Partners think marketing departments are poor
How do you know that your marketing department is doing a good job? Or, if you are in marketing, how do you justify your expansion (Oh, happy days) or retention of current size (more realistic)?
It is a sad truth that most partners rate their marketing departments as poor. This is the case across size of firm, regional spread or specialisation. The typical complaints are that “we don’t know what they do”, “I seem to do everything myself”, or the perennial classic “Our database is rubbish”.
The typical defence from marketing is that the aim of marketing is not to impress the workers; it’s to do “marketing” – Stategy/Brand/Marcomms/PR etc. This is supported by the assertion that most partners are not marketing experts, whatever they may like to believe and they cannot understand the painstaking work that goes into a marketing plan which extends beyond seminars, conferences and sporting social events.
Conversely, partners would argue that they are not only the talent that the marketing team is selling (“pimp my partner”), but also the paymasters and owners of the business. If they are unhappy, it is more than a trivial concern.
The underlying problem stems from a failure to manage expectations. Firms do not know what “a good job looks like” from marketing. There are few measurable goals, and even fewer commitments from partners setting out ways in which they will work with marketing to make the whole scheme fit together. The marketing director – and team - is assessed at the end of the year based on partner feedback against the backdrop of firm-wide performance, not on his or her delivery of key objectives.
Until there is some rigour in the process, there will continue to be a litany of woe from partners and a disillusioned marketing team who are working hard without useful feedback.