|
Several years ago, there was a horrible wildfire in Colorado where Karl lives.
As you can imagine, it was incredibly stressful for the entire community. Karl’s family was lucky enough not to lose their home, but thousands of other people did. People in their community. Friends of their family. The families of the kids Karl’s boys rode on the school bus with. Overnight, thousands of people around them lost their houses, their businesses, and, most notably, their feelings of safety and security. In the midst of one of the most challenging events that took place in their community, Karl witnessed something amazing - the way his kids started showing up for their friends, their neighbors, and their classmates. They collected items, shared their belongings, and spent their time helping the people around them. The most shocking part for Karl was that it was done without any reminders or prompting from him. In fact, if anything, the kids were the ones leading the charge, inspiring Karl to get more involved with efforts, too. It made Karl reflect about what legacy really is - how you show up, every day, in your community, and the ways you impact the people around you. In sales, you’re an agent of change. We may often picture salespeople in the negative stereotypical way, but what they really aim to do is make an impact for the people they guide and serve. During Karl’s appearance on the Legacy Roadmap Show podcast, he shared how his son’s unintentionally exemplified the “ownership” mindset in Iceberg Selling and why serving people by doing the things you value and are good at is at the heart of selling. Listen to the full podcast.  Much like with sales, people often lump every member of the marketing team together. They assume the entire team is made up of creative thinkers, solely focused on coming up with big ideas. Alternatively, they may believe that the marketing team is full of strategists, only concerned with analyzing data and making adjustments that increase leads at the top of the funnel.
The truth is you need to have people with a variety of skills in order to inform, plan, and carry out the tasks that keep your funnel full and moving. This means strategists, creatives, data analysts, coordinators, videographers, and more. From large organizations with robust marketing teams with 100+ team members to smaller companies where everybody wears multiple hats, here are the 8 essential roles on any marketing team. The Leader The marketing leader is responsible for the overall execution of the entire marketing plan. Their job isn’t to get into the details on the day-to-day creation of each specific component of the marketing plan. Instead, they focus on the big picture, crafting the overall strategy, reviewing and giving final approval on key messaging, and working closely with the sales team to make sure the two groups are aligned. One of the most common mistakes we see in the structure of marketing teams is to spread the responsibilities of a marketing leader across several members of the team, or even the company. Why is this a problem? It creates two things: confusion and delays. Yes, collaboration is key to the success of the marketing (or any) team, but decision by committee can easily be its downfall. Approval processes become lengthy and even simple questions may turn into debates. Not to mention, without clear responsibilities, it’s difficult for anybody to feel empowered to take ownership and give final approval. The Project Manager Anybody who’s worked on a marketing campaign, or, more realistically, several simultaneous marketing campaigns, understands just how many moving pieces there are. It’s the project manager’s (often referred to as the coordinator) job to juggle them. These highly organized members of the team are in charge of deadlines, managing timelines, assessing action items and next steps, and troubleshooting when something inevitably falls behind schedule. They set the milestones, make sure every member of the team has what they need to keep moving forward, and are the reason initiatives are completed on time. They do this by organizing strategic marketing meetings, creating and closely managing action plans, and ensuring milestones are hit. They also aid in communication between various members of the team, update any online project management software, double check that things are done correctly, and more. When things go to plan and stay on schedule, it’s most likely because of the project manager. The Digital Marketing Strategist This tactical position is responsible for all of the outreach that brings people into the top of the integrated marketing funnel. This means driving traffic to the website, getting people to subscribe to email campaigns, increasing social media exposure, and raising awareness for the organization. They make sure the content used to drive growth in the top of the funnel is consistent with the efforts of the sales and marketing teams so that they aren’t just increasing the number of leads, but the right kind of leads. They consistently review and update the website, provide SEO content, manage and review Google Ads, and explore other online advertising programs. They also oversee and manage social media efforts, tracking which ones are performing and what doesn’t seem to be resonating with target customers. The digital marketing specialists work closely with content writers to make sure blogs, social media posts, and other