Michelle Swan
Contributor
Michelle Swan is a partner at Tercera and is responsible for marketing and content, the advisor and portfolio experience, and guiding portfolio companies on go-to-market and brand strategies.
Most board directors intuitively understand that marketing is an important part of any company’s growth engine. It not only feeds the near-term sales engine, it also tees up future performance.
Done right, marketing is an accelerator for any business. Yet, I’ve noticed a growing trend in board meetings to relegate marketing to a single metric — pipeline.
While it’s true that marketing plays an important role in generating new leads, a strategic marketing function can play a much bigger role in a company’s near term and future performance. In addition to demand generation, it also shapes market positioning, elevates awareness and brand reputation among existing customers, partners, press, analysts, employees, investors and potential acquirers.
As a company grows, it creates leverage and consistency across global teams, sales, recruiting, customer success, delivery and nearly every other function …
