As if competition in the modern business landscape weren’t fierce enough, it can often feel like your greatest opponent is wearing your same colors.
Organizational bureaucracy can feel like two steps forward, one step back when it comes to getting things done.
While H/R is a favorite punching bag among all departments, the gap between marketing and development teams should not be overlooked.
Keep reading as we explore the disconnect that often exists between marketing and development and the powerful results that can arise when the two departments operate on the same page.
Common Disconnects Between Marketing and Development
There are various disconnects that exist between marketing and development teams.
With that said, most of them stem from the same root: lack of understanding of what each department entails.
Development has a tendency to operate under the simplistic notion that marketing is sales. Make ads, sling products. That’s all there is to it.
In a similar vein, marketing teams can have a habit of pigeonholing development as “builders,” the team tucked away in the back, pumping new products down the assembly line.
When each department trivializes and compartmentalizes the role of the other, some of the subsequent issues that inevitably arise include:
- Communication gaps: the two departments do not understand technical terms used in the other. This can limit shared knowledge, with development not understanding the marketing strategy and marketing not understanding technical specifications of products.
- Misaligned goals and metrics: marketing may be focused solely on driving numbers, whereas development is all about fixing bugs.
- Inefficient workflows: data silos and lack of integration between the departments can make it difficult for each to access the information they need. The poor collaborative environment can lead to delays, errors, and missed opportunities for the organization as a whole.
And these are just a few of the issues that are inevitable when departmental disconnects exist. Without a firm understanding of the dynamic nature of the other team and how their roles complement each other, the business is doomed to suboptimal performance.
Effective Strategies for Bridging the Gap
Given the drawbacks of organizational disconnect, the incentive to align marketing and development teams is great. Fortunately, there are a number of effective strategies for getting the two departments working in unison:
- Improved communication: create clear channels of communication, vie for a commonality of language and thorough understanding of technical terms, and ensure shared access to all information
- Aligned goals and metrics: make each team a key contributor to overarching goals, as opposed to solely focusing on metrics within their niche
- Data integration: use data from different sources to provide a unified view of customer behavior and product performance
- Collaborative workflows: roll out processes that require collaboration and knowledge exchange between teams
Most importantly, it is crucial to provide ongoing training and education. When each team has a clear understanding of the other’s roles, responsibilities, and challenges, they will be better positioned to leverage their own core competencies to provide value for the other at the right place and time.
Organizational Benefits of Marketing and Development Cohesion
The benefits of marketing and development cohesion cannot be understated, with powerful synergies emerging that will ultimately improve profits within the organization.
It will lead to faster implementation of marketing strategies. In a best-case scenario, delayed marketing campaigns will hurt revenue. In a worst-case scenario, it will drive you out of business. Just look at how Blackberry went from dominating the smartphone landscape in the mid-2000’s, hesitated to match Apple’s innovative digital campaigns, and quickly went to second-place and then out of sight.
It can lead to a better user experience for your products. When marketing and development are able to seamlessly integrate consumer feedback into the company’s own innovation, it can lead to products that rank best-in-class among consumers.
And, perhaps most importantly in the era of online commerce, it can provide a strong solution for how to generate more leads from your website. By involving development in key marketing tactics such as A/B testing, the business can get a better understanding of what the customer wants to effectively structure their SEO campaigns and optimize conversion rates.
The Effect of Marketing/Development Synergy on Business Valuation
Clearly, cohesiveness between marketing and development can have a major impact on the day-to-day success of the company. However, it is increasingly becoming an important intangible valuation metric for determining the business’ worth.
Many contemporary models for how to value a digital marketing agency, online consulting firm, and any other remote enterprises that don’t have an overabundance of physical assets are looking at how streamlined the organizational structure is. Highly disparate teams and processes can be a major liability for buyers, who then have to invest additional money to achieve desirable synergies.
Businesses with a demonstrable partnership between marketing and development often deliver more sustainable, measurable results–a major selling point and driver of the business’ worth.
Get Marketing and Development Speaking the Same Language Today
Even though marketing and development are supposed to complement each other, the result often falls well short of the intended goal.
By improving communication to garner a clearer understanding of the complex role of the other and implementing the strategies listed above, the business can put itself in the best position to capitalize on powerful synergies to drive ongoing profits.
For more of the latest trends in marketing and business development, explore the content at Red Stag Labs for additional thought-provoking reads!