online copy is optimized for SEO and driving lead growth. The Funnel Manager The funnel manager is in charge of making sure that the leads procured by the digital marketing specialist continue to move through the funnel until they make contact with a salesperson. Essentially, they’re responsible for integrating the sales and marketing teams. The funnel manager handles marketing automation with different applications and / or CRM tools and collects data about what the leads are responding, or not responding, to within the funnel. This includes reviewing web stats each week and comparing them against previous trends to understand what campaigns are drawing in leads, managing monthly newsletters and other marketing efforts to determine what content leads tend to click on or respond to, and developing user testing programs to get feedback. Most importantly, they analyze the data and present their findings to the marketing team, along with insights and recommendations for how specific campaigns can be adjusted to more effectively convert leads. The Writer A commonly contracted role, this member of the marketing team writes content for the website, email campaigns, blogs, social media posts, and more. Ideally, the writer will have access to both the sales and marketing teams to make sure that the content they write is accurate and aligns with both the marketing plans and the messaging customers seem to be responding to. It’s also beneficial for the writer to have access to the full marketing strategy and plans, as it will help them understand the goal for each piece they write. This will allow them to make recommendations and craft content in a way that is reflective of the big picture messaging, plans, and goals from various campaigns. They’ll be able to recommend what content should be used, how often content should appear on different channels, recommended length, and more. The Multimedia Provider Yes, we all are capable of taking pictures, videos, and recording audio from our phones – but let’s leave the professional work to the, well, professionals. As a specialist in the capture and creation of video, photographic, and audio content, this commonly contracted role works closely with the sales and marketing teams, oftentimes including the writer. For photographic work, they prepare for photoshoots, making sure they understand what needs to be captured, take photos, and provide final edited copies. For video shoots, they’ll often prepare storyboards and provide creative recommendations in addition to capturing and editing the footage. They may also record and edit audio recordings for podcasts, voiceovers, audio testimonials, and more. During the post-production phase, they may work with the graphic designer to produce any necessary graphics. This role is one that has continued to grow in scope and importance. Video content is a critical part of the sales funnel. Consumers are constantly using TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms, not just for entertainment, but when making decisions about what organizations to work with or what brands to buy from. It may be tempting to use stock photos and videos, but visuals that feature your team, clients, and stakeholders will always read as more authentic. The Graphic Designer Iconic brands can be recognized from a single image, logo, or ad. The person responsible for creating those visuals and making sure they represent the look and feel of the brand is the graphic designer. Your graphic designer is responsible for creating and designing all marketing collateral, including all website content, social media graphics, company logos, and more. They either develop or adhere to brand guidelines, including colors, fonts, design elements, logos, and more. Their goal is to make sure that anything your organization shares, from website home page banners to social media graphics, are a consistent part of the overall look and feel of the brand. The Tech Guy Technology is a critical part of sales and marketing, especially because the vast majority of marketing is done online. You need a website that loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and meets the needs of the user. You need to make sure all of your webpages operate seamlessly on both a computer and a smart phone. If it’s not, your funnel will be in trouble. Leads and customers simply won’t spend time on a website that is difficult to navigate, doesn’t load correctly, or they don’t feel is secure, which is why it’s essential that your website prioritizes the customer experience, first and foremost. A knowledgeable person in this role will help you select a website platform that meets the needs of your marketing team’s strategic plans, can be easily edited by internal team members, and creates a great user experience for your customers. They’ll also establish security functions and malware protections and oversee website integration with other applications, like your CRM tools, accounting, inventory, and more. Learn More A healthy relationship between sales and marketing is vital to an organization’s success. Dive deep into this effective strategy in our book Sales & Marketing Alignment. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us.  There are two factors that we most regularly see standing in the way of communication moving forward - difficulty starting a conversation and the time it takes to move from scheduling purgatory to an actual meeting.
