Top Marketing Teams Have These Five Key Players
Long gone are the days of the solo traveling salesperson. Modern marketing requires a robust team of analytical minds and creative artists. Together, they can tackle ambitious goals and meet the demands of a growing business.
Marketing pros — assemble.
Determining the right roles to round out your marketing superhero squad can be a challenge that is not easily overcome. Budget, time, and resource restraints may hold you back from hiring a 12-person department, which, ultimately, you do not need. A few well-placed individuals can get your company on the fast track to crushing the goals that will impact your bottom line.
Let’s examine who you need for your team and the key characteristics of a high-performing marketing department.
Choose Your Players
While teams may vary in size and scope, most of your marketing needs will fall into these five areas. The related responsibilities can, in some cases, be handled by one person or be expanded to a multi-person team with specialists.
Marketing Manager
The fearless leader.
All successful teams have a great leader who brings everyone together in pursuit of shared goals. The marketing manager should be the liaison between marketing and the leadership team to ensure that goals and objectives are in line with the overall business strategy.
Content Specialist
The corporate wordsmith.
Your content specialist will tackle all your writing needs. Their experience can range in ability from general writing to providing strategic guidance for what types of content need to be created and how they should be distributed. From website copywriting to email marketing, a content specialist is a critical hire for your team.
Social Media Manager
The community connector.
If social media is part of your marketing strategy, a talented social media manager is a must-have. Each social media platform is so different and changing so rapidly that it is vital to your success that you have someone who keeps a regular pulse on what works in the social media sphere.
Graphic Designer
The digital artist.
From printed materials to online graphics, a graphic designer can make sure that your branding is always on point. Their practiced eye can help design logos, product mockups, event signage, webpage graphics, and more.
SEO Specialist
The website whisperer.
SEO (search engine optimization) is a major component of most marketing strategies. Being able to organically attract traffic to your site by implementing the right SEO practices can help you save on paid advertising and build a regular source of new leads.
Structuring Your Marketing Team For Success
Marketing teams can be as diverse as the businesses they serve. Industry, budget, and goals will help determine who you need to hire. Once you’ve evaluated your most critical marketing needs, build out a structure that fits the people you bring on board.
For small or mid-sized organizations, your team may look like one of the two following structures:
Small Marketing Team
Marketing Manager oversees…
Content Specialist (email, blog, website, social media)
SEO/SEM Specialist (organic search, paid ads)
Graphic Designer (visual designs)
Social Media Manager (social strategy, community engagement)
Mid-Size Marketing Teams
Marketing Director (oversees budget, strategy, and team performance)
Content Team
Content Manager (identifies and creates content based on needs)
Copywriter (writes sales-orientated content to drive action)
Graphic Designers (visual designs)
Digital Marketing Team
SEO Specialist (organic search)
PPC Manager (pay-per-click advertising on Google and social media)
Email Marketing Specialist (lead nurturing and customer management campaigns)
Web Developer (user experience)
Social Media Team
Social media manager (social strategy, community engagement)
Enterprise-level organizations can further round out their teams by adding influencer managers, PR specialists, event coordinators, data analysts, or other positions they may need to meet their needs.
Solutions for Small Teams Looking to Make a Big Impact
Smaller companies can function well with the help of agencies and external partners for certain roles. Outsourcing to expert content writers or SEO specialists can alleviate time-consuming tasks from your to-do list, but still give you the impact you are looking for.
The added benefit of investing in content creation and SEO is that both of those avenues are long-term players. Content not only supports SEO objectives, but can also be repurposed and revamped to be used across different platforms and channels. Putting extra effort into SEO ensures you have a functionally sound website that generates increased traffic over time. Both work in tandem to build a healthy foundation for all other marketing campaigns.
Consider what channels will be most effective for your business (where and how do you find new customers?) and prioritize hiring marketers who can help meet that need. For example, let’s say you are a SaaS company for landscaping businesses to manage their crews and clients. Throughout the year, you generate 70% of your new business from in-person events, conventions, and tradeshows where you can connect with busy business owners in attendance. Your marketing team would benefit from an events coordinator or dedicated salesperson who could maximize the impact of these events. On the other hand, an e-commerce clothing company could focus more on social media marketing and influencer relationships.
Other ways you can maximize marketing with limited resources:
Leverage partnerships and influencers to reach new audiences.
Use automation to streamline repetitive tasks like email campaigns, social media posting, messaging, and lead nurturing.
Check your data analytics (Google Analytics, social media insights, etc) regularly to track performance and avoid investing in low-performance channels.
Experiment with low-cost paid advertising. Before you drop thousands on ads, utilize the targeting tools of your preferred platform and run tests to track ad performance. Once the strategy is clear, you can invest more into running ads.
Never underestimate the power of storytelling. Consumers love a brand they can relate to. Incorporating more than just products and services into your marketing can help you forge real connections, turning customers into lifelong fans.
Leading a High-Performing Marketing Team
One of the biggest challenges for marketing managers is overseeing such a diverse group of individuals who are each approaching marketing from different angles. Designers, developers, content creators, and social media managers all see marketing from a different perspective. While each of these elements is key to your marketing success, you have to turn everyone’s eyes toward the same goal. Like the Avengers gathering infinity stones, the endgame is the same.
Harvard Business Review outlined the characteristics of high-performing teams as:
Individual expertise (specialized skills)
Assigned tasks (roles and responsibilities)
Context (how those tasks fit into organizational goals)
Communication preferences (how people like to interact)
As the marketing lead, understanding how and what makes your team feel capable of doing their best work is key to enabling their success. The more confidence and trust you can instill in your team members, the more confident and creative they will be at their jobs.
Not only do you have to have an understanding of what makes each team member successful, but also fostering an environment where team members understand each other can reduce miscommunication and improve co-worker relationships. You can do this by first setting the example yourself and, second, creating opportunities for team members to get to know each other on that same level. Reducing friction between team members can facilitate camaraderie and increase workplace satisfaction.
Creating a positive work environment is a huge step towards giving employees the space they need to be productive, but how can you take good performers and make them next-level excellent?
Make the work meaningful. Draw connections between work completed and results—not just revenue earned. Showcase how their work helped other departments, improved a customer experience, or highlighted new opportunities for future growth.
Encourage professional development. Most people want to be good at their jobs. If you are working with ambitious marketers who want to strengthen their skills and, in turn, your team, give them the opportunity to gain those skills through online or in-person training events or mentorships. This is particularly helpful for small marketing teams looking to make the most of their team’s interests and abilities.
Foster an environment of open communication. Employees who feel safe and heard at work are more likely to want to perform their duties well. By building relationships of trust with your team members, you can avoid creating a space where people fear making mistakes or upsetting their leaders. Open communication encourages innovation and reduces stressful work environments.
Content Solutions for Your Marketing Team
If meeting your marketing demands feels out of reach for your current team, consider outsourcing your content writing. You and your team can focus on high-priority objectives and have professionally written content delivered straight to your inbox. Use that content to help drive other initiatives, support your SEO strategy, tackle large campaigns, or bulk up your resource library.
