Marketers these days need to trade in their Manolos and Feragamos for Nikes or K2s. That’s about the only way to keep pace with the many changes happening in marketing today.
OK, so maybe it’s not about the shoes. It’s more about collaboration, strategic planning, and embracing technology, as well as finding ways to curtail email and meetings, according to our survey “Are You a Marketing Hero?”
In the survey, Direct Marketing News asked readers to share how their roles are changing, what they’re doing now that the never expected to do, and how they maintain balance. About 120 marketing executives said the following:
What activities do you spend…
the most time on?
Building the overall marketing strategy
Developing individual marketing campaigns
Managing or coaching staff
Using social media yourself (posting or reading)
the least time on?
Working with the chief financial officer
Meeting with customers
Gathering and analyzing customer feedback
Collaborating with sales
Using social media yourself (posting or reading) – a few respondents noted that they don’t use social media themselves at all.
The activity with the biggest increase in time spent on it over the past three years:|
Using social media yourself (posting or reading)
Developing individual marketing campaigns
Building the overall marketing strategy
Managing or coaching your staff
Analyzing customer data (behavioral, transactional, demographic)
The activity with the biggest decrease in time spent on it over the past three years:
Meeting with customers
Collaborating with customer service
Developing individual marketing campaigns
Working with the chief financial officer
Collaborating with IT
What’s your most important task?
Building the overall marketing strategy 33%
Meeting with customers 18.8%
Developing individual marketing campaigns 18.8%
What one thing are you doing now that you never expected to do as a marketer?
Collaborating with IT 34.9%
Using social media yourself (posting or reading) 23.3%
Working with the chief financial officer 17.4%
Analyzing customer data 12.8%
What’s your biggest time waster?
Answering emails 25%
Attending internal non-marketing-related meetings 24%
Handling cross-functional collaboration issues 20.8%
What else do you, work-wise, when you’re not marketing?
Serve on an association committee 31.1%
Speak at conferences 31.1%
Serve on the board of a charitable organization 29.7%
Personal blogging 21.6%
If you could be any superhero, who would you be?
Wonder Woman 30.5% Superman 12.6%
Catwoman 12.6% Iron Man 11.6%
What do you on your own time that keeps you in balance (besides time with family and friends)? Listed in order of the number of mentions.
- Volunteer
- Read
- Exercise
- Cook
- Garden
- Play sports
- Walk the dog
- Travel
- Listen to music
- Hike
- Play in a band
- Cycle
- Ski
- Go boating
- Paint
- Coach youth sports
- Knit
