Why Marketing-as-a-Service is the Future of Business Growth

It’s a brand-new year and a great opportunity to understand why Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS), sometimes referred to as Managed Marketing, is the future of business growth.

Decades ago, IT and technology departments in many companies underwent a significant transformation. Businesses began adopting remote, hybrid, or dedicated IT teams through managed hosting services to enhance their operations. Today, marketing departments are undergoing a similar evolution thanks to advancements in technology. This transformation is what we now call Marketing-as-a-Service and Managed Marketing.

Here, I’ll explain why MaaS is the future of business growth.

Traditional Marketing vs. Marketing-as-a-Service

After nearly 20 years working in technology as a graphic designer, web developer, product manager, and software/app designer, I transitioned into a Marketing executive role. This experience made me realize how the merging of technology and marketing has revolutionized industries and marketing departments for businesses around the world.

I quickly recognized the importance of technological expertise within marketing. As a Marketing executive, I collaborated with marketing, advertising, and public relations agencies. Coupled with my background in design, development, and marketing, I came to understand that many businesses needed a new marketing technology solution—one that integrates business services in both hybrid and dedicated ways.

Traditionally, businesses of all sizes hired entire marketing departments to fulfill the tasks associated with promoting their products or services. Today, companies like Altairzen provide CMO-level leadership and marketing teams to deliver business marketing continuity on a hybrid or dedicated basis. This means offering strategic oversight of the marketing function in a business, rather than simply executing a single campaign—the typical approach of traditional agencies.

Hybrid & Dedicated Managed Marketing Services

What exactly is a hybrid or dedicated managed marketing solution for businesses?

It’s when a business gains the flexibility to hire a Marketing Service Provider (MSP) as a business partner to manage their marketing operations and ecosystem. This partnership includes a CMO perspective, marketing operations planning, and oversight, as well as vendor management of agencies. It enables businesses to work faster, better, and with more intentionality towards achieving goals, managing costs, and optimizing staff.

This concept isn’t entirely new. Businesses have long relied on hybrid or dedicated managed cloud and hosting environments, gaining access to experienced IT teams to support their everyday operations. Today, businesses can access similar benefits for marketing through Managed Marketing services from providers like Altairzen.

Marketing Service Providers (MSPs) become an essential part of a business on a hybrid or dedicated basis, optimizing the need to hire, train, and retain a full-time CMO or large marketing staff. These providers offer executive planning, CMO-level perspectives, and operational management to oversee marketing teams, technology integrations, agencies, and more. Meanwhile, marketing teams and agencies can focus on their specific tasks and execute strategies developed by MSPs in partnership with the business.

The Modern CMO

The Chief Marketing Officer is one of the most challenging positions to fill and retain. Over the last decade, marketing has been revolutionized by technology, making the CMO role more complex. It now encompasses marketing, advertising, public relations, product development, sales, and technology integration—a daunting combination.

Often, the CEO ends up taking on the responsibilities of the CMO. However, the merging of marketing and technology has made it increasingly difficult for CEOs to manage this role effectively while focusing on their broader responsibilities.

Marketing Service Providers like Altairzen address this challenge by offering the expertise and perspective of a modern CMO on a hybrid or dedicated basis. This approach is similar to hiring a managed cloud service provider with specialized industry knowledge and a team of engineers and developers. Businesses can now gain a modern CMO who complements their marketing efforts while providing strategic long-term planning, operational management, and growth strategies.

Marketing Ecosystem in Business

Marketing Service Providers are often confused with agencies that focus on campaigns or specific marketing tactics. However, this perception is changing rapidly, especially since the pandemic. Many businesses now recognize that Marketing Service Providers offering Marketing-as-a-Service and Managed Marketing provide more strategic, long-term partnerships.

MSPs oversee the entire marketing ecosystem within a business, leveraging their knowledge, experience, and insights to act as a trusted partner. This approach helps businesses align their outcomes with strategies, enabling better decision-making for tactical marketing campaigns, advertising, and public relations.

At Altairzen, we ensure that all marketing efforts are coordinated to drive overall business success. We provide dedicated account management teams to understand your marketing ecosystem and offer oversight and growth opportunities. Regular updates, including weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports, ensure clear communication and alignment with business goals.

The Future of Marketing

Marketing technology has transformed our understanding of the marketing landscape. New digital marketing roles have emerged, and software increasingly drives marketing, advertising, and sales functions within businesses. Websites operate as full business and not only as digital information.  Businesses are no longer satisfied with deploying a laundry list of tactics without strategic alignment. Moreover, finding, hiring, training, and retaining a CMO and an experienced marketing technology team is time-consuming and costly.

This has culminated in the creation of Marketing-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Managed Marketing. Just as IT and technology departments evolved with the advent of cloud and IT management, marketing departments have reached a similar turning point. Having a hybrid or dedicated Marketing Service Provider is now an essential part of business growth, both now and in the future. Please consider getting a complimentary quote from Altairzen to better understand how our customized Marketing-as-a-Service works.