Are you ready to transform your B+ team of marketing gurus into a championship caliber marketing team? If your answer is yes, then you likely recognize that a B+ marketing team will not give your company the edge it needs to blow away your competition in a cutthroat marketplace. As marketing recruiters, we know a thing or two about building a high performing team. Below are 10 steps to help you thrive in your role as a marketing manager by crafting a powerhouse marketing team.
Why Is Building A High Performing Marketing Team So Important?
The role of a high performing marketing team cannot be overstated. A stellar marketing team can bolster productivity and positively impact your company’s bottom line. Below are the three primary reasons why building a stellar marketing team is so critical:
- Costly employee turnover is reduced when team members are engaged and valued
- You can devote more time to marketing projects and less time to hiring
- Bottom line profitability increases with a powerhouse marketing team
10 Key Steps to Building a High Performing Marketing Team
Clearly, there are vital benefits to creating a champion marketing team. However, establishing a winning marketing team can be an overwhelming process, even for experienced marketers at enterprise level organizations. Below are 10 key steps to help you assemble a high performing marketing team.
1) Start by creating a culture of excellence within your marketing team. The path to a five-star marketing team begins with your team culture. Each employee should feel like an integral member of the team and should be encouraged to strive for continued quality improvement. Here are some key points to remember as you create your team culture:
- Each team member must recognize that his or her work is valuable
- Team members should be encouraged to express their likes and suggestions
- Clear communication to all team members should be a top priority
- Team members should be encouraged to develop new skills and pursue personal development opportunities
2) Evaluate the performance of your current team members. The top-notch talent you are seeking may be right in front of you. Before you consult with marketing recruiters or launch an exhaustive hiring campaign, take the time to carefully evaluate each of your existing team members. As you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each employee, be sure to assess the following:
- The team member’s commitment to quality as evidenced by a sampling of the employee’s work
- The level of efficiency exhibited by the team member
- The impact of the team member’s contributions on conversions and sales
3) Strive to hire top marketers the first time around. As you interview prospective additions to your marketing team, remember to hire candidates who exhibit the core attributes that facilitate trainability and long-term success. Here are some core qualities to seek in prospective team members:
- High emotional intelligence, or the ability to properly assess and manage emotions
- Curiosity, or an innate desire to engage in continued learning
- Humility, or the habit of treating others with courtesy and respect
4) Clearly state individual and team goals to employees. One of the top reasons behind employee turnover is inconsistency between employees’ job description and their actual job duties. Individual and team goals should be clarified at multiple points during an employee’s tenure on your team, including the following:
- During the interview process
- When the employee is hired
- During annual employee evaluations
5) Enhance your current training platform. Training should never occur in a vacuum. The marketing landscape is constantly evolving and team members should participate in ongoing learning activities, starting with their first day on the job. One of the best ways to ensure that employees get the most out of their training experience is to implement an online learning management system (LMS). A robust LMS makes the training process more interesting and palatable to employees because they can easily participate in training activities from the location of their choice using their favorite mobile device.
6) Keep team members engaged. Assembling the most impressive collection of marketing experts in your industry will not produce top results unless you ensure that team members remain engaged. Bolstering team member engagement is especially important considering that roughly half of all employees will work remotely by 2020. Here are some ways that high performing marketing teams keep employees engaged:
- Establish regular meetings with team members
- Communicate clearly and frequently with team members
- Be transparent when disseminating information
- Create an enjoyable work environment
7) Encourage team members to provide feedback. One of the greatest advantages of a stellar marketing team is the sheer amount of brainpower you will have at your disposal. You can put this brainpower to good use by regularly asking team members for their feedback and suggestions for improvement. Below are some good opportunities to seek feedback from team members:
- During regular team meetings
- During individual performance reviews
- During impromptu meetings
8) Assess team performance at least annually. Annual performance reviews help keep individual team members focused on attaining individual and team goals. Be sure to clearly outline expectations to team members in advance and make sure that they are held accountable for their goal attainment.
9) Reward your top performers. Recognizing and rewarding your highest performing employees is a crucial part of the team development process. In particular, rewarding employees achieves the following goals:
- Top performers are reminded that their contributions are valuable
- Underperformers are incentivized to ramp up their efforts
- Top performers are motivated to continue to exceed their goals
10) Seek the guidance of an industry expert. A surefire way to build a high performing marketing team is to enlist the support of seasoned marketing experts. With the help of a trusted marketing recruiting firm, you can transform your existing marketing department into best and brightest team of marketing experts in your industry.
Marketing Mob is a marketing recruiting and staffing firm that enables CMOs and their teams to streamline and expedite the hiring of qualified marketing experts who meet the needs of their organization.
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