Question

Topic: Other

One Person Marketing Department-concerns

Posted by Anonymous on 4/9/2009 at 9:32 AM ET 125 Points
I am the sole marketing person at the company I work for (we also have several outside sales people) and I report directly to the VP and supervise noone. When I started there was no marketing department, however since we are owned by a larger company we do/did have access to their resources (ie. people to design ads, brochures etc). When I was hired my main job responsibilities were to send out customer thank you letters each day to the previous day's customers (using our customer data base) along with these letters, I send comment cards. When the cards come back I track how customers heard about us. I also ensure than any negative cards are followed up with by our managers. In addition, I am also responsible for creating POP flyers for each of our store locations to use each month displaying various products or promotions. In the 2.5 years I have been here, I have also taken on additional marketing related tasks as well, such as creating brochures, organizing our trade shows, placing newspaper ads, creating flyers and materials for our sales team and communicating with our outside marketing vendors (such as our media buying company who does our TV buying, our web company and our PPC company).

However, I still am not the one who comes up with our marketing budget (Vp and Gm do that) and I have never seen a marketing plan at my company.

Now, my boss wants to start using one outside company to do our PPC, TV and Web stuff (as opposed to the 3 separate companies we are using now). This outside company also wants to sit down with us and go over our marketing dollars, goals, ways to track ROI etc. I just feel like these are things that I should be doing, but have never been asked by my boss to take on any of these things and honestly I have a very full plate already with doing the tasks I have described above.

I guess my question/concern is: Is it a good thing that my boss is going to this outside company so that I can get help in directing the marketing efforts I already perform and ways to track ROI, developing a marketing plan, etc, or should I look at it as a sign that I have failed and be worried that my entire job will eventually be outsourced? If so, what can I do to turn this around so that I can make my current position more effective?

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by michael on 4/9/2009 at 9:37 AM Accepted
    Familiarity breeds contempt.

    Either he doesn't see that you are valuable or he doesn't realize that he's going to have to put some money on the table.

    I would sit down at home and develop a marketing plan for the company with several budgets. Then when he complains about their budget go in and give your counter-proposal.

    It may fall flat and then you have to move on...to another company. Having to constantly prove your worth is a huge emotional drain as an employee.

    Michael
  • Posted on 4/9/2009 at 9:47 AM Author
    When I started, they just wanted someone to do the two above tasks. I actually don't even think they had requested that the applicant have a college degree. So, maybe my boss just doesn't see my potential or that my postion should be anything more than it is (basically a marketing assistant to the VP and GM). THis is my first real marketing job out of college, so if there is any question about what I am capable of, alot of it I am sure is my fault because I am uncertain about myself and how to take control of a marketing dept. I hate to make a big deal to my boss about him going to this company and then not be able to come through with any marketing plans I create due to my lack of experience compared to this outside marketing agency.

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 4/9/2009 at 12:10 PM Accepted
    Actually, this may be a golden opportunity for you. Ask to be involved in all meetings and view all reports from the outside company. Listen, study, and ask questions. Get paid to learn some of these skills and techniques. Perhaps read some books and take some classes. And when you think you can do better, start talking to your boss. Until then, make sure that you're addressing all the issues that are handed to you so when you can pitch your own skills you've shown yourself to be a trusted/valuable employee.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 4/9/2009 at 4:10 PM Accepted
    I agree with Jay that this is very likely a good thing for you and for your career, but if I were your shoes, I would focus on my personal professional development, and I would be sure my resume as up to date.

    This new agency relationship will very likely create new tasks for you, and the metrics and analysis they bring to the situation will most likely help you have a better perspective on your own role. If this agency relationship works out, this will most likely be very good for you, since you're company will most likely invest more in marketing. Good luck to you. (And be sure to step up your personal networking).
  • Posted by Mkter on 4/9/2009 at 8:03 PM Accepted
    I know and feel your pain...Inhale, exhale...and breath.
    In regards to your concerns of not knowing how to 'manage' a department and/or lack of those types skills, I have to ask, was there ever a Marketing Mgr. prior to you coming on board? How was the dept. functioning-just VP and the sources? The fact that you were given more responsibilities tells me they couldn't function effectively prior. Inaddition, these tasks can be a lot to juggle overall and keeping an eye on detail, follow-up, etc.
    My next quest. would be - do you give any input/feedback on budget? I can't imagine you are creating/developing mktg. collateral that clearly is needed and not be aware of your budgetary limits...that makes no sense. I would dedicate some time to evaluate everything that is essentially necessary on a month to month basis that you have had to manage and work out some type of marketing plan/budget inorder to rebut or have say in what you've taken on. Now the bigger concern is really how effective have your efforts been, you can focus on those inaddition to creating a mktg. plan to support all that's necessary for the dept.
  • Posted by Mkter on 4/9/2009 at 8:06 PM Member
    I know and feel your pain...Inhale, exhale...and breath.
    In regards to your concerns of not knowing how to 'manage' a department and/or lack of those types skills, I have to ask, was there ever a Marketing Mgr. prior to you coming on board? How was the dept. functioning-just VP and the sources? The fact that you were given more responsibilities tells me they couldn't function effectively prior. Inaddition, these tasks can be a lot to juggle overall and keeping an eye on detail, follow-up, etc.
    My next quest. would be - do you give any input/feedback on budget? I can't imagine you are creating/developing mktg. collateral that clearly is needed and not be aware of your budgetary limits...that makes no sense. I would dedicate some time to evaluate everything that is essentially necessary on a month to month basis that you have had to manage and work out some type of marketing plan/budget inorder to rebut or have say in what you've taken on. Now the bigger concern is really how effective have your efforts been, (meaning, are they necessary or can you guys do without?) you can focus on those inaddition to creating a mktg. plan to support all that's necessary for the dept.
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