Oh! Which marketing task-planning company in the world can’t afford a team-management tool? You do have a choice!
You can use a paper chart! But then, if a single member from your team forgets to enter a piece of important data, you will also fail.
And if that same day a crucial piece of data is incorrectly entered due to distraction or speed, you may not catch it for good. Think about the point of having a team of individuals working on a project.
Wouldn’t it be better if they were all working as a team? Would they be as effective? The answer is “yes!”
So, what role does teamwork play in the business world? It helps organizations develop accountable employees, and it is a powerful way to collaborate.
Here are some reasons why teamwork is good for organizations:
You feel the same stress and work as your employees. They make the same mistakes, and you make the same mistakes.
- Your customers often become the best source of help.
- Solving common problems is easier if you have a team.
- Employees give continuous feedback.
- Effective planning is easier because you will see the changes in real-time.
Identifying the pain points early
Marketing and sales are unique fields. Unlike other fields, where there are clear winners, marketing and sales roles are very difficult to define.
And people have different opinions on what defines the success and failure of any project. In fact, it is often harder to quantify what is considered to be a success in this industry, as it is so ambiguous.
However, every business out there is ultimately a marketing company! The better you know your customers, the better you can understand how to motivate them, and this is where every company comes to the point of being a marketing company.
Identifying the pain points is the key to making them successful.
Is your process as good as it could be?
One of the fundamental questions in every business is how much time it takes your company to get the job done. Does it require a lot of planning and work, and is this a strategic area for you to invest time in?
Like with every other part of your company, your marketing team must be highly skilled and highly proficient in the area they work in. What is your process?
It may mean making a list of what your competition offers and how you can improve on it for your sales team. For your marketing team, it could be working on brainstorming ideas and working with a team to understand how to make the best use of those ideas.
It would help if you also considered how you ensure your employees work efficiently. Is there a separate team for tasks such as email marketing, web copywriting, landing pages, etc.?
Do you have another team for your SEO campaigns? If so, how do you ensure they all work in harmony?
If you have decided to rely on processes and workflows that are not as robust, then you might be paying a lot of your team’s time to achieve very little. There is no point in spending money on processes that do not work for your company, and this is the reason why you should hire a team-management tool.
Implementation of market research
The whole point of marketing is to identify your customers and find out how you can make them happy. As an example, let’s say that you run a marketing agency.
How do you know if your company is running a campaign well, or whether it is successful or not? By using market research techniques, you will be able to come to this conclusion very quickly.
By collecting opinions from a wide variety of people, you will be able to make informed decisions.
Staying informed
Recently, I was coaching a client. A client has a team of highly skilled individuals.
This team is specialized in the field of information technology. The team has an excellent understanding of the customer’s needs.
However, this team does not know each other. I often wonder how a team with a wide range of knowledge would perform if they work under a single manager.
I have seen people excel working in teams. However, when the manager does not follow the team, the outcome is usually poor.
What is the common reason for the team members not to understand each other? The result is when employees do not listen to each other.
A great manager will identify these issues and address the issue to help the team function better. You cannot expect the team to function well if the manager does not participate in the interactions.
Better decision-making
A good leader is a good listener. When you hear your people’s concerns and take their feedback seriously, you will have a better sense of what they are thinking.
This allows you to give your people what they want. When employees are well engaged, they will deliver outstanding performance.
For example, when a team member knows that they have the leader’s support, they will take advantage of the opportunity to deliver. It is common for people to be too quiet.
They only share ideas when the time is opportune. You must be aware that great ideas do not always come from someone who has the loudest voice.
When a team knows that they have the support of their leader, it enables them to take more risks. When you share your thoughts with your people, they will be motivated to listen to what you have to say.
This will ensure that you have a better idea of what they are thinking. For example, if the leader had more knowledge about what your employees are thinking, they would be better positioned to make good decisions.
Staying engaged
Good leaders know that an employee’s loyalty is linked to engagement. If you are not engaging with them, they will seek the attention of another company.
When this happens, they have to give the reasons for this. No employee wants to give you bad reasons.
You must be conscious of how you maintain engagement. Here are some ways to stay engaged:
- Communication: A great leader stays in touch with their people. This will keep the communication lines open.
- Don’t criticize: If you criticize an employee, there is a high probability of leaving you. They feel that they cannot do the same thing that you do. This leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
- Encourage: A good leader encourages their people. They will work harder and take more risks.
- Allow for mistakes: A good leader will allow for mistakes. If you do not allow for mistakes, employees will be scared to make them. They will not be able to learn from their mistakes. This is a disadvantage.
- Offer praise: A great leader will make sure that employees know how they are doing. They will give them credit for their efforts. They will not berate them when they make mistakes.
- Provide feedback: A great leader will not interfere when employees share their ideas. This will prevent them from giving negative feedback to each other. This will enable you to learn from their errors and improve their performance. This will make them more loyal to you.
- Give positive feedback: A great leader will praise their people for their good work. They will not let you down. They will make it clear to you that they are happy with your performance. When you are perceived to be someone who only praises people when things go well, it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
Without market research tools, you can find yourself in trouble
Once you find out that you have a problem with one or more of your products or services, what are you supposed to do? You have some information, and you have some hypotheses.
What do you do now?
Actually, you have very little information. You have no data. The best thing you can do is keep your hypothesis and make your research work as one piece.
This is where market research plays a crucial role. Rather than guess how your target market will react, you will be able to find out for yourself through market research.
With market research, you can find your target market and use that as a jumping-off point to create your content marketing strategy and positioning.
As said earlier, even though marketing is a major component of every company, most are unsure of where they stand in this industry and what to do to become a successful marketing company. The beauty of marketing is that you can start from the beginning and learn it, and in the process, you will get to understand what works and what doesn’t.
By using these tips, you will be able to get started in the right direction, and once you have mastered the basics, you will be able to transition to a fully-fledged marketing agency. And once that happens, you will definitely be successful.
