As a marketing leader you’ve probably heard many of these trendy buzz words in our industry – marketing automation, content marketing, big data, mobile marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, the customer journey, social selling, story telling etc.

You’re likely in-tune with all of the new trends, concepts and strategies in the world of marketing – so why do some B2B marketing departments out-perform others?

1. Talent Structure

You’re only as good as the people around you. Ensuring you have highly motivated and hard working team members with niche skill sets is essential to your success. Each team member should have a different set of skills that compliment one another. Having experts in different marketing functions will aid each individual member to take ownership and pride in their work. It is your role to ensure all of the facets of your team come together cohesively. Creating a collaborative environment ensures a performance-driven, forward-thinking and supportive culture that will help in reaching the ultimate goal of driving more revenue.

2. Marketing & Business Development Integration

Both departments exist to drive revenues. By fully integrating, it allows the experience and expertise of both departments to work together to reach your company’s growth targets. The data gathered from business developers from their personal experiences with prospects and customers is extremely valuable. It can give you actionable recommendations while keeping your prospects and customers at the forefront of each one. This insight can be used to make smarter decisions that will benefit your marketing strategies.

3. Approachable Leadership

Marketing should always be creative and innovative. Having a leadership team that is open to new concepts, promotes pushing boundaries and contributes to the vision and execution of marketing initiatives can enhance your department’s performance. The members of your company’s leadership team have earned their positions by making smart decisions, having exceptional ideas and implementing successful strategies for growth. Being able to approach and extract these types of thoughts from your company’s leaders can bring new life to some of your marketing strategies and tactics.

Marketing is an ever-changing industry, let these three keys help you set the path to long-term success.