Your digital marketing team is underperforming. What are you doing wrong?

Setting goals and effectively communicating them to the team is crucial, but even more important is aligning the goals with different channels, tones, and content types based on the persona. Moreover, dividing strategic goals into actionable plans is a critical skill for a digital marketing manager.

There could be various reasons for this. Above all, work culture is essential. Does your company encourage growth, collaboration, creative days, etc.? This affects the creativity of the individuals in your team. If underperforming is digital result-based, what marketing methods have you tried? Do you know your target audience well enough? Have you tried SEO tools? Have you done various A/B testing for content? And most importantly, what stage is your business/brand at? Marketing that gets quality traffic takes time because you have to build trust with your customers, amongst other things. Marketing is there for your customers to remember you. It is then up to their circumstances such as budget, that will make them take that extra step.

Tus objetivos como director gerente de marketing tienen que estar alineados con una estrategia clara hacia donde quieres llegar con el marketing digital en relación con tus productos y servicios. Una buena estrategia sería juntar a todo tu equipo y ver en qué se equivocaron para tratar de corregir el rumbo y que al final sea exitoso tu plan. También te puedes reunir con un grupo selecto de clientes y investigar que les parece tu estrategia y así también puedes corregir.

Without clearly defined goals, your team will lack direction and clarity regarding the optimal path forward. When establishing goals, it's essential to incorporate both milestones and smaller objectives that contribute to achieving these milestones. Moreover, ensure that these goals are measurable, encompassing both performance metrics and progress tracking. This approach serves as a potent motivator, encouraging teams to continually strive for improvement.

I encountered a similar situation where my digital marketing team was underperforming. After thorough analysis, I realized that the issue stemmed from a lack of clear goals and expectations. Without clear direction, team members were unsure about their responsibilities and priorities, leading to a decrease in productivity and results. To address this, I organized a team meeting to redefine our objectives, establish key performance indicators (KPIs), and outline individual roles and responsibilities. By aligning everyone towards a common goal and providing clarity on expectations, we saw a significant improvement in performance and collaboration.

Improving digital marketing starts with better communication. When information is scattered, your team is not in a position to synchronize efforts effectively. You should streamline communication channels and implement regular updates. For instance: establish a weekly briefing to ensure everyone is on the same page. Improved communication fosters collaboration.

1. Assess Current Channels Evaluate existing communication methods. Gather team feedback. Establish Clear Protocols 2. Designate channels for specific purposes (e.g., Slack for quick messages, email for detailed reports). Set guidelines for usage. Improve Meeting Efficiency 3. Schedule regular, structured check-ins with clear agendas. Encourage participation from all team members. Foster Collaboration 4. Promote open communication and a safe environment for sharing ideas. Organize team-building activities. Leverage Technology 5. Define roles and responsibilities. Establish communication goals. Monitor and Adjust 6. Continuously seek feedback. Track progress and adjust strategies as needed.

It's essential to harmonise your team's efforts across various platforms and campaigns, which requires crystal-clear directives. Empower your squad with the right info, tools, and a collaborative spirit. Dive into the digital toolbox—emails, chats, video calls, and project management apps—to keep the lines open. Just remember, it's about quality, not quantity, of communication. Don't be that manager who sends emails like confetti—strategic, concise messages only, please!

Communication needs to happen in many directions at multiple levels. If directions flow from a client or brand to leadership, that same message should be carried down to the team. Even final projects and presentations should be compiled with a constant flow of communication with frequent check-ins, which will save enormous amounts of time towards the finished product. The primary goals and objectives should always be within sight and emphasized repeatedly to maintain focus from the team to leadership to the client/brand.

Effective communication is crucial for digital marketing success. Managers must ensure teams have necessary information and tools, fostering collaboration and feedback. Utilize diverse communication methods like email, chat, and meetings, but avoid overwhelming with irrelevant messages. Clear, transparent communication empowers teams to coordinate campaigns efficiently across multiple channels and platforms.

