{"id":13060,"date":"2022-02-14T14:17:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T14:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/more-than-b2b-changing-the-definition-of-marketing-work-and-its-impact-on-careers-and-lives\/"},"modified":"2022-02-14T14:17:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T14:17:55","slug":"more-than-b2b-changing-the-definition-of-marketing-work-and-its-impact-on-careers-and-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/more-than-b2b-changing-the-definition-of-marketing-work-and-its-impact-on-careers-and-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"More than B2B: Changing the definition of marketing work, and its impact on careers and lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Matt Heinz<\/a>, President of Heinz Marketing<\/em><\/p>\n

In the middle of 2021, our leadership team did a deep dive on our business \u2013 not just setting growth goals and focus areas, but also revisiting our core values and defining a foundational purpose for the business as we enter a new period of growth.<\/p>\n

With the help of an amazing facilitator and following the EOS methodology, we articulated a purpose that immediately felt like us (based on our culture and priorities to date) and yet also provided an exciting new focus and mission for our work moving forward.<\/p>\n

Our Purpose:\u00a0<\/strong>To change the definition of work, and the impact it has on careers and lives.<\/p>\n

Maybe not what you expected to hear from a B2B consultancy. So let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n

Work is a means unto an ends<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can love what you do for a living.<\/p>\n

It can fire you up, get you out of bed in the morning.<\/p>\n

It can even be addicting.<\/p>\n

But if work is the end, why does it really matter?\u00a0 If work is all there is (this work, then more work, etc.), then what\u2019s it all for?<\/p>\n

I believe work can give you joy.\u00a0 Because you truly enjoy the work, because it\u2019s gratifying, because you can see what your brain and\/or your hands have built.\u00a0 It can also be enjoyable because you recognize and appreciate what it enables.<\/p>\n

Fundamentals like shelter and food.<\/p>\n

A safe environment for your family to grow and thrive.<\/p>\n

The comforts of life as you define them.<\/p>\n

My family taught me the meaning and value of hard work from an early age.\u00a0 My parents and their parents were raised in the American Midwest, central Illinois more specifically, where hands in the soil and grinding it out on the farm were common means of creating value.\u00a0 Of course, even on a farm it\u2019s not the hardest work but the smartest<\/em> work that wins.\u00a0 Some may to this day plow the land with a yen of oxen, others get themselves a tractor and let technology do the same work easier if not also better.<\/p>\n

A better definition of work\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The definition of work isn\u2019t more work.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t defined by doing the most work.\u00a0 The definition of work is about impactful work \u2013 for the work itself as well as what it enables for you and those you care about, as well as the broader communities in which we live and engage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So when we say our purpose at Heinz Marketing is to change the definition of work, it is meaningful and impactful work as its focus.\u00a0 Not long lists of activities, not volume-based reporting, not endless task lists to prove you\u2019ve been busy.\u00a0 Our new definition of work is about making a measurable impact on the business, which enables a meaningful and impactful impact on our careers and lives.<\/p>\n

Meaningful work is revenue impact instead of vanity metrics.\u00a0 Doing the right work vs simply more work.\u00a0 Triaging your time to what\u2019s both urgent AND important, and being OK with leaving plenty of work NOT done that simply isn\u2019t as useful or impactful.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the type of work that gives marketers more freedom over how, when and even where it is done.\u00a0 There are no rewards for late night emails here.\u00a0 You don\u2019t get extra credit for sitting at your desk longer or responding to emails faster.\u00a0 Smart marketers, enabled by their forward-thinking organizations, prioritize impact.\u00a0 And if it takes less time to drive that impact, if you can do it without also giving up your nights and weekends, now we\u2019re getting somewhere.<\/p>\n

Our purpose, changing the definition of work, is all of this plus putting work in proper context in our lives.\u00a0 If you believe in and lean into the statements above, it can create and enable amazing opportunities in our careers and lives.\u00a0 That part is up to each and every marketer to define, pursue and protect.<\/p>\n

Eliminating what marketing is \u201cnot\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This starts with changing what marketing work is and what it is not.\u00a0 That\u2019s not a 30-minute meeting, or a reply-all memo to your team.\u00a0 It\u2019s a culture change that may take some time to take root, generate and sustain momentum, become the standard for how marketers work, how they are driven, how they are rewarded.<\/p>\n

The best time to start this important work would have been 10 years ago.\u00a0 The second-best time is right now.\u00a0 Start with you, set an example for those around you, and watch the snowball gather speed.\u00a0 We\u2019ll do it together.<\/p>\n

How we teach and empower clients to do this\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first step is thinking through, internalizing and accepting that this new definition of work, and marketing work in particular, is valuable and worth pursuing.\u00a0 What comes next?<\/p>\n

Enabling individuals to talk with their peers about it.\u00a0 To start building consensus amongst marketers, cross-organizational revenue teams, company leadership as well as investors and board members that marketing\u2019s impact can and should be different.\u00a0 And that it takes a new way of operationalizing marketing work to get there.<\/p>\n

It also includes encouraging marketers to align themselves with organizations that get it, that expect marketing to be revenue responsible, that allow them to lean into the right work to accelerate their impact and efficiency.<\/p>\n

It starts with us\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are reading this, it can start with you.\u00a0 If you work at Heinz Marketing, you know it starts with us too.\u00a0 How we drink our own champagne, how we execute and continually improve\/optimize our own sales and marketing efforts.\u00a0 How we share those best practices externally in our content and client engagements.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a journey for sure, and we learn from being bold, making mistakes, learning why it didn\u2019t work and trying again.\u00a0 And through our proactive efforts, our example, our discovery and improvements, we can show clients and the broader marketing community a path forward as well.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n