Creating a marketing organization structure can be more complicated than it looks. It can affect how your team collaborates, responds to changes, and produces results. Key points that need to be considered when deciding on marketing org structures are business goals, team sizes, leading business drivers, crucial marketing disciplines, and marketing strategies.
In this article, we’ll dive into the different ways you can build your marketing team and the pieces of information you’ll need to decide which one to use.
Marketing Team Competencies
One of the first things you need to consider when you create your marketing team structure is identifying the key channels you need to move your business forward.
Depending on your company’s budget, goals, and priorities, not all competencies must be present in your team. In some instances, some individuals can also cover several competencies within their scope.
Your consumer journey will inform the expertise you will need in your business. Here are some of the skills you need to consider.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing uses digital channels, such as search engines, social media, email, and websites, to promote products or services. It is a broad term encompassing a wide range of strategies and tactics, all aimed at reaching and engaging with a target audience in a digital space.
Digital marketing enables businesses to connect with customers in a more personalized and targeted way, which can lead to increased brand awareness, higher conversion rates, and greater customer loyalty. With the rise of online shopping and e-commerce, digital marketing has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes looking to compete in today's digital landscape.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that utilizes social media platforms to promote a brand, product, or service.
Social media has become an integral part of people's lives, and businesses have realized the potential of using social media to reach their target audience. Social media marketing involves creating and sharing content, such as text, images, and videos, to engage and build a relationship with the audience. It also involves running paid advertising campaigns on social media to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to the website, and generate leads.
Marketing on social media allows businesses to interact with their customers in real-time, gather feedback, and build a loyal community of followers. It is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience and is essential for businesses that want to stay relevant in today's digital age.
Marketing Creatives
Creatives in marketing refer to any visual or written content used to promote a product, service, or brand. These include advertisements, social media posts, email campaigns, videos, and more.
Skilled creatives can include copywriters and graphic designers. They are essential parts of any marketing strategy as they help capture the attention of potential customers and convey the brand's message. An excellent creative output is attention-grabbing, memorable, and aligns with the brand's values and goals.
Content Creation
The primary role of the content creation team is to create compelling and relevant content that resonates with the target audience. The team is responsible for developing content strategies, researching and analyzing content trends, identifying key topics and themes, and producing high-quality content in various formats, such as blog posts, social media updates, videos, and infographics.
The content creation team works closely with other marketing teams, such as SEO, social media, and email marketing, to ensure the content is optimized for search engines, social media platforms, and email clients. They also collaborate with graphic designers, videographers, and other creative professionals to create visually appealing content that captures the audience's attention.
In addition to creating content, the team also monitors and analyzes the performance of their content using analytics tools to determine what works and what doesn't. They use this information to refine their content strategies and continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of their output.
Event Activations
The events team is responsible for planning and executing events that promote a company's products or services, build brand awareness, and generate leads. They work closely with other departments to deliver successful events that align with the company's overall marketing goals.
Event professionals are involved in event planning –from choosing the venue, creating the event agenda, and selecting the right speakers and entertainment. They also play a crucial role in promoting the event to their target audience, using various marketing channels like social media, email campaigns, and advertising.
Data Analysis
The data analysis team collects, analyses, and interprets data to help guide marketing strategies and campaigns.
By understanding customer behavior, preferences, and trends, the data analysis team can make informed decisions about targeting and messaging. They can also track the success of marketing efforts and make adjustments as needed.
The data analysis team ensures marketing efforts are based on reliable data and insights rather than guesswork or assumptions. Their work is essential for creating effective and efficient marketing campaigns that deliver results.
Customer Acquisition
The customer acquisition team is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies to drive leads and convert them into paying customers. They work closely with other teams, such as sales, product, and marketing, to ensure a consistent message across all channels.
Additionally, the customer acquisition team is tasked with identifying new opportunities for growth and optimizing existing marketing campaigns to drive better results. They analyze data to understand customer behavior and preferences, allowing them to tailor their marketing efforts for maximum impact.
