THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF MARCOMM

Across the country, we’re witnessing a quiet but dangerous trend: marketing and communications teams are being cut, often first as organizations tighten their budgets. It’s happening in the nonprofit sector at alarming rates, and increasingly, for-profits are following suit. I’ve been pondering these questions in the face of so many cuts across the nation, especially as it relates to nonprofits– but for-profits aren’t immune to this issue either.

So, I start by asking, is this an economic issue, or a reflection of how little value leaders now place on marketing and communications?

What I’m pointing to is the evolution of the role of MarComm experts/teams/departments in organizations. More and more, we’re learning that marketing and communications departments are among the first teams to be slashed when organizations seek to downside. Similar trends are beginning to emerge in the private sector, but the termination of positions in this space has become more commonplace in nonprofit organizations of all sizes. While this shift creates opportunities for agencies like Turnkey, it’s still frightening to witness the undervaluing of marketing, communications, public relations, and advertising.

Along with the purging of talent in this field, we’re also seeing an ongoing practice of paying professionals in this space less than colleagues in other departments. In recent conversations with a nonprofit leader, she confirmed that the organization allocates less funding for salaries in her MarComm department, prioritizing compensation for the organization’s development team.

It’s understandable that groups–especially in this nation’s political and financial climate– the task of securing funding is more competitive and a bigger priority in nonprofit organizations than it ever has been. However, leaders can be shortsided and fail to understand that without proper brand recognition, message amplification, and curated and strategic storytelling, funders won’t know or value the company enough to want to invest in.

MarComm departments tell the organization’s story, persuade target audiences to answer calls to action, and create the interest and roadmap to strategically take people through a defined funnel of engagement. The forecast for the future of in-house MarComm leadership and support doesn’t instill confidence among MarComm professionals that this trend could turn around anytime soon. As departments and teams disappear, teams like Turnkey will be there to fill those voids, but it seems that the investment in even bringing in outside support for these services is far from what it should be to truly maximize audience cultivation and the impact that we all want to see come out of our work.