Foolproof Path to Build Up Your Marketing Department

For brand owners and decision-makers, building a marketing team from scratch can be a daunting task. This article will guide you through the essential steps of forming an effective in-house marketing department tailored to your brand's unique needs.

Before diving into hiring, take a step back. Let's start with defining your marketing goals first: are you aiming to increase brand awareness, boost e-commerce sales, or generate leads for in-store purchases? Once you have established your goals, conduct a realistic budget assessment. This will determine the size and structure of your marketing team.

You don't have to have a huge in-house marketing department. But optimally staffed with specialists involved in your business, it will not only justify its salaries but also bring huge profits to the business.

And having in-house specialists in the first stages of this marketing chain is more than an advantage. This is a necessity.

That is, when forming an in-house marketing department, you need to decide whether you, as the owner, will be creating the marketing strategy, which will set the tone for all marketing and promotion, or you will delegate this task to a marketing strategy specialist who will not only have the competencies and knowledge but will also be a carrier of the values and meanings of the brand.

Suppose you choose to delegate this task to a marketing strategist. This person must have a thorough understanding of your product and market to do the proper research, identify the target audience, and develop brand DNA and visual communication strategy.

Only after they have completed that step, they can create a marketing plan tailored to reach your specific audience. This includes determining the most effective communication channels to use, deciding on advertising campaigns, and mapping out the journey of your customer as a whole.

Likely, they will be able to participate in the strategy's implementation, such as working with influencers. But for effective marketing and steady sales growth, you need to fully implement the strategy.

At this point, consider what is more profitable for you. For instance, you could hire an in-house visual content creator at a fixed cost. This individual would focus solely on content-related tasks in line with your strategy. Alternatively, you could occasionally engage studios or specialists for outsourcing.

Then it will be a smart move to hire a manager for Instagram, who, together with the marketing strategist, will be a fast and adaptive marketing cell, flexible to changes in the strategy and able to create authentic and accurate content for the target audience.

But all that great content won't simply be seen if you don't have traffic, so it is quite reasonable to hire an ad specialist or outsource technical tasks such as paid ads to an agency or a freelancer, and don't forget about the influencer marketing manager or a company, who will all work strictly according to your marketing strategy, under supervision of your marketing strategist.

Now imagine you and your team producing a marketing campaign for your brand. You might need a crew of 10 people: visual content creators, professional cameramen, designers, copywriters, scriptwriters, the whole shebang. Keeping those 10 people on staff for a year would cost millions. But hiring them for a week? Just a few thousand! All you need is a strong in-house team who can curate and evaluate the work of outsourcing specialists.

Plus, you might not have the in-house expertise to unearth those golden nuggets of data that can turn your marketing efforts into pure gold. Let's face it, recruiting and training a whole team of UI/UX specialists and marketing analysts can be expensive and take loads of time.

Here's the thing: You don't necessarily need a full-time marketing analyst to measure how well your Instagram and website are doing. You can outsource an audit of your Instagram account or a website to us. And your marketing strategist most certainly need to measure ROI and probably have some additional KPIs you set for them.

Many successful businesses leave a lot of their market intelligence strategy implementation to outsourced marketing providers. I mean, you can delegate certain technical tasks to a third-party group, rather than handing off the entire strategy to them.

But what if you're still looking for a marketing magic wand? If you have no clue what good marketing even is and want to dump everything on an agency, well... buckle up. Some marketing agencies are wise enough to sniff out a client who isn't quite ready for their services. They might even tell you straight up, "Hey buddy, you're not there yet." Consider yourself lucky if that happens!

So we can say that for SMBs, a lean and adaptable team structure is ideal. Here are some key marketing roles to consider:

• Marketing Strategist: Don't underestimate the importance of a marketing strategist. This individual is the architect of your brand's marketing vision. Preferably a brand owner to play this role
• Marketing Manager: The quarterback of your team, overseeing strategy implementation, campaign execution, and budget allocation.
• Content Creator: A skilled individual who can craft compelling content (written, visual, and video) that resonates with your target audience.
• Social Media Specialist: Manages your brand's social media presence, interacting with followers, and responsible for your social media image.
• (Optional) E-commerce Marketing Specialist: If e-commerce is a major sales channel, consider a specialist skilled in SEO, email marketing, and conversion optimization.

From crafting lead generation tactics to designing email workflows, a solid marketing strategy should cater to every step of your customer's journey. This crucial groundwork includes figuring out your brand's position in the market, who your target audience is, tailoring campaigns to their needs, and spotting hot new trends.

Once you've defined your team structure, it's time to find the perfect players. Here's how to choose the right specialists:

Industry Knowledge & Experience
Look for candidates with a strong understanding of the fashion, beauty, or jewelry industry, along with experience in relevant marketing channels.

Skillset Match
Ensure each team member possesses the necessary skills for their role, whether it's content creation expertise, social media advertising know-how, or data analysis capabilities.

Portfolio & References
Review their portfolios to assess the quality of their work and request references to understand their work ethic and collaborative spirit.

Cultural Fit
In such niches as jewelry, fashion, and beauty, authenticity and following the brand core, a special vibe, strategy, and consistency, yet not uniformity, are important. Because these niches rather about feeling rather than thinking, and people a lot more emotional here and they either feeling a connection and go further in your funnel or just pass by.

To do marketing in these niches, it is not enough for your team simply to know a list of the brand’s values and qualities, they need to be their carrier and fully align with your brand.

So you've assembled your marketing team – good for you! But how do you measure their success? Depending on what your marketing goals are it could be:

• Website Traffic & Engagement: Track website traffic, bounce rate, and time spent on site to understand audience engagement.
• Brand Awareness & Perception: Conduct surveys or socials and other media to track brand awareness and brand sentiment.
• Lead Generation & Conversion Rates: Measure the number of leads generated through marketing campaigns and the conversion rate
• Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): Track the total revenue a customer generates over their relationship with your brand. This metric is crucial for understanding the long-term impact of your marketing efforts
• Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the ROI of your marketing campaigns to assess their financial effectiveness. No matter what your marketing goals are, this is one metric you should always keep an eye on!

To establish effective in-house marketing, you don’t necessarily require a large department. The secret formula is straightforward:

1. A brand owner’s involvement in the marketing strategy as the visionary inspiration for the business is key. After all, nobody understands your brand and audience as intimately as you do. Therefore, your curatorship becomes a decisive advantage, influencing both your revenue and the speed of your brand's growth.
2. An in-house team of specialists who adapt and implement the strategy, not merely as a duty, but with passion and a deep sense of connection to the brand.
3. Maintaining a balance between in-house and outsourcing is crucial. It's unnecessary to have every specialist in-house. Instead, select marketers who excel in the tools and platforms used to promote your brand. As your brand expands and needs evolve, consider delegating mechanical or related tasks to a trusted contractor.

In the ‚Booster‘ online bootcamp for brand owners and marketers, you'll delve even deeper into building effective marketing strategies for jewelry, fashion, and beauty brands, leaving no room for business stagnation.

What sets this program apart is that I am not just the author behind the product; I am the founder of a beauty business and a marketing strategist who has traversed the same stages as you, facing similar challenges and gaining invaluable insights.

I've discovered solutions for highly effective marketing, which I share in the bootcamp — no fluff, just facts and genuinely actionable solutions with immediate results! This isn't about long-term investments; it's about sharing my knowledge and experience, which you can convert in the booster to your sales right now! Click the link to learn more!