Marketing Teams Are Beleaguered In Wake Of Pandemic, Study Finds

Marketing teams and their email subsets are facing several pressures, including lack of dedicated resources, with 52% saying they are in this situation and 50% saying they face unrealistic expectations, according to Rethinking Marketing: Survey of Today’s Marketing Department, a study released Tuesday by SJT Marketing and Your Marketer. 

And they are being overworked — 34% of the 71 respondents said they are responsible for roles outside the marketing department.  

Other pressures include: 

  • Changes in the marketplace — 34%
  • Lack of Commitment from Company Leadership — 25% 
  • Technology Advancements — 17%
  • Pressures from Sales or other departments — 14%

Does any of this sound familiar? These pressures are bound to trickle down to email staffs. 

However, only 52% of CMOs and VPs are on their companies’ leadership teams and 14% don’t know. Another 34% are not on these teams. 

The reasons include: 

  • Marketing leader reports up through Operations and the Chief Growth Officer.
  • Our marketer is brought in to “some” conversations but not necessary strategy sessions.  
  • We have no Board. Just an owner with limited input.  
  • As a principal, I am not part of the five-person Executive Team comprised of Partners. 
  • Marketing is not seen as a vital role.  
  • Marketing function is not perceived as important as it is. 
  • Marketing isn’t valued in the professional services industry.  

What’s more, only 20% of CMPs and vice presidents have full approval of the marketing budget.  

Yet 50% of marketing departments saw an increase in requests, and feel that expectations were realistic. 

And, 52% feel they need to say yes to any project that lands on their desk. 

Finally, 33% had to five up a portion of their salary and/or benefits during the pandemic. Of those, only 40% had the salary and or benefits returned.

SJT and YourMarketer were concerned to find that “81% of marketers felt both that their workload had increased due to the pandemic, and that 43% saw their budgets cut,” states Jennifer Palmer Farrington, CEO of YourMarketer. 

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