Marketing & Growth: Building a Cohesive Team & Data-Driven Strategies

By Laura Ximenez Camilli 2023

Building a successful marketing strategy requires a well-structured and cohesive marketing team. In this article, we will explore the key components of building a marketing team and highlight the importance of leveraging data, analytics, and experimentation to drive results. By organizing the team into specialized verticals and embracing technology, businesses can maximize their marketing efforts even with limited budgets. After having an insightful convesation with Andres Salcedo, Head of Growth at Xepelin, we arrived at the following general conclusions in regards to Marketing and Growth strategies.

• The Power of Division: Content and Design Verticals To effectively manage a marketing team, it is beneficial to divide it into two primary verticals: Content and Design. The Design team creates visually compelling illustrations, animations, and graphics that enhance the marketing material produced by the Content team. The Content team, on the other hand, focuses on centralized areas such as Product Marketing, Brand Awareness, Lead Generation, and Employer Branding. This division ensures a streamlined workflow and allows each team to specialize in their respective areas of expertise.
• The Growth Team: Turning Art into Business The Growth team is responsible for taking the artistic creations of the marketing team and transforming them into tangible business outcomes. This team can be further segmented into specialized teams such as Digital Marketing, Acquisition/Retention, and Sales Enablement. With a strong focus on business-driven strategies, the Growth team leverages their expertise in areas like SEM, SEO, and Paid Ads. They also collaborate closely with the Commercial team to maximize synergies and drive revenue growth.
• Leveraging Data and Analytics for Success Data and analytics play a vital role in shaping an effective marketing strategy. The Growth team should include professionals with a strong engineering background, particularly in the Acquisition/Retention area. By mapping cohort growth, retention, consumer behavior, and churn, the team can identify unusual customer patterns and proactively address potential issues. Utilizing tools like Dall-e and Midjourney can help create visual representations of data, simplifying complex information and aiding decision-making.
• Navigating Marketing on a Limited Budget When facing budget constraints, marketers must embrace innovation and take calculated risks. By capitalizing on new technologies and tools, such as Dall-e and Midjourney, teams can create engaging content and designs more efficiently. It is also essential to iterate quickly, continuously analyzing metrics and adapting campaigns and initiatives accordingly. While marketing may not always generate immediate results, a data-driven approach enables the identification of product-market fit and facilitates agile adjustments to the go-to-market strategy.
• Treating Marketing as a Scientific Experiment To gain insights and optimize marketing efforts, treat marketing as a scientific experiment. Identify dependent variables (e.g., design, content) and independent variables (e.g., time, frequency). By manipulating the dependent variables while keeping the independent variables stable, marketers can gauge what influences key metrics or KPIs. For example, tracking click-through rates (CTR) or opening rates (TA) of marketing emails at the same hour on the same day of the week can reveal customer interests and preferences. Experimentation and data analysis provide invaluable insights into customer behavior and preferences.

Building a successful marketing team requires a thoughtful approach that combines specialized roles, data-driven decision-making, and a willingness to take calculated risks. By dividing the team into content and design verticals, harnessing the power of the Growth team, leveraging data and analytics, and treating marketing as an ongoing experiment, businesses can develop a robust marketing strategy that drives growth and achieves long-term success. Embrace the power of a cohesive marketing team, and watch as your brand flourishes in the competitive marketplace.

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