How often does a company announce the release date for a product, only to have to revise it when it’s clear it won’t meet the deadline? That’s just one consequence of the marketing department not being aligned with the other departments and vice-versa.
In other words, marketing, sales, finance, production, development, procurement and other internal functions all need to be integrated. Think of Steve Jobs and how design to him was equally important as function. In an interview with Fast Company, an Apple senior designer and user experience evangelist said, “Everybody there is thinking about UX and design, not just the designers. And that’s what makes everything about the product so much better.”
Here’s another anecdote: At home, I subscribe to AT&T U-Verse for Internet access as well as DirecTV and AT&T TV (it was DirectTV Now when I first subscribed). When I first added DirecTV Now, I asked if there was a discount for being a DirecTV subscriber. The salesperson said no because DirecTV and DirecTV Now were separate units.
AT&T, which owns DirecTV, has no idea that I subscribe to three of its services simultaneously. Here’s an example: I get HBO through my AT&T TV subscription, and thus I get access to the newly launched HBO Max. Yet, AT&T still sends me marketing messages to subscribe to HBO Max, even though I already am a subscriber through one of its services.
What I’m describing is a classic example of siloing, and it’s not a good way to run a business. In fact, siloing also hurts marketing efforts.
Here are a few ways to integrate your company internally:
- Create an external orientation. All departments must share the same value of meeting your customers’ needs and accepting marketing as a philosophy, not only a function. Your firm should not operate only to meet management goals; rather, it should strive to deliver value to customers.
- Work together, not against each other. Build cooperative working relationships on the premise that marketing is every employee’s responsibility. Company leaders need to eliminate inter-departmental battles for resources, status, etc.
- Get rid of silos. Train together, work with each other and communicate frequently. Sometimes, you may have to deliberately make sure to do these things, especially if your team members are working remotely.