What a Powerful Digital Marketing Team Looks Like

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By now, you’ve probably figured out that marketing can be a pretty big undertaking. That’s why, at a certain point, you need to get serious about building your digital marketing team. After all, if you want your organization to reach new levels of success, you need to have the right people in the right positions. Otherwise, your marketing efforts will always fall short.  

But what does a solid team look like? What are the key hires you need to make? And what are their roles and responsibilities?

Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.  

In this article, we will outline the important roles that make up a powerful digital marketing team geared toward growth. That way, you can discover where there may be gaps in your current team (if you have one). Most importantly, you can determine whether it’s worth hiring more people or looking outside your organization for digital marketing specialists. 

Who Are the Members of a Digital Marketing Team?

An organization’s digital marketing team structure can vary depending on its size and needs. But the ideal setup is a group of individuals with experience in different digital marketing channels and disciplines. Although some can do double duty, each member should have specialized marketing skills.

Essential team members include the following:

Let’s take a deep dive into each of these roles…

Marketing Strategist

Strategy is critical because it is the foundation upon which you execute your marketing tactics. It’s the game plan you use to win in the marketplace. Executing tactics without considering the overall strategy is weaker than a house of cards on a windy day—it will collapse, and you will waste a lot of time and resources. 

For example, let’s say you hire an email marketing specialist who isn’t guided by any sort of strategy. Sending emails randomly, without any knowledge of the campaign goals or KPIs (key performance indicators), they won’t know whether or not the campaign is a success. They are essentially flying blind and basing your entire business on assumptions, which may or may not be correct.

This is why we recommend hiring a strategist early in the process of assembling your digital marketing team. This person can also be a manager and oversee projects, holding the title of marketing director or project manager. However, their sole purpose should be to come up with broader marketing goals and measure campaigns for performance. 

The strategist can keep all other marketing team members accountable for hitting goals and remind them of your company’s broader marketing goals. In addition to establishing goals and metrics, this person may map out customer journeys and create customer avatars.

Main responsibilities:

Project Manager

As the name suggests, the project manager manages the digital marketing team. They ensure all projects are completed on time and in an efficient manner. The project manager may also file incoming requests from other departments and connect the marketing department with the rest of the organization. In short, they are in charge of marketing project management and oversight.

(*Note: If your organization is smaller and you don’t need this role, the strategist can also act as the project manager until you have the budget to hire.)

Main responsibilities:

Graphic Designer

The role of graphic design in marketing is vital, which is why a digital marketing team should have at least one graphic designer. 

The graphic designer creates visual concepts for your brand assets, whether offline or online. They develop everything from social media banners to infographics. These visuals are important for boosting brand awareness and recognition, increasing trust, improving the customer experience, and encouraging sales. 

Main responsibilities:

Copywriter

Copywriters are as integral to an organization as the sales team. This is because copywriting is the content that pushes people to take a desired action. Whether they’re writing landing pages, product descriptions, ad copy, or promotional emails, copywriters know how to captivate your targets, evoke an emotional response, and get them into a buying mindset. Copywriting is an art form, as it requires an understanding of how to create compelling copy that resonates with your target audience. So, make sure to hire one with experience.

Main responsibilities:

Content Writer

Professional content writers know how to execute ideas and make them digestible for your target audience to increase brand awareness and generate leads. They aim to educate and inform readers without necessarily pushing them to take a specific action. Essentially, they provide the valuable, helpful content your audience wants. Although content writers have a slightly different role than copywriters, both are important for the customer journey. 

(*Note: In some cases, you may be able to find a professional writer who is skilled in both areas—growing your business through valuable content and encouraging people to buy.) 

Main responsibilities:

Social Media Manager

In this day and age, having a social media presence is a must. It allows you to connect with your target audience on the platforms they use most often. That’s why more than 90% of businesses use social media in their marketing efforts. 

To make the most of social media, you need an expert on your digital marketing team—one who has the necessary social media skills. Social media managers can help increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your products and online assets. They can also manage social content creators and reply to customer service complaints and messages, keeping your social profiles fresh and engaging for your brand.

Main responsibilities:

Digital Media Specialist

Although written content remains important, other forms are becoming increasingly valuable. A study from Wyzowl found that 91% of consumers want to see more online videos from brands. And research shows 130.5 million people in the U.S. will listen to podcasts monthly in 2023. So, it’s well worth having an expert in such media on your digital marketing team. 

A digital media specialist knows how audio, video, and digital content can make an impact. They’re well versed in the latest tools and technology, using them to create engaging content for the target audience. Along with creating, editing, and publishing content on the appropriate platforms, they’re able to come up with new ideas to help the organization stand out.

