7 Essential Roles for Marketing Teams

Marketing is fluid. It has to be to keep up with the constantly-changing landscape of technology and consumerism, and if you aren’t on your toes and paying attention to the shifts, you’ll be left behind.

As the saying goes, “Change or be changed.”

30 years ago, who was needed on a marketing team? Sales reps and consultants, writers and designers. Now, those same roles still exist, but they’ve transformed in the digital age. Potential reach has increased exponentially and the avenues for exposure have greatly expanded. With the advent of the internet, life has irrevocably altered. Do you still need the essential roles that have historically been a part of marketing? Do you need to invent a new role specifically for your brand? How big should your team be to prevent burnout and logjams? Really, you need to ask yourself: Who do I need for my marketing team? It’s not an easy question, but fortunately, we have the answers.

Keep reading to learn more about the 7 essential roles for marketing teams.

1. Acquisitions Manager

If you want to market, you need someone to direct the marketing towards potential customers and secure a number of clients. This is a role that focuses more on personality and people skills than it does on anything technical or creative. Plainly stated, personable acquisitions managers who connect with clients and provide them great service are generally part of a successful marketing team.

Of course, this role, like any other, is crucial. When an acquisitions manager fails to get the clients for the team, the team has no one to market to, and no products move or no services get used.

2. Content Writer

The written word is still extremely powerful and relevant, even in an age where most people don’t read to the end of articles. Yet people do read what interests them, which is why it’s crucial to pursue a target audience and orient your products and services to those who will use them. The writers on your marketing team, therefore, need to be able to connect and engage with your intended audience, and they have to do so in an interesting and captivating way.

Writers (and editors, although many writers double as editors) are responsible for the tone and voice of your brand. They’re the ones who take your intentions and philosophies and make them breathe and come to life on the page. They make readers feel what you want them to feel. They give your services a heartbeat and your services a backbone.

Not only does poor writing damage sales, but it also impacts the readability and ranking of your pages and products in searches. Your content writer has to be able to speak the language of the people as well as the language of Google and other search engines.

3. Social Media Manager

Want to read a staggering statistic? About half the world uses social media in one form or another, from Facebook to Reddit to LinkedIn to Instagram. Read that again. There are over 7.5 billion people on the planet, and 3.8 billion of them are on social media. This means that you absolutely need to understand and leverage social media to boost your business. To do this, you’ll need a savvy social media expert.

Social media experts use the most beneficial features of every app and site. They engage and interact with customers and readers, share posts for more exposure, write inviting captions, set up features, develop contacts, and more. They’ll work together with the data analyst to determine the best times for posting, what types of content experience higher engagement rates, and decide which apps to give more or less attention to based on volume and leads.

Treating social media like it’s not the biggest avenue for outreach is a mistake many marketing teams make.

4. Web Designer

In the same way that writing content evolved, so did graphic design. Now, the visual appeal and attraction of the website are of paramount importance. Simply put, people like to look at something pretty or easy on the eyes, and the best web designers will take that into account.

There are seldom gaudy sites with dozens of buttons and graphics these days. The sleek, minimalist designs of Apple made people understand that less truly is more. A web designer will be able to take the vision of the website and make it a reality. He’ll know where to place pictures to capture the eye and what color schemes will be most warming. Without a web designer, you’ll have to use generic websites that everyone has seen before, and you’ll find it difficult to stand out.

5. Web Developer

Web developers are not web designers. Web developers take care of all the backend coding and functionality of websites. They make sure interfaces are comfortable for users, that the sites are not slow or down, that all links and pages are up to date, and that the technical issues are always addressed and resolved.

A web developer may not always be directly involved with the marketing aspect of the marketing team, but he is responsible for ensuring that all their combined efforts are smooth. Some skilled will always be on top of updates so that the team will never encounter any huge issues.

6. SEO Specialist

SEO work (search engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing web pages so that they are more easily recognized and ranked by search engines like Google or Bing. This involves a lot of research into what people are looking for, but it also involves running campaigns and determining what ads are worthwhile. Some PPC (pay per click) campaigns do not generate a lot of interest, but some do; some websites have very high engagement and visibility through both paid and organic searches; some pages need to be updated or changed to rank better.

Every marketing team needs someone with an SEO background who can help identify crucial keywords and get campaigns off the ground to generate leads. Without someone who understands search engines, your team may flounder.

7. Data Analyst

Everyone wants numbers because numbers don’t lie (barring manipulation, of course, but that can be checked against even more numbers). The data analyst on your marketing team can tell you what products and services are most popular with a target audience, where you should be directing your efforts, how much traffic your website has seen, and much more. Generally, data analysts work with SEO specialists to figure out where the niches are that need to be filled.

When a data analyst excels, he provides in-depth analyses of traffic, engagement, and sales, but focuses on ways to improve and where to reduce efforts. He offers solutions and recommendations on how to make numbers rise. No data analyst means no way of knowing if your marketing team is succeeding or if campaigns are actually making impacts.

Digital Marketing Services in LA

Promotion LA proudly serves many small businesses, a number of which are located close by in Los Angeles. Our marketing team has grown over the years, and we always stay up to date on the latest marketing trends and directions.

We’ve seen too many businesses suffer because of a poor marketing team. In the past, we’ve had to put out a lot of fires from people who simply made errors and inadvertently damaged the company. Don’t let that happen to you – call us for marketing services and let our marketing team show you why we’re so highly regarded.