It is undeniable how technology has changed businesses’ marketing approaches over the last decade.
These days, it is no longer about bombarding your customers with “sale!” and “buy now!” It is all about providing relevant and high-quality content. This enables you to attract the people who are likely to buy your products or hire your services.
But behind the curtain of every marketing campaign is a productive team. Mind you; a productive team can help you increase your topline while protecting your bottom line.
In this post, we will walk you through 16 actionable steps on how to increase the productivity of your marketing team:
Make Campaign Data Accessible
The way a marketing team works is a lot different than how other teams work. A marketing team couldn’t give off results if the campaign data isn’t available to every member.
So, if your social media manager isn’t coordinating with the content creator, they couldn’t effectively plan and schedule social media posts.
Whether you are developing a PPC, social media, or influencer campaign, you should ensure that everyone in the team is in the loop.
Get the Right Tools
A marketer’s job is to keep an eye on their competitors constantly. This includes knowing how your online presences perform against them. Thus, you have to figure out what trends they are hopping on and whatever they are doing right.
PRO TIP: Subscribe to your competitors’ newsletter to know what marketing messages they are sharing. Sometimes, it can give you an insight into what campaign they are running.
In other words, as a marketer, you need to do a lot of things. You’ll succeed better if you’re using valuable tools.
For instance, Buzzsumo will show the content performance of you as well as your competitors. Trello is a great tool that you can use to organize projects. Ahrefs is great for competitor research.
The long list can go on. There are plenty of tools out there. But it’s all about looking for the best ones that are tailored for you and your team.
Of course, while you can work on this manually, it can take a lot of time and brainpower on your part versus using specific tools specifically designed to do certain tasks.
Create a Good Work Environment
Your work environment often plays a crucial role in enhancing team efficiency and productivity.
According to a study, one’s physical environment impacts how employees feel, think, or perform in the workplace.
At Maid Sailors Office Cleaning Companies NYC, we always tell clients to set up a good working environment. This includes making the space functional and clean. Use proper lighting, a comfortable furniture layout, and bring a touch of nature to your space.
To boost productivity, make sure that it’s clutter-free and spotless as well.
Apart from the physical setting, your work environment can also impact your team’s productivity. An over domineering boss, condescending employees, and even office politics can affect an organization’s overall productivity and efficiency.
Encourage and Normalize Breaks
Throughout a typical workday, one must take regular breaks.
If your team is always working, they can feel burnt out, affecting their productivity and motivation to do their work in the long run.
A simple solution is by encouraging employees to take frequent breaks- at least every 45-60 minutes.
While this may look a bit counterproductive, taking frequent breaks allows your employees to recharge. That way, they can focus a lot better the moment that they return to their tasks.
Know Your Team’s Strengths and Weaknesses
By discovering other people’s strengths, you can easily match them with the right tasks that they’re well-suited for.
By keeping them away from unsuitable workflows, you can overcome low productivity. It is also an excellent way to avoid professional burnout.
That’s why it’s crucial that you get to know your employees at a much deeper level and then assign them to do tasks that help them reach their full potential.
That way, you can increase the productivity of everyone in your team.
Never Stop Training
The marketing world is constantly changing.
Maybe someone who’s been in the profession for ten years has been using outdated knowledge and methods.
However, the most effective marketers stay on top of their game by bending through change. They regularly engage themselves with ongoing reading and education. Taking online courses can also help to upgrade your team’s skills.
That’s why you should encourage your team members to undergo professional training. Doing so lets them work on their existing skills, create new ones, and stay on top of changes.
You can look through local workshops, or you can also undergo specific skills training through online programs.
Avoid Overworking
Although your employees may be working long hours and working late, it doesn’t mean they’re productive or do their work well enough.
Forcing them to work long hours without taking breaks will eventually lead to a drop in productivity and get less work done.
Overworking can be a problem that you need to deal with. Here’s how you can do that:
- Make work breaks mandatory: Breaks are essential. But still, a lot of people can work long hours without taking breaks because they want to do as many things as possible. As we mentioned, when you do break entitlement rules, you can specifically urge your employees to take these breaks when they need them.
- Keep a close eye on workloads: If your team is skipping breaks because of a looming deadline or they’re staying late, it means something. And often, that means they are doing more than what they can handle. The best way to deal with this is to give them less workload. You can also expand your team to help carry the load.
- Get rid of unproductive activities: You should talk with your marketing team to figure out redundant tasks. Doing so allows you to get rid of time-consuming activities.
Make Your Meetings More Efficient
It’s no surprise that many employees aren’t excited about going to work meetings. So much so that they’d rather make it an email or talk about it through chat.
