Most organizations understand that marketing is important, but few adopt a holistic approach to recognize marketing as their top priority.

According to the 2018 B2B Marketing Mix report from Sagefrog, 67 percent of companies surveyed named lead generation as their top marketing objective. Of course leads are important, but now that customer experience is in the spotlight, too, marketing departments must do much more than just enable sales teams to do their job.

Good marketers, in fact, understand what end users want, how a company’s solutions meet those needs and how to communicate that relationship effectively. A marketing-first approach to business ensures that the products and services the company offers are relevant to the marketplace. Through components like brand-building and brand positioning (both internally and externally), the best marketing-first companies create personas that do not just supplement their business goals but drive their competitiveness and success.