Decades in digital marketing have taught me one thing: untrained teams struggle. The field is a fast-paced beast, and keeping up is key. Don't expect peak performance without equipping your team. Invest in training, workshops, and coaching to keep them sharp and competitive in this ever-evolving landscape.

Staying relevant and upskilling is key. However, prioritisation is the key to choose from a wide range of options that are available. It’s important to really spend time planning and developing ones long term career goals - actually pen them down. Do a self SWOT analysis or sorts. Map this back to the work one is doing currently or likely opportunities that may surface up in near future and identifying the gaps where one needs training. As a leader it’s important to enable your team to do so and most importantly ensure an environment that encourages innovation and remove the fear of failure. Individuals are also encouraged to systematically set time for themselves and cultivate an innovation mindset.

If you do not provide your digital marketing team with adequate training and development opportunities, they might not have the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently. This can lead to low quality, low productivity, and low satisfaction. To avoid this, you should invest in your team's learning and growth, by offering them relevant courses, workshops, webinars, mentoring, coaching, and other resources.

Success begins with boosting team skills. Investing in training sessions and online courses to keep ourselves updated is the key. Example: a course on the latest social media trends can work wonders. Remember, empowered teams achieve more.

Neglecting team training in the fast-paced digital marketing arena is like entering a Formula 1 race with a go-kart... Without offering your team the latest skills and know-how, you will just slow them down. Foster a culture of continuous learning with a mix of online courses, webinars, and workshops. Give them the wheel when it comes to continous learning and motivate them to learn on their own. It's about fueling their professional growth to keep your strategies not just current but cutting-edge, ensuring your team stays in the pole position against the competition.

Insufficient recognition and reward systems can significantly impact the motivation and performance of the digital marketing team. Implementing a robust recognition program that acknowledges individual and collective achievements can boost morale and foster a positive work environment. Additionally, aligning rewards with performance metrics creates a sense of value, motivating team members to excel in their roles. Recognizing their efforts not only boosts morale but also contributes to increased engagement and overall team performance.

Failing to acknowledge and appreciate your team's efforts can dampen morale and engagement. It's crucial to demonstrate appreciation for their hard work through various means such as genuine praise, constructive feedback, incentives, bonuses, promotions, and perks. Consistent and fair recognition fosters a sense of value and respect among team members, ultimately boosting motivation and loyalty.

When was the last time you stopped and really took time to listen and look at the work they've done? Told how much you appreciate all the effort they've put in? There's always something positive you can find, even if it was in the level of detail. Nothing is more demotivating than a radio silence after you've sent your results in, especially if you've spent hours crafting the presentation or email. Treat everyone in your team like they matter, because they do. As team leaders we must ensure our team works collectively, but it is also crucial to remember and recognise the individual. It doesn't have to be something fancy - sometimes a simple "thank you, great work" is enough.

Failure to recognize and reward the efforts of your digital marketing team is a missed opportunity to foster a culture of appreciation and motivation. It's essential to acknowledge the hard work and achievements of your team members, as it not only boosts morale but also cultivates a sense of belonging and loyalty. By implementing sincere and consistent recognition strategies, such as praise, incentives, and promotions, you inspire your team to strive for excellence and fuel their passion for success. Remember, a well-appreciated team is a motivated team, driving innovation and results in the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing.

If people don't feel valued and you've not created an environment that they feel safe, can learn from and grow, then they'll find somewhere where they can. Have regular points where you can get feedback from the team, give them time to learn new things and get them to teach the rest of the team. No amount of pizza and beer after work will fix a team that doesn't listen and help each other. Yes, you might need to do this on company time, but it takes a lot less time than hiring and starting from scratch when a team member leaves.

