Do you have the right team & structure in your marketing department?
If you want to kick off 2020 with a productive and efficient marketing initiative, you need to have a marketing plan that is backed up by the right structure, the right team of professionals in the right roles and provide them with the right tools to implement the plan. In this post we’ll cover roles and structure. Look for a future post on Marketing Tools.
The Right Team & Structure
Is there a clear leader for your marketing team? Does your team know and understand your expectations and their role in the company’s plan? Do they understand how their role impacts and supports the team? Did you hire the right people with the right skills?
Let’s start with who’s leading your marketing team or Department. I often see Professional Service firms put seller/doer VPs or a firm principal in charge of their marketing team. Just because your guy or gal is a great engineer and even great at winning work, does not mean they know graphic design, ad campaigns, social media content development, customer databases, or proposal development. Most firms would never dream of putting someone with a master’s degree in marketing in charge of an architectural design studio, yet time and time again, I see firms put a VP of architecture or engineering or business development guy in charge of their marketing team. You cannot lead what you do not fully understand.
Okay, so we’ve established you need an experienced marketing leader, but now what? Who else do you need? That depends on your strategic goals and your marketing plan. If your plan consists of targeting new markets and you want to establish your firm as an expert in said market, you may need a content writer or communications position. Someone adept at media relationships with a proven track record in social media campaigns, excellent in both written and spoken communications. You may need one or more graphic designers to set the course of your corporate brand or perhaps you have proposal managers that are good at both graphics and are skilled writers.
If your firm is large, you may need a dedicated CRM database manager. And of course, you’ll need marketing coordinators for proposal writing and production. The exact structure will be different for each firm, but the point is to define the roles you need to fill. Don’t expect marketing coordinators to wear ten hats and wear them all well. Once you define the new roles needed, take a good look at your current staff and their skills. This may be an opportunity to promote from within.
It’s often beneficial to smaller firms to outsource the skills their staff are missing or simply don’t have time to do. Why is this effective? A marketing agency will be able to provide a team of experts at a much cheaper cost than hiring a full-time employee. Regardless if you have the internal team or you end up outsourcing some aspects of your plan. With the right team in place, your plan will be successful and your business will thrive.
