The place that I commonly find myself in an organization is the layer between the business and IT teams. When I work with different teams in larger orgs, I often run into people that don’t fully understand the different roles and responsibilities in the marketing department. I heard a clever analogy about promoting a circus, but since I’m a musician, I reworked that to a rock band analogy to help you understand what everyone in marketing is responsible for and why you can’t just assume that all marketers are interchangeable.
If your manager scouts the perfect venue, with a great sound system, that is known for shows in your genre of music, and can cater to your fan’s demographic (age, income, has the amenities they are expecting, can handle security needs…), that’s market research.
When you find and book opening acts that have a crossover fan base, that is market segmentation.
When you build your setlist and promotions, incorporating the opening acts, to cater to the audience that will be attending, that is product marketing.
If you figure out the local haunts where your fans hang out and tack up posters promoting the show, that’s media planning and advertising.
When you design the posters with information and images that grabs the attention of your fan base, that is copywriting and creative direction.
If you get Anthony Fantano to add your new single to one of his viral playlists, that is influencer marketing.
When you post a picture of you enjoying a burger and beer at the venue to Instagram, that is part of your social media strategy.
If you roll down Main Street on the roof of your tour van with your band logo plastered on it, blasting your latest single, that’s promotion.
If the cops pull the van over for being too loud, and it makes the evening news, that’s publicity.
If you give the police chief backstage passes for his son and they tweet about how cool your band is, that’s public relations.
If your singer works out a deal with the venue owner where, throughout the set, the band encourages patrons to “enjoy another drink” in return for a cut of the drink sales, that’s business development.
When you list your tickets for sale online or have them available at will-call that is inside sales.
When you have street teams standing outside of the venue or going to college campuses to try and sell tickets to your show, that’s outside sales.
When you use TicketMaster to sell tickets to your show, TicketMaster is a broker agent.
When scalpers buy tickets and sell them at a higher price, that is a wholesale channel.
When you set up a merch table so fans can see your T-shirt and sticker designs and can easily see your different CDs, that is merchandising.
Having all of this come together to sell out the show and maximize merch sales, that’s MARKETING!