Focus Article- Janet Berry-Johnson

The Evolving Role of Marketers: From Marketing Tactician to Growth Strategist

When building a marketing team, firms need strategic and tactical talent to achieve their goals.

What’s the difference? Strategy is the path from where your firm is now to where you want to be, while tactics are the specific actions you’ll take to serve the strategy.

These two types of marketing professionals bring different skills to the table — a distinction some firm leaders have historically overlooked. But times are changing.

The Disconnect

Marketing strategy hasn’t always been top of mind in accounting firms. In the past, a partner who “likes marketing” might have overseen the firm’s growth strategies. Others might hire marketing talent based on their tactical marketing skills — designing a website, writing content, managing social media or creating digital marketing campaigns.

In both cases, these professionals are highly skilled in their areas of expertise but don’t necessarily know how to look at the big picture to achieve the firm’s long-term goals. There’s a disconnect when firm leaders fill marketing roles based on interest or tactical skill but expect those hires to drive long-term growth strategies.

Fortunately, many successful firms are now making that connection.

Focus on Strategy

Today, firm leaders recognize the importance of aligning marketing and business development around strategy.

“My efforts are around keeping us focused more on the strategic side,” said Adam Klein, chief growth officer at Bennett Thrasher. “Obviously, the tactical has to get done. But I see value in combining the business development and marketing functions into a singular growth organization. Marketing is the function, but it’s not the goal. Our goal is to grow the firm and marketing is a means by which we do that. To me, the value that marketing brings is the strategic outlook.”

Klein isn’t the only one who recognizes the advantages of aligning marketing and sales.

“That’s where a big part of the shift has occurred for professional services firms,” said Robert Duffield, director of client engagement and growth at McKonly & Asbury. “We've been doing this marketing stuff and we've had pretty good results, but not great results. So, the addition of professional sales and business development people has been a big shift. It used to be only the big four and the national firms had professional business development."

How Essential is Marketing Education When Hiring New Talent?

It's no longer enough to have a partner or team member who "likes marketing" heading up the firm's marketing team. To be successful, accounting marketers need to understand the complexities of today's changing landscape. While tactical skills can be learned on the job, a marketing education provides the necessary skills to create and implement a marketing strategy.

"Even as a CGO, there is a lot of nuanced stuff that I truly don't understand,” Klein said. “I've got a high-level understanding of branding, web optimization, Google search analytics and content strategy. But where we really start to see firms set themselves apart is by having those professional marketers with experience, background and expertise. They know this stuff certainly better than the firm's partners, but probably even better than some homegrown marketers."

Kate Harry Shipham, principal at KHS People, an executive search firm for senior business development and marketing talent, believes that the practical experience gained in a professional service firm — in addition to a marketing education — is invaluable.

"A degree is often the theoretical foundation. After this, layering on practical experience is how the industry’s most sought-after marketing and business development talent gets to the highest,” Harry Shipham said. "Professional services firms are unique. They are nuanced. There is a different type of hierarchy, partner dynamics and revenue targets. Nothing can substitute practical learning, observing and complete immersion into that world. Once these puzzle pieces fall into place for a marketer, they can leverage all that knowledge."

For Duffield, professional development opportunities — like those offered by the AAM Summit — can help fill any gaps and sharpen marketers' skills.

"The nature of marketing is changing so quickly," Duffield said. "We are in a highly and increasingly competitive arena. Continuing education is so critical because how people get information has changed and it's changing how people make decisions. So how do we create a customer experience to address those things if we're not paying attention? That's where education comes in. If we're not paying attention to those trends, we're not winning."

Finding the Right Fit

Of course, education and experience don't make a marketer a strategic thinker. Mindset is really the differentiator. So, how can firms looking for a strategist find the right fit?

For Klein, it's all about curiosity. "It's that willingness to question and challenge the status quo," Klein said. "The folks we're looking at have to have the skill set. But more importantly, I'm looking for them to be someone who's thinking past the immediate task."

Fortunately, that skill can be taught, as Klein demonstrated with a recent example from his team. Recently, a partner reached out to a Bennett Thrasher marketing team member and asked for their help with an email campaign.

"I'm fairly certain that six months ago or nine months ago, that marketer would have said, 'Sure, when do you want to start?' Today, she wrote back to that partner and said, 'Hey, can we get on a call and talk about this? I'd like to understand what your goal is,'” Klein said. “That's the message I've been trying to push to my team: let's dig deeper. Why do you want to do that campaign? What are you looking to accomplish? We can find plenty of tacticians, but strategic thinkers are more challenging."

Harry Shipham helps her clients find strategic thinkers by looking for talent in firms that already take a big-picture approach to growth and have a historically strong business development culture. And she doesn't limit her search to the existing accounting marketing community.

"These strategic folks can also come over from another industry," Harry Shipham said. "For example, a marketer from a law firm can do really well in a CPA firm because they're typically accustomed to a higher-stress environment with lots of competing dynamics and deadlines. If this person hasn't had experience with accounting before, that can work in their favor because they have completely fresh eyes. But the firm needs to be ready for that perspective. Otherwise, it won’t work."

The takeaway is that the best marketing teams are a mix of strategic thinkers and doers. By carefully curating your team with this in mind, you will help your firm accelerate growth.

Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA, freelance technical and content writer. Contact at jberryjohnson@gmail.com