Okay, it’s finally time.
Having your administrative assistant post stock photography on Facebook and Twitter every day isn’t working any longer.
Letting your neighbor’s nephew’s, son’s friend update and maintain your website just isn’t cutting it.
Your marketing vendors call you begging to set up meetings so they can sell you more shit that you don’t even know is working and it is draining your very existence.
Or maybe you have a team of 3 or 4 marketing team members that wear 15 proverbial hats and spend most of their time putting out fires instead of driving the firetruck (sorry not sorry for my terrible metaphors lol)
There are about 15,000 different ways to approach the question, “How should I structure my marketing team?”. You can consider things like:
The size of your company
Your company vertical - sales-focused, service-focused, product-specific, B2B vs B2C, etc.
What is your current marketing budget?
What areas of marketing do I focus on that will bring us the most ROI?
Before we get lost in all of the if’s, and’s, or buts, let’s set the foundation first - and we do that by defining your goals.
Set Marketing Goals
Be specific! Asking for the sun and the moon out of the gate is only going to set you up for failure. I often say, “Too many tactics, mean nothing gets done”. Stay hyper-focused, finish one goal, and move onto the next.
Examples of marketing goals include:
Create a lead generation funnel
Capitalize on relationships with existing customers
Grow a referral base
Put marketing technology in place to accomplish our goals (CRM, Social Media Posting, paid advertising, etc)
Implement an ABM (Account-Based Marketing) plan and system
This step also builds on the following step so that you can be very clear on what you expect out of your first hire.
Make Your First Hire
Here are the two questions you need to ask yourself when considering your first hire:
“Do I hire a veteran expert that will help build and scale my team and business that will cost more money out of the gate?
“Do I hire an up and coming marketer that will need some additional training and time commitment from me?”
Ultimately, you’re asking yourself, “Is time or money more valuable to me?” Answering this question will help you determine the best option for your first hire.
Other things to consider for your first hire:
Budget - If your budget really doesn’t allow you to hire a veteran expert, start looking at recruits that have 3-5 years of experience in the industry. Oftentimes these people are very hungry to do well and make an impact. So they’ll work hard to get where they want to be.
Be clear about your goal with your first hire - It’s important to allow these goals to shift and change, but starting out with clear direction will help you and your new recruit to continue to work together.
And last, but certainly, not least is try not to expect this person to be able to carry out the responsibilities of every single position that you would hire in a marketing team. Please don’t ask a designer to also be a photographer and a videographer and your marketing strategist, data analyst, and copywriter. I see these job postings sometimes that literally list off that this person must possess all of the skills that a 15 person agency has.
Marketing Positions to Consider
Regardless of which type of leader you hire for your marketing department first, there are some main positions to consider when structuring your marketing team. This can also depend on the size of your business and of course your goals. I.e. if your main goal is to build up your social media following, hire that position first. Note there are two areas of marketing - creative and well... everything else :) Here is how I break those down:
General & Demand Marketing Team
Social Media Specialist - this one is pretty self-explanatory, but your social media specialist should know Twitter like the back of their hand. They should handle things like curating and creating content to post, handle engagement, running paid media campaigns, setting social media strategy, and putting the proper technology in place to run your social media effectively.
SEO Specialist - this person knows every digital acronym you can imagine. And furthermore spends every minute making sure they know the best practices for search engine optimization, suggesting different ways to write content to help that and keeping a constant eye on the metrics. They will work closely with your Analytics Master as well.
Paid Media Specialist - this person might interact heavily with the social media specialist if you have both. This person would focus more on programmatic and PPC advertising. i.e. Google Adwords, Bing, and other ad networks. They would create, maintain, and optimize your ad spend in these areas.
Analytics Master - This person would be in charge of looking at your website analytics, working heavily with your CRM administrator to analyze your customer data, and give you a view of what is working and not working in your marketing campaigns. They will also handle setting up all tracking codes so that you can track your campaigns properly.
Product Marketer - This person handles all of the nitty-gritty detail of your product or service. They are your team's subject matter expert so they aren't having to constantly tap those in people deep in other areas of your organization. These people don't necessarily need to have a marketing background either, they just need to know the business inside and out and work with the marketing team to keep an eye on the market and help them to always say the right things.
CRM Administrator - This person is responsible for making sure that all leads get into the CRM system, setting up any paid landing pages through (if that's how you operate), and pulling reports when needed. They might also handle your email marketing efforts if you have them, but again, that might be a position you add down the line. They will work very closely with your analytics specialist and also your sales team if you have one.
Creative Marketing Team
Photographer/videographer - again, self-explanatory, but it's important to note that you might need to break out of this position and have a separate photographer and videographer depending on your business. With the rise in video and not using stock photography, this position is almost a must!
Designer - Make sure your designer has a good balance of traditional and digital skills and the ability to work well with the entire team! They will be touching every avenue of your business!
Copywriter - Oftentimes, copywriters and designers work as teams in an agency setting and it doesn't have to be any different for your business. The most specialized your creative team, the better they will be at representing your business.
Developer - Most of the time I see this position either filled through an agency or a contractor. I think this makes sense for most growing teams, but it will become apparent quickly that you'll need someone in-house to handle the quick changes needed and to help grow your digital presence without having to wait a week for something to get done. This is a special position to hire for, so I very much suggest tapping your IT team for guidance in this area.
And last but not least, you can always consider hiring a marketing agency or consultant to do some of the hands-on work while you’re growing your marketing team. Just make sure that you’ve got someone by your side to handle those communications and responsibilities. After all the goal is to allow you more time or create more money for you and your business!
Sometimes it may seem daunting to answer all of these questions for your business. Shameless plug coming your way! :) I offer consulting services that walk you through what the best decisions are for you and your business, deciding who to hire first, defining your marketing goals, and setting the overall marketing strategy that will allow you to get things done! Send me a note if you’re interested in what this might entail!
Now you’re off and running! Remember, hire based on your goals, always! Growing slow is okay and failure is an option! Just make sure you learn from it! Happy hunting!
Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash