Do marketers need to be strategists?

Marketing is getting increasingly complex.

The marketing funnel is no longer linear, it has changed:

(Source: Forrester)

Typical marketing funnels, like the one shown at the top of this excellent Forrester graphic, were largely based on a groundbreaking article published by American academics Lavidge and Steiner in 1961.

1961 was before my time – but I’m told that in 1961 there were 3 television networks in the US. Clearly a lot has changed in the marketing landscape since then. 

The ‘new funnel’ represented in the lower portion of the graphic shows the impact of peer reviews, competitive alternatives, recommendations from peers and user-generated content.

This is infinitely complex because there are literally thousands of different ways to engage. I don't even think it's accurate to call it a 'funnel' anymore, it's more like a giant subway map - our prospects and clients could enter and exit at multiple different points. This is all due to Web 2.0 and social media having turned the communications landscape on its head in the last ten years. Prospects and clients now source information, make decisions and get influenced in very different ways.

As a result, I believe as marketers, we need to integrate our activities into a consolidated, integrated map that creates a positive user experience along the engagement journey – providing touch points when, where and how our prospects or clients want to engage, i.e. on their terms, not ours.

To do this requires a lot of thought - not just the ability to implement activities, but real insight and strategic planning ability.

Do you think today's marketers are strategic enough?

Comments

[Caesar Wong]

What is a "marketer" anyway? Is it really just one person? Was it ever? Given your agency background do you think marketing is starting to become more "agency-like" with strategists, researchers, creatives (art/copy directors), etc.?

My colleague pinged me an interesting article the other day - wonder if you've seen this: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10078/ditch-the-funnel-purchase-loop-echoes-buyer-behavior?adref=nlt021313

This study proposes a "purchase loop" which I found interesting, because unlike the funnel concepts - including the crazy plumbing version above - assumes neat entry and exit points. The loop concept instead supposes that customers can enter and exit at any point in the loop, and take any path in between. That must surely present a great challenge to marketers, which is to say a marketer without a strategy is like an army going to war without a map.

[rohetherington]

Hi Caesar, I like your analogy that "a marketer without a strategy is like an army going to war without a map".

My concern is that I still see a lot of marketers who are focused on implementing a little piece of this puzzle, without an understanding of how it all fits together - or how their piece impacts the flow of the whole.

I guess where I'm landing is that marketers today need to have the ability to understand the overall map and make relevant connections between the different threads of potential customer journeys. While 'marketers' are certainly not 'one person' - there are many different roles within the profession, I suspect the strategic ability to contribute to the 'connecting of the dots' is something that is becoming increasingly required for ALL marketers.