The Simons Group: Simons Scoop - Creative Communications | Copywriting, Print & Web Design

Lack of time is marketing managers’ biggest challenge

Today’s marketing managers are grappling with budgets that don’t stretch far enough and employees who don’t stay long enough, but their biggest problem isn’t lack of money or staff. It’s lack of time.

In a survey conducted by The Simons Group earlier this year, marketing managers cited lack of time to complete critical projects and the struggle to allocate time in a positive work-life balance as two of their most significant challenges. Lack of internal communication and increasing costs rounded out the top four concerns, followed by lack of strategic planning, increased work loads and employee retention.

“Too much work, too little time,” is one financial services marketing manager’s succinct analysis of her position. She adds that lack of time makes it difficult to develop a cohesive marketing strategy. “Everything is last-minute, with not enough thought put into it.”

The problem is not limited to a particular company or a certain industry, the survey showed. Marketing managers in businesses from health care, to finance, to manufacturing had similar concerns.

An industrial marketing manager notes that time is at a premium away from the office as well as during working hours.

“Trying to be a working mother, good wife and great employee is hard,” she says. “It’s very challenging to find enough time to get everything done for everyone.”

And, respondents agree, the time crunch is exacerbated when internal communication is lacking.

“Lack of leadership can be a problem in any project,” a manufacturing marketing manager says. “When no one takes charge, the results are slow in coming and team members become frustrated.”

As a health care manager points out, frustration can also build when planning falls apart.

“Other issues are always popping up, and scheduled projects have to take a back seat until those issues have been addressed,” she says. “Having to wait for other people to provide me with information is a problem, and it feels like the same issues need to be dealt with on a regular basis. Sometimes there is no sense of accomplishment.”

Another respondent agrees, noting that those who aren’t directly involved with marketing don’t always understand what the creative process entails.

“Most corporate executives are clueless with respect to marketing and creativity,” says a financial services manager. “They think everything can be done much more quickly than is humanly possible. Worse, they have no idea what marketing projects cost. They determine marketing budgets off the tops of their heads.”

Lastly, survey respondents say it’s a challenge to find and keep qualified employees.

“Longtime personnel keep leaving and we don’t have the experienced people we need to meet the demands of the projects we have,” says an industrial marketing manager.

While the challenges could become overwhelming, most of these managers have found a solution: they outsource projects to a qualified agency. Turning work over to outside writers and designers not only results in top-quality marketing materials, it enables managers to supervise many projects at once, as well as focus on other matters such as strategic planning, market research and even educating their peers about the creative process.

At the right agency, the staff will be adept at steering projects from concept to completion, even when deadlines are tight or assignments are last-minute. Ideally, an outside creative team is an extension of the clients’ staffs, and works directly with client managers to deliver the right message on time and on budget.

By outsourcing the creative work, time-starved marketing managers get professional project management as well as collateral that meets their own strict standards for branding, messaging and quality. In short, when they contract with an agency such as The Simons Group, marketing managers truly are giving themselves the gift of time.

For information on how The Simons Group can help minimize the strain of marketing challenges, contact Lee Zoldan at lzoldan@thesimonsgroup.com.