Public Relations
Responsible for managing a company's reputation and building relationships with the public, media, and other stakeholders, the PR team uses tactics like media relations, event planning, influencer outreach, and crisis management to promote a company and its products or services. Their ultimate goal is to create a positive image for the company and establish trust with the public.
The PR team works closely with marketing, sales, and customer service departments to ensure consistent messaging and a cohesive brand image. They also monitor social media and news outlets to stay current on industry trends and respond to negative publicity.
Website Development
A website development team is responsible for creating a user-friendly and visually appealing website that attracts and retains visitors. This is a key component in marketing because it can be considered a company’s storefront in the digital world. Many companies' websites promote their services and receive job openings applications. This makes it a crucial portal of information that needs to be maintained.
The website development team ensures that the website reflects the brand's message and values. They also ensure the website is optimized for search engines to increase visibility and drive traffic.
Ways To Create Your Marketing Department Structures
Once you’ve identified the key competencies you’ll need, you can think about how you want to create your team’s organizational chart. The structure you pick will affect your workflow, approval pipeline, and your team’s focus and skill development.
Functional
One of the most popular methods to structure your marketing team is the functional way. This method involves dividing your team into specialized groups based on their skills and expertise. Here marketing hierarchy is clear.
For instance, you might have a team dedicated to content creation, another for social media management, and another for search engine optimization (SEO). By doing so, you can ensure that each team member is working within their area of expertise, which can lead to greater efficiency and better results.
Additionally, this method allows you to create a clear hierarchy within your team, with managers overseeing each functional group. It can help ensure everyone is on the same page regarding goals and objectives.
A downside to this approach is that each team might work in silos. This might also affect team agility negatively. If you functionally organize your team, ensure that collaboration is friction-free and highly encouraged.
Segmented
Another strategy that gained popularity in structuring your marketing team is the segmented approach. This method involves breaking your marketing team into smaller groups that cater to a specific audience segment based on a segmentation framework.
Source: Ttec
Your segmentation framework defines the way you group your customers. This should be based on how your customers create choices about your product.
For example, sports brands like Adidas segment customers according to their sport (Needs Based). If you have a similar business, segmenting your marketing team to cater to each sporting community will allow you to stay up-to-date with relevant trends and topics and address their needs.
On the other hand, travel accommodation companies may choose to segment their customers according to Relationship Strength, where a separate group handles ad-hoc bookers and a different team handles members.
Structuring your marketing team according to audience segments encourages them to focus on the specific needs of their assigned segment and be more responsive to relevant trends.
Product Marketing
Another effective way to organize your marketing team is through the product marketing approach. This approach focuses on having a team dedicated to promoting and selling specific products or services. These teams are made up of product marketers who deeply understand the products they are promoting and work closely with cross-functional teams such as sales, product development, and customer service to ensure that they deliver the right message to the right audience.
This is the approach often used by FMCGs. Proctor & Gamble, for example, has many products –from dental care to hair care, laundry detergents, and more. They most likely have different digital marketing teams for each.
The product marketing approach allows their marketing teams to have greater specialization and expertise in their product lines, leading to more targeted campaigns and better results.
Hybrid
The hybrid model is any combination of more than one marketing structure to make it optimal for your needs. For example, you can opt to follow a functional approach for better reporting but group the members of each team to cater to a specific audience segment or product line. You can also organize your digital marketing organization structure differently from how you organize other types of marketing.
Using this model allows you to maximize the pros of each structuring method and mitigate its cons according to what works best for your business.
Positions And Progression
In any marketing team, there are various levels of progression, each with its unique set of responsibilities and challenges.
Leadership & Management
Leadership and management are among the most crucial levels in your marketing team. At this level, you are responsible for leading and managing a team of marketing professionals to achieve the company's marketing goals.
To excel at this level, you must possess exceptional leadership skills, inspire and motivate your team, and communicate effectively. You will also need to have a deep understanding of marketing trends and be able to develop and execute marketing strategies that align with the company's goals.
