You like “potayto,” and I like “potahto.” You like “tomayto,” and I like “tomahto.”
With apologies to Ella Fitzgerald, we don’t have to call the whole thing off when discussing business development and marketing. Many companies (and people) use these terms interchangeably, thinking it’s just a matter of semantics.
But actually, they’re not the same. They are, however, complementary, creating a dynamic combination that helps organizations achieve their goals. So, what’s the difference between these concepts? Glad you asked!
What is business development?
Business development is a strategic approach to identifying and nurturing partnerships, cultivating and converting leads into customers, and expanding the customer base to generate new business and drive growth. But it’s not just about growth; it’s about growing intelligently.
Business development encompasses areas like:
- Attending trade shows
- Championing business profitability
- Cultivating business partnerships
- Evaluating the competition
- Identifying new markets and new opportunities
- Managing sales growth
- Scaling business
Business development managers (BDM) and executives (BDE) guide strategy development, collaborate with other teams (like marketing), and deliver insights to help the business achieve its goals.
What is the difference between BDM and BDE?
Remember Ella’s song? BDMs and BDEs have similar but not identical responsibilities.
A BDM leads the business development team in designing, executing, and measuring a company’s overall strategy and growth. These professionals cultivate contact networks to attract new clients, analyze market trends, and uncover opportunities. BDMs make sales projections and forecast revenue. They work with the marketing department to develop and implement effective sales strategies.
BDEs report to the BDM. These tacticians focus on generating sales leads, contacting potential clients, and nurturing existing client relationships. BDEs may prepare, evaluate, and present business cases (think: opportunities and current business activities) to the BDM and offer insight for informed decision-making.
They may define and develop a company’s ideal customer profile (ICP) by analyzing the parameters of current customers in the customer relationship management (CRM) database. This data helps a BDE identify prospective customers aligned with the current customer characteristics and share insights with marketing teams on developing and executing campaigns to attract new customers.
The magic of marketing
Marketing departments promote a company’s products and services to targeted audiences via long- and short-form content (eBooks, thought leadership articles, press releases), website content (including blogs), social media campaigns, email campaigns, and other digital advertising campaigns.
The key to a successful marketing strategy is understanding your customers, their pain points, and how to communicate your messaging effectively to them. Marketing teams use this knowledge to create effective plans that showcase the product/service value and how it solves problems.
Marketing managers vs. business development managers
In some organizations, marketing managers work in different silos than business development managers, and rarely the twain shall meet. But when they know each other’s goals and are encouraged to align them, everyone benefits.
Marketing managers develop and implement marketing strategies by analyzing market trends, creating demand for products or services, identifying target audiences, and monitoring performance and other KPIs to maximize profits and market share. According to Indeed, a typical marketing manager also:
- Collaborates with teams to coordinate marketing activities and promote products or services.
- Works with product managers to align product development and marketing efforts
- Develops pricing strategies that balance market demand and company objectives.
- Estimates costs and projects sales to optimize marketing budgets.
- Analyzes data to make informed decisions and measure each campaign’s effectiveness.
They may specialize in different areas — like affiliate, brand, content, or digital marketing, marketing communications, product marketing, or social media marketing — or a combination of these areas.
Business development managers are key to helping companies grow. BDMs seek new business opportunities, research potential leads, conduct market analyses, build new and cultivate existing client relationships, and coordinate sales meetings and demos. Staying up-to-date on the latest trends and developments enables them to identify new opportunities and position their companies ahead of the competition. They may also collaborate with sales and design teams to ensure new products address client needs.
Different specialties; shared goals
Blasting messages into the void and expecting customers to come running is so last century. The digital age requires a more strategic approach — a comprehensive framework for aligning your company with delivering exceptional customer experiences. Neither marketing nor business development is “better” than the other — they just have different focuses.
Marketing focuses on communication and reaching customers. It’s the starting pitcher, attracting customers and guiding them to your business. Sales is the closer, convincing customers to buy. Business development is the middle-inning reliever, bridging marketing and sales, building relationships and strategic partnerships, and creating opportunities for the sales team to convert.
Marketing and business development teams share similar goals while each works toward achieving the main objective: promoting growth and driving companies forward. If we continue our baseball metaphor, think of a fractional CMO as the general manager, ensuring all departments work together cohesively to achieve the company’s ultimate goal of success.
Regardless of what role you need, we can help. Reach out to our experienced team or download our overview below to explore who &Marketing is and what we can do for your business growth.
