Marketing has always been an incredibly important arm of the business, but never more so than today in the current digital landscape. Businesses need to excel in marketing if they are to succeed, so the role of a marketing manager is incredibly important to the overall success of a business. It can be daunting as a new marketing manager as you will want to hit the ground running and help to get the business noticed while building a positive reputation, so how can you go about doing this? Read on for a few tips for new marketing managers, which should come in handy.
Soft skills are important in all areas of the business but particularly in marketing, where you will need to excel at communicating, presenting, solving problems, and managing your time. Identify if there are any weak points in your soft skills and then find ways to improve these, such as:
You cannot succeed in marketing a company without knowing it inside out. This is why you need to take the time to learn absolutely everything about the brand, including its history, mission statement, personnel, sales cycle, challenges, PR, and anything else that you can learn. Additionally, it is useful to go back through previous marketing campaigns to find out what has worked well and what has not.
It is not just your own business that you need to know like the back of your hand, as you should also have a clear understanding of who your competitors are. Analyzing their strengths and weaknesses could help you to find ways to capitalize and leapfrog/stay ahead of the competition, and you need to make competitor research an ongoing process to stay competitive.
As with any management role, it is also important that you take the time to get to know all of your team members. You need to be a great leader to succeed, and a great leader is someone that knows the strengths and weaknesses of individual members, builds strong connections, listens to advice, and finds ways to keep the team happy, motivated and engaged. Marketing teams work best when they are a tight-knit group and will happily brainstorm together, so you need to cultivate this atmosphere with good communication and social events.
Of course, you also need to have a clear understanding of exactly who your target customer is as well so that you can keep them in mind when making key marketing decisions. Many marketing managers find it useful to create a few customer personas based on existing customer data, which is useful for finding the best strategies and segmenting your market. It is also important that you continue to listen to your customers and ask for feedback so that you can find ways to improve.
Managers in any department will benefit greatly from taking a Master’s in Business Management. This will teach you how to succeed as a manager, overcome common challenges, and use techniques that will help you to hit the ground running. You can take business management online courses so that you can learn while you work, which is useful for flexibility but also so that you can start applying what you learn straight away.
Few departments are as fast-changing as marketing, which is why you need to stay current. You can do this by reading respected marketing publications, reading blogs, joining online communities, attending industry events, and following marketing leaders on social media. You should also be communicating with your team regularly and encouraging them to stay current so that you can all work together to find the best solutions and campaigns.
The most common mistake that new managers make is micromanaging their team, which can stunt creativity, reduce productivity, and create additional stress while negatively affecting relationships. This is why you need to trust your team, be willing to step back, and encourage autonomy so that staff can work to the best of their abilities and then come to you for guidance and support where necessary.
These tips should help any new marketing manager to hit the ground running and be an effective leader. Every business needs a skilled marketing manager in today’s digital age, but this can be a challenging and stressful role, especially when first starting out. Hence, knowing how to succeed is key.
