Make an impact from the moment you step into your next marketing manager job by following these simple tips
Landing the job is hard enough, let alone walking through the door and making a great first impression with your marketing skills, so here are some simple tips for marketing managers to really blow the boss away.
Starting a new role is an opportunity to bring your marketing knowledge and business growth expertise to the table! You want to make quick wins that show your skills, have long-term goals and strategies in place and win the trust of the leadership team.
As a marketing agency which works with marketing teams AND management, we offer a lot of value when it comes to having an impact on a business. We’ve also refined our strategic onboarding process for clients, so we’re driving results from day one.
Our insights can help you strengthen your position in the business and see you kicking goals from the start.
Tip 1: Know the products or services inside and out
Being deeply familiar with the products or services that the business you are working for offers is a fundamental first step in your new role.
Having first-hand knowledge of the unique value propositions, features and functionalities of their products/services will allow you to understand and utilise the marketing messages that resonate with their target audiences. This will also help you to gain an insight into their pain points and needs, strengthening your marketing messaging.
You will also benefit from learning about any limitations of the product or service, enabling you to address customer concerns transparently and proactively.
Tip 2: Get to know the business
Take the time to thoroughly understand the business – how it works, the culture, people, industry, competitors and factors impacting its success.
What is their mission and values, who are their primary competitors, what is their core business function, who are their stakeholders and target audience?
Spend time with key people in the business to understand their roles and insights, read through the past and present business plans, review their past marketing plans, understand what customers are saying about the business online and review their marketing channels.
Get to the heart of the business so you are accurately representing it and its goals through your marketing initiatives.
Tip 3: Talk and listen
Talking with your new colleagues, both in and outside of the marketing team, will help you to gain an understanding of current marketing needs and goals. Ideally, this should extend too to some of your past customers or future target audience members.
It’s better to have these conversations early so you can make decisions around their marketing needs with buy-in from the relevant people and for the benefit of their target audiences.
Think of some questions you might like to ask that will help you gauge how you can apply your skills to achieve these goals.
- What does successful marketing look like to the business?
- What business KPIs do you have which marketing will contribute to?
- What is the budget allocated to your marketing?
- What hasn’t worked for your marketing in the past?
- Do you know your customers key pain points and what they want?
- Are you open to working with external agencies?
- What is your preferred communication method?
If you can speak to customers, try asking:
What do you like about the business and its products/services?
What pain point do we address?
How can we better service your needs?
What words come to mind when you think of the product/service?
What do you think is missing when it comes to the brand?
Tip 4: Look for improvements to the company’s tech stack
If your new employer is well-established, they have a tech stack in place. Whether it’s integrated and seamless to support the business, or scattered, they might have systems they’re using for the business, marketing and sales for the business.
Be critical and ask questions so you understand how the systems are being used currently and where there are gaps.
While you can’t master every tool, familiarising yourself with the diverse range of technologies in the marketing landscape and understanding the key features of a few prominent platforms like HubSpot will empower you to make smart decisions for your employer.
Having an understanding of effective marketing and sales tools and how they work together to help businesses succeed can help you determine the right approach for the best outcome.
Tip 5: Work out the goals for your marketing and budget
An understanding of the marketing budget will help you to optimise the use of the resources made available to you and discover where you may be able to cut costs and invest in marketing activities that will see more success.
It can provide you with the context you need to make informed decisions and build on past efforts, success, and challenges by tailoring your approach aligned with the business’s goals.
We suggest brainstorming some ideas to bring to the table and taking note of anything you think could be improved along the way.
Reviewing existing strategy documents and budgets can help you scope the best approach to reaching these goals. You never know what your fresh eyes may be able to pick up on.
And if the marketing strategy isn’t up to scratch, we might be able to help you in that department. An up-to-date marketing strategy will help you to purposefully tailor and target your marketing.
Tip 6: Work out what’s achievable, then outsource the rest
Once you have a full grasp on the business and their marketing activities, goals, strategies and capabilities, you can really work out what your new team is going to be able to achieve.
At times, internal marketing teams might encounter goals that seem out of reach, whether that is because of campaign complexities, resourcing or skill gaps within the team.
Outsourcing to a marketing agency can give you access to a diverse skill set, fresh perspectives, creative insights, and innovative strategies. An outsourcing partnership can help to complement your teams’ skills and to overcome challenges and achieve seriously impressive results.
Interested in working with an award winning, high performing team?
Book a meeting to chat with our Managing Director about your marketing needs.
Do you feel ready to start your new job off right?
Follow our tips for marketing managers to feel prepared and start your next role with confidence and a success mindset. You should feel empowered to take action with a clear understanding of what to look for and learn.
If you find you need to tap into other skills outside of yours or boost your resourcing to achieve business goals, why not consider trusting an external marketing agency. We might not sit down the hall, but you can rely on us to support you to achieve your marketing goals.
