If "teamwork makes the dream work," we all greatly benefit when working in community with others who are skilled in specific areas and can work together to perform a task. While marketing is a huge industry, companies are spending more than ever to advertise their goods and services. As it has recently been reported, "the United States is, by far, the largest advertising market in the world. In 2016, more than 190 billion U.S. dollars were spent in advertising in the United States. This figure is more than double the amount spent in advertising in China, the second largest ad market in the world. Forecasts show healthy projections for the ad market in the U.S. for 2017, as media advertising spending is expected to reach the 207 billion U.S. dollars mark this year."
Whether it's a manufactured product, a service, or a digital item, all companies need good marketing. A quality marketing team can study a consumer demographic and be able to come up with a marketing campaign which will yield the best results for the client. While no man is an ocean, no marketing firm is about an individual. The best advertising teams are those comprised of individuals who come together and produce results. Here are some of the roles within a marketing team.
The Marketing Manager
This most-important role is crucial for the priorities of the client and higher-ups to get communicated and divvied up among the marketing team for ideas to become a reality. The marketing manager ensures that everything gets done in a timely manner. She must be capable in many areas of business and marketing. Marketing managers typically have an undergraduate degree in marketing, and many will go on to pursue higher degrees like the Online Master's in Marketing Management. This type of degree provides a solid foundation of business theory and marketing strategy, with case studies of current business procedures, giving the student a well-rounded training in business leadership.
The SEO Specialist
With so much in marketing now getting directed towards online and social media advertising, it is no wonder that a search engine optimization specialist is a crucial part of today's marketing team. As columnist Garrett Mehrguth writes, "understanding your audience, analyzing trends and positioning your business where it's most competitive are foundational to exceptional marketing teams and SEO. A search engine optimization specialist not only can help you better rank your website, but he or she can also help you discover new opportunities. Keyword research in its purest form is simply audience research. It's data based on how users are discovering what you offer." A capable SEO specialist will be able to understand the market and do well to communicate industry and audience trends.
The Analyst
This is the role where the rubber meets the road. There may be a high level of expectation from the client about a particular strategy but the analyst's report will have the final say on how effective the idea was. "The analyst is responsible for gathering all the data for the campaign—including the costs and the overall effectiveness—and analyzing it to determine how successful the campaign was. For example, if the campaign resulted in a significant increase in web traffic but cost more money than it brought in, the analyst would determine that the campaign was not successful. The analyst will take the information back to the brainstormer, who will then use it to determine how to proceed in the future. Without this information, the entire team will be running blind, never knowing which strategies are effective and what adjustments need to be made." The relationship between the marketing manager and the analyst is an important one, as choices will be made on how to best relay data to the client for efficiency.
These are just three of the most important roles needed for any successful marketing team. While some positions seem more fluid than others, all team members should be open to help and work on issues outside of their job description. Marketing in today's business climate is challenging but it can also be incredibly rewarding.