That’s because most of them believe that meetings are just a waste of time and not as productive as they should be. So, if your employees are always reluctant to show up at meetings, it’s time to change something.
To ensure that all your meetings stay as productive as possible, every participant should have a clear plan of what the meeting is all about. You can use this time to talk about all the crucial issues, get feedback, and follow a pre-set agenda.
Now, if someone steers clear from the topic, talking about something that isn’t related to the schedule, you can tell them to wait until the meeting is over.
Then, you can have a one-on-one conversation with them later on. While you must take your time listening to the agenda of everyone in the room, don’t let them disrupt the meeting agenda.
Build a Culture of Teamwork
Most people feel that they’re part of the team. Whether it’s celebrating a recent team win or having after-office drinks every Friday, the team that plays together works well.
That’s precisely why you need to promote a culture that supports each other. Celebrate wins, whether they’re big or small.
Incorporate collaboration spaces that allow conversations and idea exchange. That way, you can have a room where you can exchange discussions without disrupting the entire company.
Measure Your Efforts
The key to success in marketing is your metrics. All the time and effort you put into building marketing campaigns and producing content should be monitored.
Don’t be afraid to experiment! Encourage it, even. It can yield excellent results as long as there’s a tool that will correctly measure the outcome.
Using an analytics tool, your team will know what’s working and what needs to be improved. This will give your marketing team an insight into your target market’s purchasing behavior. As such, you can figure out your customers’ motivations to buy.
Improve Team Communication
Communication is vital to every functioning team. That’s why everyone should be kept informed so that no one will feel that they’re kept out of the loop.
If a team has difficulties exchanging ideas or information, the issue can be traced back to the manager.
So, whether you’re a manager or a team member, you can still improve communication. So, when sharing ideas, or giving feedback, try to be honest but not rude.
Be open to feedback, and be courteous to anyone that offers it. Don’t easily be offended if someone doesn’t agree with your ideas because it isn’t a personal attack against you. They might also be keeping the best interests of the company in mind, just like you.
If you’re working remotely, you’ll know that face-to-face conversations don’t come often. Therefore, video calls should be encouraged instead of just emailing or phone calls.
It might be a simple thing, but it can yield excellent results in the long run. It also creates better relationships and builds trust.
Provide Flexible Work Arrangements
Expecting your team to do all of their work on their desks is so 20th century.
You can start by letting your team get their work done in places that suit them. It can be in their home, at a coffee shop, or a coworking space, as long as there is a stable internet connection.
You might also want to consider offering quiet, creative, or breakout spaces in the office to allow your team to stay productive.
Motivate and Incentivize Your Team
Similarly, one of the surefire ways to boost your team’s productivity is to motivate and incentivize them. Consider giving an additional day-off to the most productive employee or unit of the week.
You can also hold productivity contests and have prizes for winners.
Other ideas you’d also like to consider are holding team lunches and vacations (all expenses covered by the company).
This can motivate your team to stay productive and recognize them for it. That way, they’ll feel gratitude and value. As a result, they’ll work harder in the future.
Hold Everyone Accountable
It goes without saying that every employee should be held accountable for their tasks. That’s because some of them might not know that a couple of missed deadlines can make all the difference.
By establishing a reliable accountability system with your team, you can set clear goals and roles for everyone. This also makes everything transparent. As such, you can create a concrete workflow, making work easier for everyone involved.
Fortunately, there is plenty of performance tracking software and apps that you can use. These tools can help your marketing team to stay accountable and do their best.
Measure It
If you can’t measure something, then how can you think of ways to improve it?
Try to measure everything that matters for your marketing goal. If your goal is brand awareness, perhaps you should watch brand mentions and positive reviews. If it’s sales, you need to track your conversion, exit pages, and revenue.
The best thing that you can do is create a plan that allows you to move whatever metrics need fixing, break it down into a couple of steps, and then implement it.
Then, try to measure it again, review if needed, set goals, and repeat the cycle.
Encourage Learning and Life Outside Work
It’s pretty easy to be stuck behind the computer for 8 hours a day.
By taking time to ensure that your team has a life outside of work, you can significantly improve their productivity in the long run.
For instance, some start-ups provide a monthly stipend to employees to be encouraged to join a gym or a fitness class. Others read books or hold educational events that are not necessarily related to their job title.
The tips listed above can help boost your marketing team’s productivity. And when they are productive, you can run various marketing campaigns effectively. You might be surprised at the fantastic results an effective marketing team can bring to you and your clients.
About the Author:
Raymond Chiu is the Director of Operations for Maid Sailors Commercial Cleaning Service New York, a top-rated office cleaning service provider. Matched with affordable prices, we can address even the toughest cleaning needs and can turn your workplace into a healthy, safe, and employee-friendly environment.