Trust is the foundation of any team and no compromises should be made in this area. The first big decision is picking the right people. It makes no sense micro-manage a team, when a project has already started. Build a team of trust-worthy people who know what to do and do it well. Delivering performance to the client is not easy. There are many micro-processes that are running in the background. Only a team that trusts each other can make everything run seamlessly. Managers also have the responsibility of supporting their team, so that they feel confident and never stop experimenting and innovating. All this comes from trust.

When team members feel micromanaged or undervalued, it erodes their confidence and diminishes their sense of ownership and accountability. Without trust in their own abilities and freedom to make choices, people might be hesitant to take the lead or come up with new ideas because they are afraid of facing consequences or criticism. A lack of empowerment can lead to disengagement and apathy among team members who feel disempowered and disconnected from their work. To build trust and create an empowering culture, it's important to have transparent communication, delegate authority, and recognize individual strengths and contributions. This will help team members thrive and contribute their best to achieve shared goals.

Trust and empowerment are essential for a team to be productive, motivated and happy. The reality is that most leaders, irrespective of seniority micro-manage and tend not to want to encourage growth for fear of being outshone or being made to look less capable. The actual reality is the opposite of this. A great leader understands that giving people room to grow, encouraging self-awareness and confidence, and encouraging innovation and free thought where people are comfortable to try and fail, knowing that it's ok to do so.... leads to a far more productive and motivated team. "Team" is the keyword here. Teams have to be allowed to become a team, not a bunch of individuals under a dictatorship...

Trust and empowerment are fundamental for digital marketing success. Managers must delegate tasks, provide autonomy, and support team members to encourage responsibility and ownership. By fostering a culture of trust and empowerment, managers empower their teams to be agile, creative, and innovative. Offering guidance and feedback without micromanaging allows team members to excel, take ownership of their work, and drive outstanding results in digital marketing campaigns.

The absence of trust and empowerment among your digital marketing team may result in a failure to meet the set goals. Encourage a culture of trust by assigning tasks and delegating responsibilities to the team members based on their strength and expertise in the field. Promote autonomy and decision making throughout all levels and enabling teams to be responsible for their tasks. Give your resources the chance to grow professionally and reward their accomplishments to make them more confident and enthusiastic. Set out the guidelines and mechanisms to make sure your team is well-supported in every position.

It's important to remember that digital marketing success is not entirely under the control of digital marketers. You're also affected by the vagaries of algorithmic changes. You're also affected by elements under the control of other siloes, like brand, customer services, and core marketing messaging. So if you're digital marketing is underperforming, the first thing you need to know is if it's because of something you're doing or not.

If your digital marketing team is doing wrong or underperforming, then possibly these are the reasons: - They are not equipped enough with resources to deal with certain kinds of challenges - They are failing at building the right feedback or process channel - They might have no clear idea about exact goals or expectations. - They might not be free enough to try or challenge beyond regular methods - They are not inspired or skilled enough to make it happen - They might need guidance, motivation, and support or have some individual/personal problem that you are not aware of

Clarifying the exact parameters of underperformance is crucial as the initial step in addressing it effectively. If it's solely a matter of falling short on results, it's essential to delve deeper and examine any lessons gleaned throughout the process. This insight enables the team to learn, adapt, and rectify the situation accordingly.

Rather than jump to conclusions, check the data and also get a second opinion. We offer a free business audit, this helps businesses understand how the land lies. From here, it may be that the team needs either further training or further support, this is where my agency often helps businesses further post-audit.

There are many factors that affect the performance of the team I have a recent example of one company, the company is small managing 6-7 digital marketing clients, the marketing staff is of 3 people for digital marketing, 1 graphic person and 1 content writer From that in back dec one digital marketer left the job, now there are only 2 persons handling 6-7 clients plus client coordinations With updating algorithms & AI introduction in digital marketing, it becomes difficult for the team to manage So the point is there are many factors affecting - Lack of staff - Core Algorithms update - With growing time not able to get training - Underpaid - SEO tools - Lack of appreciation This can be resolved by having words between team and managers