Change Management Solutions: Sales & Marketing
This may sound contradictory to some, but the most consistent component of life and business is change. If you’re a marketer or run your own company, chances are you have some experience in marketing change management, whether you realize it or not.
The rise of digital marketing over the last decade has fueled and facilitated mass change.
How well is your marketing team coping with new concepts and practices? What can you do to implement effective marketing change management?
To stay ahead of the curve, it’s essential that you adapt to changes and become comfortable working in different ways. As a business owner, you may not have the time or resources available to always do so, which is where change management consulting comes in to play.
The impact of digital
The growing influence of digital media has forced change within the marketing sector. While many companies have their own digital marketing strategies in place, research suggests that they don’t always possess the knowledge or the skills to run these campaigns effectively.
Each day there are new tools, platforms, users, trends, ideas, new everything and anything out there, and it can be overwhelming to decide which actionable changes to make.
The importance of marketing change management
Not possessing the skills and experience necessary to bring about and facilitate change within a department or a business as a whole can prove problematic. But it does not mean that you don’t have any options.
Marketing change management isn’t necessarily something you’re taught from your marketing degree program or a training priority for those taking marketing courses or workshops. Many businesses or organizations simply are not aware of how to do this effectively.
Change management marketing guidelines
The industry is lacking professionals who have mastered the art of change management digital skills in sales, marketing, and advertising. This indicates that a lack of learning and training is playing a role in preventing businesses from adapting to change brought about by technological advances and the rise of digital channels and platforms.
Many professionals find themselves on autopilot, without the time to implement new ideas and concepts. If you work in marketing, or you run a business and you have regular contact with your marketing team, you’re probably aware that every day is a busy day.
The longer you put off training, the wider the skills gap becomes, and the more uncomfortable employees become with new ways of doing things. Learning needs to be included in the company curriculum to equip staff and over time close the gap.
There are several ways of coping with change and learning to benefit from modifications and adjustments. Experts in change management consulting recommend adopting the following guidelines:
Understanding your talent
Before you start trying to work on your education roadmap, take time to analyze what kinds of skill sets and talented individuals you have on your team, and get to know your employees better.
Use basic assessments to get a high-level view of your team’s shortcomings and deficiencies, while building an image what you have at your disposal. Play to your strengths and strategize to improve your weaknesses.
Encouraging progression and innovation
Successful employees have an innate desire to succeed and progress, so encourage development and acceleration in key areas such as digital skills and marketing change management.
If these are areas in which you’re lacking experts, use your own talent pool to benefit the business, or consider a change management consultant.
This allows you to take advantage of new skills that are in demand, and your employees will learn and improve their career prospects.
Collaborate with stakeholders
In a traditional business environment, marketing executives would conjure up ideas that were analyzed, evaluated and critiqued by clients.
Today, there has been a shift in the environment, and collaboration across the board plays an increasingly integral role.
Creative minds are now working alongside other departments or individuals from external or change management consulting agencies.
This not only improves the overall quality of the finished product, but enables marketers to learn from colleagues or collaborators who have different, but valuable, skills.
Invest in growth
It’s natural to want to hire fresh new talent, but sometimes this leads you to overlook the stars you already have in place.
Rather than spending your wage budget on “experts”, look for hungry employees who have potential and are willing to learn.
Millennials are attracted to competitive salaries, but career progression is also an important consideration. If you’re offering somebody the chance to climb the ladder and develop new skills, you may find that you don’t need to hire as many new employees in the future because you’ve already got good ones on your team.
Also consider working with change management consultants, who can work closely with your team, teaching them new skills and turning them into functional marketers in their own right.
Communicate
Change can be intimidating, especially if you’re set in your ways, or you’re used to doing something according to a specific formula.
If you want to modernize your business and embrace new marketing techniques, communication is critical.
People like to know what they’re doing and how they’re supposed to do it, so avoid introducing a plethora of changes without first having an open conversation with your employees about the idea and their thoughts on how it may impact their current workflow.
Everyone has the ability to adapt to change, it just takes some people longer than others. Lay the foundation in advance, explain what is going to happen, why it’s happening, and outline the benefits.
When employees have clarity and peace of mind, they’ll better understand what kinds of changes are coming and why they’re beneficial. This will make it much easier for them to adapt and ultimately thrive.
If your business doesn’t change, it will die. Just ask those at Blockbuster, Sports Authority, Toys R Us, and Sleepy’s, to name a few.
Whether you’re a small local startup or an established multinational corporation, it’s time to embrace change and invest in new approaches to marketing.
Successful marketing change management is essential to ensure that you stay relevant and compete. Speak with a Glenmont change management consultant to begin the process today.