📝 Originally published in a different form on asifikbal.com
🪵 Old Roots, New Branches
When I joined my current company—a global industrial manufacturer headquartered in Germany—I entered a setup that looked like it hadn’t changed since the 1980s.
Marketing was considered an assistant to Sales. Their job? Make brochures. Upload images. Support the real stars—salespeople who traveled to customers, shook hands, and closed deals. Digital marketing, automation, inbound funnels? That was science fiction.
But I had a different vision.
🧱 The Reality Check
As Director of Global Marketing and Sales Technology, I didn’t just inherit a role—I inherited an ecosystem that was deeply divided. Marketing and Sales were separate islands. There was no mutual language. No shared tools. No integrated system.
The corporate website had around 2,500 visitors per month, but nobody tracked them. The only “lead” mechanism was a basic contact form. No analytics. No automation. Just digital silence.
🚧 The Turning Point: Modern Marketing Begins
My first mission? Convince leadership that this isn’t the 1980s anymore. Marketing isn’t about print flyers—it’s about data, digital presence, and pipeline building.
But we had constraints. Being part of a larger industrial group, we couldn’t simply overhaul everything. The group had already committed to Optimizely (formerly Episerver) for website CMS.
Instead of fighting the system, I made a strategic move:
👉 We built a dedicated inbound blog and lead engine using HubSpot, while keeping the corporate site on Episerver.
This gave us:
- Lead forms with logic
- Email automation
- Contact database
- Google Analytics integration
- CRM handoff capabilities
We also made sure Google and LinkedIn Ads were integrated into the same system.
📈 The Results: 2,500 → 10,000 Visitors & Real Leads
Within one year, we scaled the monthly traffic from 2,500 to over 10,000.
More importantly, we stopped “guessing” about impact. We knew:
- Where leads were coming from
- What content was converting
- Which channels were working
But not everyone cheered.
🧠 Internal Challenge: Sales vs. Marketing
As traffic and leads grew, a new kind of resistance appeared.
The sales team started to feel like marketing was “competing” with them.
Who owns the customer? Who gets the credit for the lead?
This was my second major challenge: transforming culture, not just tools.
I began positioning marketing as the engine that powers sales, not a separate machine. I showed how our digital actions supported their pipeline, not replaced it.
Over time, trust grew.
🌳 One Tree, Two Branches
Today, things have changed.
Marketing and Sales are no longer two teams—they’re two branches of the same tree.
My current role, Director of Global Marketing and Sales Technology, reflects that evolution. I’m not just running campaigns—I’m designing connected ecosystems that allow data to flow from click to conversion.
Marketing isn’t just digital ads. It’s the engine that drives qualified leads into the sales pipeline. And Sales isn’t just the closer. They’re the partner who turns digital signals into real relationships.
💡 Advice to Future Leaders
To anyone working in traditional B2B or industrial sectors—whether in Germany, Bangladesh, or beyond—here’s my one line of advice:
“Stop treating Sales and Marketing like rivals. If your CRM and your campaigns aren’t best friends, your business will suffer.”
If you want results, align your tools, align your KPIs, and most importantly, align your people.
🔚 Final Thought
In 2025, no company can afford the 1980s mindset.
You need automation, you need visibility, and you need alignment.
Otherwise, you’re not just behind—you’re invisible.
🧑💼 Author Bio:
Asif Ikbal Bhuiya is a Global Marketing & Sales Technology Leader at a German industrial company, driving digital transformation across MarTech, SalesTech, and inbound growth. He shares his journey at asifikbal.com.
