Marketing Mistake #7: Burying Marketing in the Org Chart

26 Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

What We See Most Often

In many organizations, marketing is positioned several layers away from decision-making.

Teams are expected to execute against ambitious goals, but they are not consistently present in conversations about strategy, prioritization, or tradeoffs. By the time marketing is looped in, direction has already been set.

This structure limits marketing’s ability to do strategic work, even when the talent is there.

Why This Happens as Companies Grow

This marketing mistake often emerges during periods of rapid growth or organizational change.

As companies scale, functions become more specialized and reporting lines become more complex. Marketing may sit under operations, sales, or another department with competing priorities. Over time, marketing’s role shifts from shaping direction to supporting it.

The intent is rarely to diminish marketing’s influence. The result, however, is that marketing becomes reactive rather than proactive.

The Hidden Cost of Distance from Decisions

When marketing is removed from early discussions, alignment suffers.

Teams are asked to execute strategies they did not help shape. Context is lost. Tradeoffs are harder to navigate. Feedback arrives late, often after work is already in motion.

This distance also weakens accountability. Marketing is held responsible for outcomes without having full visibility into the decisions that influence those outcomes.

What Works Better in Practice

The most effective organizations treat marketing as a strategic partner, not a downstream function.

Marketing leaders are included early in conversations about growth, positioning, and investment. This proximity allows marketing to ask better questions, surface risks, and align execution to business priorities from the start.

When marketing has a seat at the table, execution improves and expectations become clearer across teams.

A Question Worth Asking

To assess whether marketing is positioned effectively, ask:

Is marketing involved in setting direction, or only in executing it?

If marketing is consistently brought in after decisions are made, its impact will remain limited.

Why This Matters Now

Where marketing sits in the organization signals how it is valued.

When marketing is structurally removed from decision-making, its ability to drive growth is constrained. Bringing marketing closer to the center of the business is not about hierarchy. It is about clarity, alignment, and effectiveness.