Growing & Developing a Great Marketing Team

Finding a balance between your professional marketing career and your personal life sounds nice, but how do we pull it off? As a living, breathing, and very busy person, you have probably struggled and made a mistake or two along the way. Well, I'm guilty of all of that, too. Through my experiences, I have found a few things that help me find balance and embrace my mistakes. I hope that whether you're a manager or team member of your marketing department, you can try these tips out and help yourself, an employee, and your business reach their full potential.

Hire For Culture

In order to see it grow and succeed, you have to find a team that wants and strives for the same thing. And when you’re hiring people for your marketing team or department, it’s important to seek out the people that will fit with your business. Go beyond the typical interview questions and dig deep. Consider putting together a culture code or set of beliefs that set your business apart from the rest. Doing this can foster a team with similar values and work ethic.

Creating the "perfect" team isn’t going to solve all of your marketing and business problems. Let’s face it, we are all human and we all make mistakes. And failure can be scary. Who wants to feel like a disappointment to their team, family, or boss? Not me. But there’s a secret to failure that I have discovered: it doesn't have to equal disappointment. And by intentionally shaping a culture, you can help your employees see that.

Lead with a new approach

Mistakes are okay. Directors, CEOs, and managers make mistakes too, and it's okay. You and your marketing team can become better marketers, leaders, and writers (or whatever floats your boat) by learning from and embracing your failures. That’s the cold, hard truth. I’m not saying that if your marketing department continuously fails they will suddenly see a high ROI from their efforts. I am saying mistakes can be good, especially when you learn from them.

So, listen to your marketing team or department. Learn what they need in terms of knowledge and skill set to be successful and learn from their mistakes. Are they looking for social media training or a chance to enhance their time management skills? Maybe they're lacking inspiration for design pieces or content creation? Whatever it is, be a better leader by listening to your team, and take care of them by providing the resources they need to be their best.  

Be the Best

How can you and your marketing department be the best? The best lead generators, the best content producers, the highest ranked HubSpot partner… the list goes on and on. You could try and be the best – or you could focus on being your best. In order to grow your business, you have to start with yourself and your team.

Most of us want to be successful and feel the satisfaction that comes along with reaching a personal or professional goal. Working on both your personal and professional self is the only way to create the best version of you. I would be lying to you if I said that right now, you are the best that you're ever going to be. To become the best you and the best marketing team, it takes a little work.

Seek out opportunities that will unlock new potential for yourself and the individuals on your team – like our One² event. Encourage your team to try something new and put themselves out there; they might be surprised by what they learn and how much they grow.

Attending industry conferences, seminars, and events are also great opportunities for you and your team to learn something new, get inspired, and have a little fun. Not only that, but they provide opportunities to network with industry experts, meet new people, and market your business. 

By investing in your marketing team, you're putting your business in a position to receive instant and future benefits. Take this time as an opportunity to show your team that you care about their professional and personal goals. You don't have to be the first marketing team to the moon (but how awesome would that be?) - you just need to be happy with your best.