Too many business owners view marketing as a luxury, and one that should only be given consideration once the business is only so profitable.

Yet, as any seasoned and successful business owner knows, marketing is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity.

Marketing serves multiple purposes, including but not limited to generating sales opportunities, influencing the target market, and positioning a business against the competition.

However, despite the very real benefits of marketing and its role in driving new customer engagement, many business owners fail to view marketing as a necessary business development tool.

This post explores how the role of marketing can be used to increase business development and why companies that separate the two are missing the mark.

Successful Marketing Relies On the Whole, Not the Individual

Mark Crumpacker, a marketing and strategy specialist with over two decades of B2B marketing experience understands better that the most successful type of marketing is word-of-mouth marketing.

For the company to be successful, collaboration is absolutely necessary, especially between major departments such as marketing and business development.

If everyone within the company develops the mindset and enthusiasm of the marketing department, the company will be all the better for it.

Collaboration Leads to Better and More Qualified Leads

Business development almost always wants more qualified leads from marketing, but marketing can not provide those without guidance from BD.

Business development has the insights and knowledge marketing needs to create more targeted campaigns that generate better and higher paying leads.

By working together, marketing and business development can create strategies that address aspects that matter most to shareholders and other decision makers, as well as develop campaigns that drive the most meaningful leads by shareholder standards.

Not only can BD help marketing, but marketing can also help BD.

Through concentrated efforts, marketing can yield new data streams and unveil promising customers and industries.

Together, the two departments can analyze the data and create a comprehensive strategy for pursing those new leads.

Cooperation Can Open the Door To New Markets

It can be tough to pave the way into new markets even when the entire company works together to do so; it can be nearly impossible when each department works alone.

Marketing can help business development establish a name for the company in a new sector by building brand awareness and creditability within those markets on behalf of business development.

Together, the Two Departments Can Clear the Path Going Forward

Business development may have the access to data and insights, but marketing has access to the people, and to the ever-changing trends both online and off.

With marketing’s insights, business development can adjust and refine its strategies to be in line with marketing’s message.

This cohesive and unified approach can help the company as a whole stay ahead of the competition.

Moreover, marketing’s ear-to-ground mentality can help to ensure that business development has access to all the right forums and events where customers and influencers are engaged.

These events can serve as prime opportunities for lead generation and sales.

The End Goal

In the end, it’s not about who is better at what or which department is more successful at generating leads. It’s about working towards a common end goal — that being the company’s overall success.

When business development and marketing can work together as a team to identify target markets, refine branding and messaging, and drive qualified leads, the business for which they work will reap the rewards of the unified approach.

If you’ve never considered unifying your business development and marketing departments, it may be time to introduce the heads of each department and encourage both teams to get along.