Each have an easy solution, and the tools you need to implement them most likely already exist in a suite you pay for or have a free version online. Keep reading to learn more about the two easy changes that will help you drive efficiency. Start the Conversation One of the main reasons companies don’t do as much outreach as they could (or should) comes down to not knowing what to say. It’s an understandable problem. Salespeople are great at connecting with customers over the phone, face-to-face, or as a part of ongoing communications. However, when it comes to spontaneous outreach, they’re slowed down when it’s time to put the proverbial pen to paper. In many ways, this makes sense. Maintaining relationships with existing customers or prospects already in the funnel takes top priority and more of the sales team’s attention. By the time they can shift their focus to email outreach, they’re thinking about a million other things, their brains are a little fried from working with customers all day, or their attention gets pulled to a more pressing task. An item on their to-do lists that should take ten minutes gets dragged out and simple outreach becomes a drain on productivity or gets pushed to the back burner. Here’s our easy fix: templated emails. When it comes time to send a form response, a proposal, a post-purchase or event follow up, reviews or referral requests, or other standard communications, templates help to activate your sales team so emails don’t stay stuck in the drafts folder. The best part is that they don’t have to feel impersonal if they’re used the right way. Think of email templates as directional content that provides basic structure while still giving your sales team room to add personal touches and customization. A good rule of thumb is to think of the emails as 80/20. The template provides 80% of the content and structure, while the sender can add the remaining 20% of the copy. Outreach becomes quick, easy, and much more regular. Create a Calendly Account We also know about the other conversation halter - the endless emails back and forth taking days or even weeks, to get a call on the calendar. We’ve all been there. Several emails fly back and forth sharing availability, often over the course of multiple days. By the time one person picks a slot, the first person no longer has it available, and the process starts over again. The actual conversation is delayed for completely avoidable reasons and the entire scheduling process is much more complicated and frustrating than it needs to be. Luckily, there are plenty of tools that help you get around this challenge. Sites like Calendly and suites like Microsoft and Google that you may already use and pay for, can be linked to your calendar. You can then create a shareable link, which others can use to see when you are available and book the time slot they want instantly. Instead of several emails flying back and forth to schedule a meeting, a single email saying to use the link below (or the link in your email signature) gets your meeting on the calendar. Utilizing tools like 80/20 email templates or Calendly doesn’t remove personalization from your customer experience - it simply streamlines the process to get you to your end goal faster. During his appearance on the Uncover Hidden Client Needs episode of The How to Sell More Podcast, Karl shared a recent experience that, surprisingly, had him reflecting on authentic selling: planning his dad’s surprise 80th birthday party.
When he first started planning the party, people came to him with ideas: “We could do dinner at this new restaurant in town,” somebody suggested, but Karl knew that his father, as well as a lot of his father’s friends, would be uncomfortable driving at night. “There’s this great spot in the city that –” Karl shook his head as soon as he heard the location. Nearby parking was limited at best, and a lot of the guests would have trouble walking a long distance. The more he thought about the needs of the people attending, not to mention the birthday boy himself, Karl realized the party his father would likely enjoy the most was a luncheon at a restaurant with no stairs, a lot of light, and a familiar menu. But it got Karl thinking. The people who gave Karl suggestions, as well intentioned as they may be, were thinking of what they would enjoy for their birthday party - not what was realistic or enjoyable for an 80-year-old. They weren’t thinking about the challenges a loud environment, a dimly lit room, or staircases would present. If they were salespeople, we’d say they forgot to consider the needs of their customer. If you’re a salesperson who is an expert in their field or with their customer, understanding the basics of what is going on in the industry is just as, if not more, important than knowing your product. And if you don’t, you need to take a pause and do your homework. It’s easy as a salesperson to think your job is the ABC’s (if you know, you know). But when your focus is on constantly selling your product, it’s easy to forget why somebody might need to buy it. It’s easy to forget that understanding what’s going on in the industry you’re selling to is just as, if not more, important than knowing your product. To learn more about why failing to guide your customers reinforces sales stereotypes, how Iceberg Selling helps you uncover hidden client needs, and how sales organizations can overcome the biggest challenges holding them back, check out Karl’s appearance on The How To Sell More Podcast. |
Meet Me
Archives
October 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
We are headquartered in Colorado with domestic and international teammates and clients. Please use the contact form on this page to inquire about any of our books, podcasts appearances, speaking engagements and workshops, any of our offerings, or simply to connect.
|
|