Knowing how to keep your team motivated is undoubtedly the secret to being a great marketing manager. After all, a happy, motivated team is a productive team, but in a workplace where companies are starting to cut back on their financial incentives, and where two-thirds of employees are disengaged at work, finding the right way to inspire people to work hard can sometimes prove a challenging task.
How do you motivate your marketing team? In a challenging economic environment, a little bit of effort and a lot of creativity can really pay off when it comes to leading the way forward and inspiring employee loyalty.
Here are some tips for doing just that.
Creativity
There’s a reason that many of the most highly sought-after employers- such as Google or Virgin- are so popular: they embrace creativity and free thinking in the way they work. Marketers are inherently creative, and for many of them, it’s the thrill of seeing a perfectly designed billboard advertisement, or a great infographic that they’ve worked on go live that gives them their all-important job satisfaction. Give them that satisfaction, then, by making room for creativity within the workplace. Facts and figures are all very well, but encouraging your team to dream up new concepts and new ways of reaching out to your audience is not only a great team-building exercise, but also very rewarding.
75% of employees are of the opinion that they’re not living up to their creative potential: it’s your job to change this if you want to see higher engagement from your team. Make sure they know you want to hear their ideas, and set aside time for brainstorming sessions to generate new ones. It’ll create a fun environment and generate a sense of friendly competition within your team- especially if you run contests and games to help inspire innovative ideas.
Collaboration
Did you know that 75% of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as ‘very important’, whilst businesses with effective communication are also 50% less likely to have a lower employee turnover? Bringing your workforce together is therefore extremely important if you want to encourage a positive atmosphere where ideas can thrive and employees feel secure and happy.
There are several ways in which you can implement this. Set joint KPIs for your team, and hold regular meetings where you can touch base and people can raise any issues they might have, encouraging other team members to offer solutions in turn. One tried-and-tested method of bringing your staff together is by getting them out of the office, investing in ‘away days’ and team building exercises where people can get to know each other more organically and foster friendships that they can then bring into the office. Indeed, why not go an extra step and encourage your team to collaborate with other departments such as sales or design?
For newer arrivals, encourage integration by setting up a ‘buddy system’, pairing them with a more experienced member of staff for support and advice that they can then carry forwards as they advance in their own role. It’s easy, it’s effective and it’ll help your new starter feel a part of the team that much quicker.
Learning opportunities
Marketing is always changing. From new tools, to new technologies like email marketing platforms and smart AI software, which can do everything from automatically schedule marketing campaigns to analysing target audiences, it doesn’t do to stand still if you want to continue connecting with and engaging your customers. If your team feels that they’re lagging behind in the market- or that you’re not giving them the skills they need to thrive– then they might well start looking elsewhere for a company that will invest more in their future.
In the best performing organisations, 84% of employees say they receive the training they need, compared to worst performing companies where only 16% receive the training they need. In the UK market, learning and development is critical to success, this is something that companies need to be addressing. Offer your employees ongoing training, which will help them to improve and grow professionally, as well as leverage the latest technologies to improve the marketing services that you offer. Not only will it keep them interested, but it’ll also benefit your business, hopefully paying off with an engaged workforce and innovative new services to offer your clients.
Recognition
Everybody likes to know that they’re doing a good job at work, so make the effort to show your employees that you appreciate their efforts, and that they’re valued. Employees whose managers involve them in setting goals are 3.6 times more likely than others to be engaged, and the same goes for rewards and recognition. Thank yous go a surprisingly long way, as do incentives or bonuses that reward a campaign which has done particularly well in generating leads of visits.
It’s not all about money or appreciation, either: the best compliment you can pay to your employees is by utilising their skills within the workplace. If somebody on the team has a great marketing idea, then follow it through and bring it to life. They’ll feel valued, and will also get the job satisfaction from knowing they’ve made a difference to the team. That’s surely the greatest reward of all!
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