The lines between teams are blurring
In many businesses, marketing no longer sits neatly in its own lane.
Growth targets are tighter. Buying journeys are longer. Decisions are increasingly data-led. And the work required to drive revenue now stretches across multiple functions.
As a result, commercial roles and marketing roles are working more closely than ever.
This isn’t about marketing “doing sales” or commercial teams becoming marketers. It’s about alignment.
From siloed teams to shared outcomes
Traditionally, marketing focused on awareness and demand, while commercial teams concentrated on conversion, revenue, and retention.
In reality, those boundaries rarely reflect how customers behave.
Today, commercial performance is influenced by:
the quality of demand entering the funnel
how well insights are shared across teams
how quickly teams can adapt to market feedback
That’s why roles across operations, growth, revenue, customer success, and commercial strategy are now working hand-in-hand with marketing teams.
They’re solving the same problems from different angles.
Commercial roles aren’t “outside” marketing anymore
We’re seeing increasing demand for roles that:
interpret data generated by marketing activity
improve the journey from lead to customer
optimise processes that sit between teams
connect performance back to commercial outcomes
These roles often sit within commercial or growth teams, but their impact is deeply connected to marketing effectiveness.
They rely on understanding audience behaviour, messaging, positioning, and performance data, even if they’re not producing campaigns themselves.
What this means for hiring and career paths
For businesses, it means hiring people who can work across functions, not just within them.
For candidates, it means your experience may be more transferable than you think.
If you’ve worked closely with marketing teams, supported go-to-market activity, or helped translate insight into action, you’re already operating in a commercially aligned way.
Titles matter less than impact.
Why this matters now
As budgets tighten and expectations increase, businesses are focusing less on headcount and more on effectiveness.
That naturally brings marketing and commercial teams closer together.
Understanding that connection is becoming a real advantage, whether you’re building a team or thinking about your next career move.
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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash