Is your marketing team set up to actually deliver results?
Kaysha Davies
Contents
Your marketing team is busy.
Campaigns are going live. Social posts are being scheduled. Meetings are happening. Everyone's got approximately 47 things on their to-do list.
But is any of it actually moving the business forward?
Because there's a big difference between having a busy marketing department and having an effective one.
And sometimes, the problem isn't the marketing. It's how the team is set up to deliver it.
More people doesn't always mean better marketing.
When marketing performance isn't where it should be, businesses often jump to the same conclusion.
We need another marketing executive.
Or a social media manager.
Or somebody who can do a bit of everything.
But before adding another salary to the payroll, it's worth looking at how the current team operates.
Are responsibilities clearly defined?
Does everybody understand the wider business objectives?
Is there a clear strategy guiding their work?
And who's actually responsible for making sure the marketing delivers results?
Because throwing more people at a poorly structured department rarely fixes the underlying problem.
Your team needs direction, not just deadlines.
A content calendar isn't a marketing strategy.
Neither is a list of campaigns somebody's decided need to happen this quarter.
A marketing team needs clear priorities, realistic objectives and an understanding of how its work contributes to the business.
That includes knowing which activities matter most, who's responsible for delivering them and how performance will be measured.
Without that structure, teams can end up spending more time reacting to requests than delivering meaningful work.
And when everything's urgent?
Nothing's a priority.
Take our work with E.R.E Property Group.
E.R.E Property Group came to us because they knew their marketing wasn't performing as well as it could.
But without senior marketing expertise on the leadership team, they weren't entirely sure what needed changing.
So we started by looking at the bigger picture.
We reviewed their existing marketing activity, spoke with the leadership and marketing teams, and assessed everything from their website and social media to internal responsibilities.
From there, we developed a roadmap covering brand positioning, marketing priorities and team structure.
And rather than simply handing over a strategy document, we continued supporting the team through regular meetings.
We also helped E.R.E recruit a new Head of Marketing through our co&co Talent service.
Because having the right plan is important.
Having the right people to deliver it is just as important.
Know when you need external expertise.
Not every business needs a huge in-house marketing department.
And not every marketing challenge requires another permanent employee.
Sometimes you need strategic direction.
Sometimes you need specialist creative support.
And sometimes you need somebody experienced enough to identify what's going wrong and explain how to fix it.
The key is understanding where your internal capabilities are strong, where the gaps are and what support will make the biggest difference.
Because building an effective marketing function isn't about collecting job titles.
It's about making sure the right work gets done by the right people.
Busy isn't a business objective.
Your marketing team should be doing more than keeping the company's social channels alive.
They should be contributing to clear commercial objectives, with the structure, skills and support to deliver against them.
So before you hire another person or add another campaign to the calendar, ask yourself:
Is our marketing team actually set up to succeed?
At co&co, we help businesses get their marketing in order, from strategy and team development to creative delivery and ongoing support.
Need some direction without the corporate bullsh*t?
Speak to Jordan today
Grab a brew. Have a read
You might also like...
