marketing department to external CMO services in your industry might improve innovation a great deal.

Your marketing department may consider enlisting a professional marketing consultant to tweak your marketing plan. In recent years, fractional CMO service providers like Chief Outsider have become a great option for marketing executives to scale their company’s growth. They’re well skilled in generating the required analytics and directing your company towards the right marketing goals. Even better, your company will save a lot on hiring expenses with a fractional CMO compared to a full-time CMO.

Use Automation

The internet ushered the world into a new phase of doing business. Businesses have since enjoyed a lot of improvements from advancements in digital technology and media. Consumers are even the greater beneficiaries of these advancements. With an internet connection and credit card, shoppers are no longer limited in access. For instance, just by searching “buy carpet online,” a consumer can do business with the carpet capital of the world, instead of putting up with exorbitant local prices.

In this age, automation in marketing has almost become a necessity. Digital transformation has made it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to automate marketing processes for highly effective ROI. All it may take is a mobile app or software to track your KPIs and manage large volumes of customer data for well-informed marketing decisions.

You might not need a heavy budget to experience automated marketing as a small business CEO or marketing executive. There are many automated marketing platforms and tools you can consider, including Hootsuite and Hubspot. Some of these companies operate both free and subscription-based models.

However, it pays to comparison shop these options for a platform that works well for you. In running background checks on any automated platform, check if they have a comprehensive dashboard, workflow construction, etc.

Build Relationships Beyond Sales

Managing an effective marketing team goes beyond hitting sales targets and revenues. The relationship between a brand and its customers is a critical area for companies to consider. Customer relationship management (CRM) has become one of the primary factors in generating high levels of customer loyalty.

Marketing and customer relations go hand in hand. Marketing teams gather insights from communication channels to make well-informed decisions. However, some of these decisions are cross-functional. Thus, your marketing team may have to consult other business departments in order to develop an effective CRM plan.