Not all marketing endeavours are bound to meet their goals. It may not be a pleasant outcome, yielding a low return on investment (ROI) or failing to produce enough business growth, but it is inevitable that some campaigns may fail. In such cases, then, it is imperative to identify the cause – be it specific circumstances or shortcomings in marketing strategies. That is where marketing support becomes an invaluable tool at the disposal of any business or company that needs such introspection.
From marketing management to analysis, there are various marketing support strategies that one may consider, so it is vital to do one’s research beforehand.
Whether you’re looking to hire a marketing support specialist or are considering marketing support as a career prospect, our beginner’s guide to marketing support should be a great first step to get you started.
What is marketing support?
“Marketing support” is a rather broad term, so let us begin by defining it.
Many online dictionaries define it as an “auto industry term that describes programs that manufacturers provide to stimulate sales or assist dealers in the advertising and marketing of their vehicles”, while others define it more broadly as “activities that complement and support marketing strategies”.
Since many marketing support services and specialists cater to many industries, it’s more beneficial that we use the latter definition here.
Caption: Financial success is a multi-faceted goal, and marketing is a crucial aspect of it.
Narrowing it down, there are multiple types of professionals that can provide marketing support services, beginning with marketers themselves.
But as far as specialists go, marketing support specialists and marketing assistants are the first that come to mind.
Marketing assistants
Marketing assistants work closely with marketing departments to develop optimal marketing campaigns and sales strategies.
Since the primary goal of such projects is maximizing ROI and profits, marketing assistants will often be involved in various steps of marketing and sales, such as;
- Advertising
- Research
- Production
- Sales and distribution
They will thus often have the following responsibilities, among others;
- Monitor active marketing programs and contribute to new, experimental ones
- Contribute to the creation of advertising material
- Collaborate with and assist senior marketing professionals and brand ambassadors
Naturally, marketing assistants need to be qualified in the field of advertising, marketing, or a related field, due to the nature of their services.
Marketing support specialists
Akin to market research analysts and marketing specialists, marketing support specialists also work closely with marketing departments.
Their duties will often be administrative, with the goal of supporting marketing teams on their projects. They will thus be involved in projects related to, among others;
- Content creation
- Communications
- Events and meetings
Their responsibilities will thus often include, among others;
- Financial data and reports
- Content development and editing
- Support staff training and supervision
In much the same way as marketing assistants, marketing support specialists need to be well-versed in marketing, advertising, and related fields.
Types of marketing support services
With the above definitions out of the way, it should now be easier to pinpoint the various types of marketing support services that are available.
Marketing support services may include, among others, any and all of the following;
- Corporate identity and image – branding and rebranding
- Online presence – website design, development, and functionality
- Advertising – planning, design, and management
- Campaign performance analysis – monitoring and reporting
- CRM – development and re-development
- SEO – evaluation and improvement
- Marketing – planning, strategy, SWOT, and research
The depth and scope of many such services will, of course, depend on each individual case, business, and industry.
But since CRM and SEO share most of their traits and benefits across industries, it should be beneficial to analyze those further.
Marketing support services that focus on them will be based on immutable marketing truths, after all.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the primary factor that determines how a website is ranked in search engine results.
If a marketing endeavour underperforms, marketing support will likely need to begin by examining and evaluating the SEO score of a company’s or business’s site.
Caption: Since Google drives a massive portion of digital sales, SEO is a vital aspect of marketing support.
When the vast majority of clicks for any given search go to the top results, it is understandably vital that a website ranks well to boost lead generation and conversion.
To do so. a site needs to adhere to SEO standards, which will boost engagement and thus push more leads into the sales funnel. It is such a crucial factor that, over the years, multiple companies and networks have been built around providing such marketing support to various industries.
Movers Development is a notable example of such a company, which provides SEO and other digital marketing services to relocation professionals.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
CRM software offers a platform that covers all aspects of interactions between businesses and customers.
Such software begins with basic functionalities such as sales and marketing tools, metrics dashboards, and a central database, offering more specialized tools depending on a company’s needs.
Specialized CRM solutions largely fall in 3 categories;
- Operational
- Analytical
- Collaborative
Caption: Collaborative CRM solutions seek to optimize team cooperation and communication.
Operational CRM solutions intend to automate business processes that do not require creative human oversight.
Thus, they will offer such functions as:
1. Service automation
Streamlining incoming customer inquiries and input and redirecting them to support agents, as well as automating order confirmations.
2. Sales automation
Streamlining lead analysis and marketing analytics, as well as automating outgoing emails to valuable leads.
3. Marketing automation
Streamlining online lead information and processing, informing specialized promotional activities and digital marketing.
Analytical CRM solutions, as the name suggests, seek to analyze lead data and inform decisions based on predictive and other models. Thus, they will largely focus on such functions as:
1. Predictive modelling
gathering internal company data as well as online customer behaviour data, applying consumer trend prediction models, and informing service optimizations.
2. Profitability analysis
Evaluating individual lead profitability through touchpoint analysis, informing sales funnel optimizations.
3. Customer segmentation
Categorizing customer data based on internal criteria, informing tailored engagement optimizations.
Collaborative CRM solutions seek to optimize internal communications, boosting cooperation among different teams.
They will thus offer the following functions:
1. Interaction management
Tracking the various touchpoints of customers with a brand, optimizing responses to recurring customer concerns or trends.
2. Channel management
Streamlining customer communication channels by consolidating them, optimizing responses and management.
Should a marketing campaign or internal operations underperform, marketing support services will also need to focus on CRM solutions.
It may be crucial to identify if a company or business is using the correct types of CRM solutions and if it is doing so in an efficient way.
Conclusion
It should thus be apparent that marketing support services can offer both vital, actionable information and executive support.
And in the ever-evolving, fiercely competitive world of marketing, research and innovation can only be assets to success.
