An online team of marketing experts can help you reach your marketing goals, but what’s the best way to connect with them?
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For setting yourself apart from the competition, ongoing strategic marketing campaigns are necessary. To put your business on the map and make it remain relevant despite changes in technology and business practices, you should look for true marketing talent.
Where to Find the Best Marketers
While you might want to look for marketing professionals in your immediate area, why not go fully remote to gain access to a global talent pool?
Remote work allows you to pick your online marketing team members based on what they bring to the table versus geographic location. It’s less about where they’re at and more about what they offer your business.
When you switch to fully remote work, it allows you access to the most talented and inquisitive minds that might be out of reach otherwise. You can assemble them into your very own online marketing team and you can be sure they will come up with the best marketing strategy for your business.
How to Strengthen Your Online Marketing Team
Learning how to manage a remote team and still accomplish everything you set out to do takes practice. To make it easier, here are ten tips on how to master the art of collaboration with your team in online settings:
#1 Have dedicated apps where you will share ideas, talk through challenges, and account for individual responsibilities.
Use a platform such as Teamwork or Trello to provide a virtual office for your team. That way, limitations because of geographic location don’t impede collaboration.
Each team member has access to space online where they can work on projects and share ideas in their own time, and you have a superb overview of everything that’s going on.
#2 Create a sensory experience with Virtual or Augmented Reality.
While still not widely used, you should look into VR and AR technologies and how they can enhance your digital office. VR and AR help your team members look at your whole campaign from the customer’s point of view.
This unique experience helps foster new ideas and even pinpoint potential issues before they become problematic for your company.
#3 Value the individual and the team.
Although the idea is to collaborate, you still want to recognize each team member’s effort as a way of encouraging them to speak up, step up, and lead.
When marketers feel valued, they’re confident in sharing their ideas with you. They’ll be the first to tell their colleagues about the amazing ideas they’ve come up with.
#4 Use video conferencing to emphasize expectations.
If you want everyone to be on the same page as you, host a meeting via video so everyone can see one another and ask for clarification if things seem unclear.
It’s also a great way to break the ice concerning a new project and to get the brainstorming process started right away.
#5 Share your experience.
Great leaders set an example. If your team has never met you in person, it may be hard for them to understand who you are and what you expect from them.
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By sharing your experience, you become more relatable. That way, they recognize you as an individual and not someone they’re doing project work for. You’ll be able to provide valuable insight that wouldn’t be available for a virtual team to consider.
#6 Invest in Cloud Computing Software Solutions.
A cloud infrastructure saves you time and money. It allows your marketing team to complete tasks with no expensive and cumbersome equipment or software.
Cloud solutions, especially Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will enable your team to meet up with their colleagues online without the need to run cords and wires, or be on their dedicated device that’s connected to internal office servers.
SaaS solutions are available from any device with the right authorization. That way, the focus remains on the meetings themselves, not all the work that goes into having them.
#7 State your expectations in writing.
When your team has a document they can refer to while doing their tasks, things aren’t left to interpretation anymore.
Always clearly state what you want and have a firm delivery deadline. Set up reminders for when you’ll check in to inquire about the progress of the project with the team collaborating to come up with the best campaign for your business.
Just make sure you don’t fall into the trap of micromanaging them. As long as they deliver in time, it doesn’t really matter how much time they spend on specific tasks.
#8 Decide what team norms will be.
It sets the tone for how things will be done remotely. It gives the team ideas of when project goals are due and when to expect to meet online. Team norms provide a structure which encourages collaboration to reach the common goal of completion of a project.
As noted before, send an email following the meeting stating your expectations as mentioned verbally.
#9 Set up a multi-platform calendar system for scheduling.
The ability to view the calendar with its many deadlines is important to the progress of a project. Team members can access the information via their preferred device, thus speeding up things and making it easier to idea opportunities for them to meet among themselves.
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Things like discussing ideas and testing theories become easier because everyone sees what is due and receives reminders on their phone, tablet or laptop closer to the date in question.
#10 Schedule face-to-face meetings.
If you’re ever in the same location as members of your team, meet with them in person. That way, they become familiar with you and your business intimately.
You won’t be just another face they seen on their computer or phone’s screen. They’ll get to know you and why having the best marketing team imaginable matters to you.
Rock Your Marketing Campaigns with Global Talent
Gone are the days where you were forced to work within driving distance of your colleagues. Thanks to the internet and high-speed technologies, you’re able to connect with people from all corners of the globe with little effort.
New technology has made it possible to assemble your marketing ‘dream team’ online. You can pick people to work with based on their skills, experience, and ideas versus where they live.
The marketing campaigns that you introduce to the public are stronger because of the collective effort being put in.
Each team member presents their own unique perspective to campaigns in a way that is beneficial for them and the team. That translates to a better overall experience for you and your business because campaigns are strong, relatable, and effective.
Take advantage of the creativity of all your team members by encouraging collaborating regularly and scheduling meetings where you can bounce ideas off each other.
Together, you’re stronger and better equipped to meet the challenges of today’s business world.
Ashley Wilson is a digital nomad writing about business and tech. She has been known to reference Harry Potter quotes in casual conversation and enjoys baking homemade treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.