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Managing a Marketing Team

For many businesses, having an internal marketing team is a new concept, and in a field that is continuously changing and evolving, it can difficult to apprehend how the team could be managed.

Such teams, especially those with digital marketing elements, can have different challenges in comparison to other departments in your business, in particular, managing performance, return on investment and overall output.

However, fear not, if you’re new to managing a marketing team, these tips will help you get the most out of your employees.

Productivity is key

Although managing a marketing team can be different in many areas, it is like other team structures in that keeping morale, and productivity high is a must. This can be achieved with three primary motivators – recognition, opportunity and reward.

Recognition – this can be formal or informal; however, at its most basic level, employee recognition is an acknowledgement of the effort and achievements that employee has gained. A simple recognition scheme shows an employee that their work is being appreciated and increases their productivity and job satisfaction.
Opportunity – whether this is the chance of promotion or by gaining additional responsibilities. An employee will stay productive if they know they are working towards the chance to improve their career.
Reward – for employees that are exceeding expectations, rewards can help keep them productive and happy, which will help you keep that valued employee with your company. Rewards can be something as simple as a gift voucher, a meal out or a monetary bonus, with the ultimate prize coming in the form of a promotion with a pay rise.

Build an ethos for creativity and innovation

The marketing industry is continuously changing and evolving, which means you need to keep your marketing team informed. Otherwise, your marketing strategy may become outdated and even obsolete.

A straightforward way to ensure your team is always in the know when it comes to industry news is to dedicate 20-30 minutes in the morning for research. Tell your employees to take time to read marketing news headlines and study various authoritative articles from ‘thought leaders’ in niche fields. It’s also a good idea for your team – particularly your social media and content creators – to know about general news, too, as it can be lucrative to ‘cash in’ on trends like TV shows and events to improve your brand engagement.

It’s also crucial that you continuously invest in training. Marketing trends and processes are continually changing. So, to keep your strategy ahead of competitors and innovative, book your employees on training courses relative to their area of expertise. Although this can be expensive, this investment will be worth it for the corresponding growth of your business.

As well as being knowledgeable, your marketing team should be built on creativity. To get the best creativity out of your team, you should arrange for fun ‘brainstorming’ sessions, where your team get together and bounce ideas off one another.

For creative catalysts, have monthly get-togethers, such as ‘lunch and learn’ presentations. You could even have a Friday afternoon every month where the team orders in food and evaluates previous campaigns and what could be improved. This laid-back approach – rather than an official meeting – makes for a relaxed environment where creativity can arise far easier.

Set clear key performance metrics

For any team, especially marketing, which is results-driven, having clear performance metrics is a must for employees to know how well they’re doing.

You will have differing measurable successes depending on different areas of your marketing team. For instance, your social media team might measure progress on the number of likes they have, the ‘reach’ of their posts or the level of engagement posts receive. For SEO specialists, you may set goals in relation to conversion rates on your website.

Whatever your marketing strategy, having clear goals and milestones that are visible to your employees, ensures that everyone is able to measure their performance.

Choose specific project management tools

At the heart of marketing is communication – after all, you’re trying to communicate your brand to potential customers. Which is why it is imperative that you utilise practical communication tools within your marketing team. Especially if any of your marketing team work remotely.

Some essential project management tools should include:

Internal communication tool – like an Instant Messenger or WhatsApp, a chat tool will allow different employees to chat quickly and efficiently. This could be for checking the details on a job, asking advice or even seeing if someone would like a cup of tea!
Central CRM system – these tools allow you to have a central system that stores all your customer/client information.
Project management tool – when you have a lot of marketing ventures on the go, it can be hard to manage and keep track of everything. A project system allows users to create tasks (with clear instructions and deadlines), share updates and mark tasks as complete.

If you have a marketing director, that person will create the strategy for the team and pass it down the employee hierarchy ladder, then report the results back up to senior management. For smaller teams, with no director, you will want a senior manager that is responsible for letting employees know your overall strategy, so they can set tasks for themselves and others to implement this strategy.

Overall, managing a marketing team might feel alien in comparison to other departments in a business, but at the root, you’ll use similar managing techniques. Your focus should be providing a fun place to work, where productivity, knowledge and creativity is king. Doing this will enable your business to achieve the maximum possible return from your marketing budget.

About The Author

Robert Scott

Managing Director at Aaron Wallis Recruitment

Rob is the Managing Director of Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment, a national recruitment agency specialising in sourcing sales and marketing staff for businesses across a broad range of commercial sectors. Before setting up Aaron Wallis, Rob spent ten years at a specialist Sales and Marketing recruitment division of a £0.5BN recruitment group, leaving in 2007 as Marketing & Sales Director to establish Aaron Wallis.

With over 20 years experience in recruitment, Rob is a History graduate with an MBA and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. In 2007, 2009 and 2013 Rob conducted the most extensive surveys of sales professionals in the UK and is a trusted authority in the sales industry. From guiding employers through the recruitment process to helping candidates find their dream job, Rob's advice has been quoted in leading publications such as Business Insider and The Independent, as well as OnRec, who host The Online Recruitment Awards every year.

Find out more about Rob here.