In many companies the roles of sales and marketing are all mushed together. Early entrepreneurs wear many hats, so it happens- just as Finance and HR can be under or be just one person. (Not a long term fit in my mind). As companies grow, it is helpful to define and separate out the roles to create better performance and real accountability for results.
For our discussion here, let’s say that push is sales and pull is inbound marketing.
Push (sales) is your outreach to existing customers, targeted potential customers and centers of influence.
Pull (inbound marketing) is what you do to attract customers to you. Not so long ago, that was print advertising, catalogs, trade shows, educational seminars. That has changed faster and faster since the internet inbound marketing channels and platforms – HubSpot, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It is a rare marketing boss who doesn’t have to change tactics quarterly, if not monthly due to new technology or a competitor’s smart new shift.
In this global economy, marketing now needs something like an R&D budget to stay nimble and create pull, quarter after quarter. This isn’t a nice-to-have. This is survival, baby.
How ’bout you brainstorm what it will take to pull in “X” new customers and allocate a R&D budget to test 3 new ways to reach them. Don’t stand still. Your competitors aren’t.