Consultant
A marketing consultant provides expert advice and guidance on various marketing strategies, campaigns, and tactics. They possess a deep understanding of the latest marketing trends and have honed their skills through years of experience in the industry.
As a marketing consultant, you have the opportunity to work with a diverse group of teams and help them achieve their goals. It is an exciting position that requires creativity, analytical skills, and excellent communication abilities.
Specialist
The specialist role is highly valued as it requires a deep understanding of a particular marketing area. As a specialist, you are expected to have extensive knowledge and expertise in your field of specialization. This means that you should be able to provide insights, strategies, and solutions that will help your team achieve its marketing goals.
Senior And Junior Associate
Two of the most common levels in a marketing team are senior and junior associates.
As junior associates, individuals are often just starting their marketing careers and may be responsible for tasks such as data entry, social media management, and basic content creation. However, as they gain experience and develop their skills, they may be promoted to a senior associate position. In this role, they may be responsible for managing campaigns, leading projects, and overseeing the work of junior associates.
Both roles are important in any marketing team, and individuals can take pride in working their way up the ladder to achieve greater success and responsibilities.
Marketing Intern
An intern is typically a student or a trainee who works for a company, sometimes without pay. Starting as a marketing intern is a great way to kickstart your career in this field. As an intern, you will learn the basics of marketing, including market research, social media management, and content creation.
You will also have the opportunity to work alongside experienced marketers who will guide you through the ins and outs of the industry. This valuable learning experience will help you develop the necessary skills to advance to higher positions in the marketing team.
How To Structure Your Marketing Team
Evaluate Business And Marketing Goals
When it comes to building a successful marketing team, there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. You must first evaluate your business goals and the type of business you have. A b2b marketing org structure will be different from a b2c marketing org structure. What are you trying to achieve with your marketing efforts? Is it increased brand awareness, lead generation, or customer retention?
Identify Key Skills And Channels
After nailing your business and marketing goals, you will be able to look into the most effective channels and methods you can use to achieve them. This information will inform you of the skills that you will need within your marketing team.
What channels does your target audience respond to? Are they active on social media? Do they respond well to email marketing?
A mix of channels is often the most effective in an integrated marketing approach. A good way to stay on top of campaigns like these is by using a marketing project management tool like Workamajig, the only software built for creative marketing teams.
Selecting the most important channels to focus on –the ones that will generate the most ROI –can only be done by taking a strategic, data-driven approach and will highly affect the best way to organize your marketing organizational chart.
Start Lean & Expand As Needed
When it comes to building a marketing team, it can be tempting to hire many people with various skill sets. However, starting with a lean marketing team can actually be more beneficial in the long run.
By beginning with a smaller team, you can focus on hiring highly skilled individuals in specific marketing areas. This allows you to build an efficient and effective team, as each member can excel in their respective roles.
Additionally, starting lean can help you save on costs and prevent you from over-hiring before truly understanding the needs of your business.
As your marketing organization grows, you can continue to evaluate and adjust your marketing department org chart to ensure that you have the right people in the right positions. So, if you want to build a successful marketing team, consider starting small and building from there.
Build A Network Of Freelancers And Contractors
To have an effective marketing team, building a network of freelancers and contractors is essential. By doing so, you can leverage the expertise of individuals who specialize in specific areas of marketing, such as copywriting, social media, and SEO.
This approach provides a more cost-effective solution than hiring full-time employees with all these skills. It also allows you to scale your marketing efforts up or down as needed without the commitment of long-term employment contracts.
Additionally, building a network of freelancers and contractors can offer fresh perspectives, ideas, and approaches that may be available in a variety of ways.
The structure within marketing affects your team’s focus, collaboration, motivation, and end results, which is essentially your success. Going out there and hiring the best talent, while keeping the larger picture in mind will allow you to create the dream marketing team and market your business like no one else can.
