Remote work, constant meetings, and burnout are only a few obstacles standing between a company and a motivated marketing team. Companies must instill fresh ideas if they want to stay ahead of the marketing curve and have empowered staff.
The new year is the ideal time to incorporate new strategies and goals for jumpstarting any projects. Take time to reflect on outdated motivation techniques and engage with your team to foster a flourishing marketing department in 2023.
Set One Goal With a Clear Agenda
For assured commitment to success, set one goal for your marketing team to master at a time. Teams must be willing to see that goal to completion before setting another objective. If the marketing team wants more organic engagement over any other metric, most resources should dive into this goal. Any divergence or distraction will cause disjointed team dynamics and misguided priorities.
Motivating the marketing team with one goal will create a guidepost, making it simpler to redirect tasks if anyone feels vague about what they’re supposed to do. Vagueness decreases even more if a clear agenda guides the goal to success, including:
- Assigning leaders and roles
- Scheduling short, manageable goal check-in and update meetings
- Delegating tasks without micromanaging
- Having smaller stretch goals for time management accountability
As the marketing team discusses the goal’s progress, ensure they focus on the positives and already-achieved headway. Momentum builds if they know what they’re contributing inches the team closer to victory.
A way to increase the value of these discussions is to compare progression metrics and teamwork behaviors with 2022. Reflection empowers teams to share results and progress with greater pride. Whether they’re trying to push lead generation or rebranding entirely, if they see how much better they’re accelerating compared to last year, progress happens naturally.
They will not only be more motivated to achieve their one goal, but they’ll also foster a creative environment that nourishes professional development and harmonious teamwork.
Get Excited by Industry Advancements
Marketing is an industry powered by innovation, meaning new tactics, programs and mediums pop up all the time. Social media marketing has algorithmic updates almost every minute, and traditional marketing methods are changing to keep up with the digital sphere. How will your company incorporate and encourage the latest marketing trends, so your team becomes an industry leader?
Trends also reinvigorate a potentially tired team. Doing the same procedure over and over can make them feel like they’re on a neverending content creation hamster wheel. Change helps rekindle passion and creativity.
So, look into more streamlined programs, or seek to consolidate the marketing team’s program stack for improved efficiency. If the industry informs teams how to generate more leads using artificial intelligence or inventive demographics analysis processes, enable them to experiment to see how well it yields results.
A business can also offer travel and training opportunities, such as conferences, seminars, and events. Surrounding the marketing team with like-minded professionals to discuss the sector could instigate beneficial company-wide changes in marketing campaigns.
Incorporating industry advancements isn’t all about intangible strategies, professional development, or reimagined software — companies can also find ways to improve the environment physically.
For example, the advent of working from home promoted standing desks. Modern employee wellness initiatives promoted biophilic office design. These are still industry advancements that will motivate a marketing team that has the benefit of being translatable to other departments too.
Expand or Refine Responsibilities
Motivation decreases if the marketing team’s scope is too expansive or not well-staffed. If employees spread resources thinly, maybe it’s time to restructure or hire more people to redistribute responsibilities. Sometimes adjusting team design is overwhelming, so interview the team to see how they feel about changes.
If they feel overwhelmed with responsibilities, consider making multiple marketing teams with niches, such as video marketing and public relations marketing.
Depending on how the team responds, these changes could help alleviate internal tensions as job descriptions become more accurate. Every marketing professional can become even more of an expert in their marketing specialty, especially if a company takes the time to find everyone’s unique strengths and optimize for them.
Specifying and narrowing focuses within the marketing department can advance long-term initiatives because employee attention is sharpened. They will spend more time and financial resources in the company’s best interest for record-breaking profit margins and operational excellence.
Keeping Marketing Morale High
Making structural adjustments or incorporating new business improvements for a marketing team could motivate them more in 2023 than any year prior. The team will notice the attention from the company and how much they care about their collective triumphs.
Keeping the marketing team motivated will build a stronger team dynamic and support the company’s longevity and strength for the new year.
Eleanor Hecks is the editor of Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.