It’s cheesy but true: Teamwork makes the dream work, and building a marketing team for your brand is no exception to this popular adage.
That’s why we’re here to help you build a top-notch team. In our three-part series, we’ll cover the various roles within a full-fledged marketing team. Though your small, mighty brand may not have the resources to fill every position right away, use this blog as a starting point when considering what role to hire for next and what key responsibilities to prioritize.
First, let’s start with a breakdown of three teams you’re probably familiar with: content marketing, creative, and product marketing.
Content marketing is the meat and potatoes of inbound marketing, where you create and distribute content or relevant social media assets to attract shoppers, drive brand awareness, generate leads, and increase sales.
Content is a beast to conquer, which explains why medium and large-sized businesses typically hire numerous people for the department:
Chief Content Officer or Director of Content Marketing: Responsible for setting high-level goals and overseeing the overall content marketing strategy
Content Marketing Manager: Helps the team design a roadmap to achieve company goals by delegating tasks and setting deadlines
Content Creators and Contributors: Writers, bloggers, video creators, and infographic producers who keep the content engine running
Content Editors: Responsible for proofing and editing all content, plus ensuring every piece aligns with style and brand guides
Editorial Assistants: Help with logistical tasks, such as resizing images, uploading content, and writing meta descriptions
Community Managers: Promote content on social media, respond to comments, and work to get more users to engage with the brand
Analytics Specialists: Keep content fresh and relevant by looking at SEO data, performance analytics, and optimization opportunities
If you’re eyeing this list nervously, don’t worry: You can supplement your content creation efforts with the help of freelancers or even a content agency. However, you’ll need someone to spearhead the content strategy — this means creating the content calendar, determining types of content, setting deadlines, delegating tasks, and checking every piece of content before it goes live.
Want a content calendar template? We’ve got you covered here.
Never underestimate the power of design. Engaging and captivating websites, product packaging, promotional ads, and even social media content can be game-changers for your brand — and that’s what a creative team is for.
Each creative team member will likely have a niche skill — and once you put them together, that’s when the magic happens.
Creative Director: The mastermind behind a brand’s creative vision — think of them as the bridge between the creative team and the executives
Graphic Designers: Give visual life to any idea, whether a new digital ad or product packaging
Copywriters: Infuse your visual content and marketing collateral with a persuasive and engaging voice.
Web Designers: Build websites and continuously optimize them using the principles of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI)
Video Producers: Use their scriptwriting, videography, sound engineering, and video editing skills to create promotional ads, customer testimonials, tutorials, and other video content
Photographers: Most commonly hired by large brands that need custom in-house photography
Similar to a content marketing team, many of these tasks can be outsourced to freelancers and third-party creative agencies, especially if you’re creating just one video per month. However, you’ll still need someone at the helm to ensure every piece of creative fits into one cohesive puzzle.
Want a guide for hiring a marketing agency? Check out this post:
Your brand’s product won’t sell itself. In fact, your product is the central piece to your marketing strategy. That’s why you need a product marketing team to oversee your product line and help ensure it stays updated and relevant to the market.
Just like the content marketing and creative teams, the scope of a product marketing team varies based on a brand’s size. The only difference is product marketing is slightly more complex — sometimes this team operates within the product department, and other times they’re morphed into marketing.
Head of Product Marketing: Oversees the entire product marketing strategy and leads all product marketing initiatives
Product Marketing Managers: Assigned to different products and ensure product ideas are successful — daily responsibilities involve tracking competitors, monitoring industry trends, and collaborating with analysts and other teams
Sales Content Enablement Specialists: Create relevant one-pagers, landing pages, and decks that other teams can then use to promote the products
Though there’s no universal rule when it comes to designing a product marketing team, product marketing is a critical component for every brand. Make sure there’s someone on your team who can dedicate their time to determining the best market strategies for each of your products — this means conducting market research, talking to customers, and monitoring performance.
There’s more to a successful team than simply hiring people with the right experience and skills. In other words: Hiring well is not enough for success.
Here are some pro tips to keep in mind as you transform your employees into a stellar marketing team:
Make sure there’s a clear roadmap for success. You can’t expect your marketing team to develop the best ideas if they lack a clear picture of execution goals and metrics to measure success. That said, it’s crucial to align every team’s plans around your brand’s long-term strategy.
Prioritize your company culture. You’ve probably heard all about the Great Resignation phenomenon triggered by the pandemic, with workers around the country quitting their jobs in droves. Respect your employees, treat them well (this includes offering them reasonable compensation and benefits), provide opportunities for growth, and make their work fulfilling.
Don’t be afraid to stay small and nimble. Even if it seems tempting to hire more people for a bigger bang for your buck, remember that managing a large team can be tough — there are benefits to keeping your processes and teams lean and agile.
You’re all set with part one of building a marketing team. Make sure to check out parts 2 and 3 of this series, where we cover other marketing teams like partnerships, community marketing, and public relations.
For more resources, tips, and tricks on everything from building your brand to boosting customer loyalty, head over to the AdRoll Marketing Resource Library.
Last updated on January 26th, 2022.
