• A well-coordinated marketing team is vital for achieving business growth and success.
• Five signs your digital marketing team needs assistance are: siloed teams, not linking to business objectives, basic reporting, no test and learn approach and unclear responsibilities.
• Read on to find out more about what we’ve encountered working with a range of companies.

In the dynamic realm of digital marketing, having an effective team is the key to driving business growth. If you’re aiming to maximise return on your marketing efforts, it’s crucial to keep a close eye on your digital marketing team’s performance and operations.

At Singulier, our experience in digital transformation this year has consistently revealed five indicators that a digital marketing team may need assistance to up their game and drive results.

1. Siloed Team Operations

Lack of alignment & collaboration between teams hinders effective cross-channel execution.

One significant warning sign is when your digital marketing teams are operating in silos, isolated from crucial counterparts like brand/communications teams and data/tech teams. For example, if digital managers are not aware of the content they could share with their paid social agency due to a lack of communication with the brand team, this will hinder the effective delivery of key brand messages through digital channels. If new tracking features from ad platforms are not set up because of a disconnect between marketing and tech teams, this will limit accurate measurement and reporting. Integrating teams and promoting collaboration is essential to ensure high consumer engagement, robust measurement across platforms, and alignment of digital media-specific strategies with the overall business direction.

2. Missing Business Alignment

Lack of clear direction and not linking to business objectives deliver aimless performance.

Our analysis suggests that if digital media strategies and KPIs are not aligned with business goals, effective budget allocation and a holistic cross-channel approach remain a challenge, and the execution does not contribute effectively to business objectives. Consequently, it’s beneficial to work with digital marketing teams to integrate elements that are important to the overall business. These include business revenue (not just ad revenue), product margins (not just average order value) and customer priorities (not just ad content themes). Communication of business priorities and objectives from senior teams is pivotal to inform and steer digital marketing endeavours.

3. Inadequate Reporting

Lack of comprehensive dashboards impacting creativity and big-picture decisions.

Without comprehensive reporting dashboards, your team may have limited visibility into the performance of the digital marketing strategies they are executing. Digital marketing data offers a rich and multi-dimensional view of performance, covering everything from ad performance and website performance to social media trends, brand awareness trackers and market-mix modelling. Ironically, it is this wealth of insight that also makes it difficult to gain a true understanding of performance and the ‘big picture’. Additionally, identifying trends and opportunities can be challenging. Putting in place thorough and insightful reporting systems can enable informed decision-making and elevate your team’s capability to optimise and achieve stronger results.

When helping businesses put better reporting in place, we typically break this down into three key areas: a management view, a top-level marketing view, and granular channel-specific views. We also ensure dashboards are customised to the industry, whether that’s a high-end retail fashion brand or a recruitment solution business.

4. Test & Learn Mindset Discouraged

Lack of opportunity for evolution and iterative optimisation.

With today’s digital landscape evolving daily, a ‘test and learn’ mindset is pivotal for growth and success. If your digital marketing team is discouraged from experimenting and iterating through a test-and-learn approach, not only could they miss out on valuable insights and potential optimisations, but you also run the risk of restricting creative thinking which is critical in the success of today’s digital marketer. Problem-solving is an underrated skill in this area.

We have initiated this process with global brands, with tests ranging from ad content and bidding strategies to new platform expansion. We coordinated with teams in selected markets and then collated the learnings and results so similar strategies could be tested globally and rolled out where effective. This sharing of test-and-learn ideas empowered local marketing managers to challenge their agencies and partners for better results. Encouraging innovation and agility within the team can lead to breakthroughs in strategy and ultimately drive better results.

5. Unclear Responsibilities

Lack of clear ownership and team structure leads to decreased morale and burnout.

A lack of team structure and organisation can lead to unclear responsibilities and uneven workloads. A well-functioning digital marketing team is crucial for your business’s success, and any impediments in their efficiency can lead to a decline in productivity and motivation. It’s important to ensure that your team is provided with the necessary resources and support to achieve their goals and drive your business forward.

There can be various manifestations of this issue. We’ve seen cases of digital managers and marketing managers finding themselves stretched thin whilst marketing directors fail to set decisive courses of action, or situations wherein the company is constantly shifting goals and the teams scrambling to pivot and adapt. As a result, team productivity suffers and morale drops. Providing well-defined guidance, empowering team members through clear ownership and ensuring a balanced workload is vital for fostering a motivated and effective team.

Recognising these tell-tale signs and taking proactive measures to address the underlying issues can rejuvenate your digital marketing team and enhance performance. Get in touch with our team of experts for a discussion on how to drive the success of your digital marketing team for a more impactful and profitable marketing strategy.

Contact us for more information.

Sam Yu-Hsuan-Lin, Director and Practice Leader, Media Strategy
yu-hsuan.lin@singulier.co

Kitson Symes, Partner
kitson.symes@singulier.co