Main responsibilities:

Technical Specialist/Web Developer 

Your website crashes, your payment gateways aren’t working, you need a landing page fixed… Tech issues can range from minor to detrimental. However, they are a constant reminder that technical roles are critical to successful marketing and overall operations. That’s why technical specialists are essential regardless of your organization’s size. 

A technical specialist or web developer manages things on the back end to ensure they work on the front end. They address issues quickly to minimize any negative impact on visitors. More importantly, they make sure your website delivers a great user experience.

Main responsibilities:

Analytics/Data Analyst

We LOVE data here at Viral Solutions because it’s the fuel behind powerful marketing strategies that WIN. With data, you can quickly figure out what works and what doesn’t so you don’t waste money on failing campaigns.

Data analysts are critical to digital marketing teams because they supply information that produces the right goals, leading to the right tactics that lead to results. A data analyst monitors and measures the results of your marketing campaigns to inform future marketing tactics and goals. They have keen insight into what the data is actually saying and can translate it for others.

Main responsibilities:

SEO Specialist

SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing your website and content for greater visibility. It increases your chances of appearing higher in search engines when users use relevant queries. This is not to be confused with advertising in Google, which involves paying for ads (next section). SEO is free, but it is quite involved and requires a specialist who has at least a few years of experience. 

SEO specialists know how to strike a balance between satisfying search engines and satisfying users. They use their skills to develop an SEO strategy, constantly analyzing your online presence to determine where improvements could be made. And they use Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other SEO tools like Semrush in their work.

SEO technology moves like lightning, so choose someone with enough recent experience when hiring for this role. For example, someone with 10 years of experience who has been out of the game for the last two may not be as valuable as someone with five years of experience who is up to date with more recent trends and developments.

Main responsibilities:

Paid Advertising Specialist

While SEO can be a free and valuable way to drive traffic to your website, it’s not foolproof. It takes constant attention and monitoring, and you are never guaranteed to hit high search engine rankings. But in conjunction with SEO, organizations can run paid advertising like PPC (pay per click) to get immediate traffic and grow their audience.

A paid advertising specialist controls the campaigns you run on platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. They ensure every campaign is set up to be as successful as possible by following each platform’s rules, targeting the right audience, and reviewing past data. They can extend your reach and improve lead generation by harnessing the power of paid ads.

This is a highly specialized discipline. We don’t recommend trying your hand at paid advertising unless you have a lot of experience. Otherwise, you may waste a lot of money learning and making mistakes on your dime.

Main responsibilities:

Email Marketing Specialist

Email marketing remains a highly effective way of reaching, engaging, and ultimately converting leads into customers. A person’s inbox is a valuable piece of real estate, which is why the email marketing specialist has an important role on the digital marketing team. 

If you have an email list (and you should), an email marketing and automation specialist can supercharge your campaigns, generating more leads and sales. The email marketing specialist doesn’t create the content (although they can). Instead, they’re involved in email management, testing, automation, segmentation, and more.

Main responsibilities:

“Should I Hire for All Roles Right Now?” Where to Begin with Budget Concerns

You may be concerned about how much it will cost to hire all these people—and we get it. Although the base salary range for each varies, hiring 10-12 new people can get expensive. Depending on your budget, you may be unable to build an entire in-house digital marketing team at once. 

So, here’s what to do…

When you are just starting out, strategy will be most important. Once you set your goals and nail down your strategy, you will know which role to hire next and when. 

Let’s say, for example, your goal is to increase traffic by 25% by the end of the next quarter. Your strategy involves organic traffic with targeted content, social media, and PPC advertising. To execute this fully, you need people who are experts in… 

You will also need a tech specialist to ensure your website works correctly.

It’s possible you can combine some roles. Your content writer may also know how to create ad copy and have some experience in social media management. Just be careful not to hire people who say they are masters of more than 1-2 disciplines. 

This brings us to our next point…

Why a Jack of All Trades Is a Master of None 

It may be tempting to try to execute robust marketing campaigns with as few people as possible. 

Could you execute campaigns successfully with only two people? It depends on your goals, but it’s not likely if you are really looking to supercharge growth. 

Here’s the thing… 

Would you hire a housebuilder who also manages a restaurant and teaches kindergarten students? Probably not. 

You would want the builder to be insured, certified, and experienced—someone who has successfully built hundreds, if not thousands, of homes before. The point is that even though this person may have some home-building skills, 8-12 hours in a day limits this person from mastering so many disciplines. 

Similarly, if you want the best results, hire specialists who focus on one craft and, as a result, have had the time to master them. This will save you money in the long run.  

How to Reduce Costs and Work with a Digital Marketing Team of Specialists

As mentioned before, we realize that budget may be a concern. Hiring 10-12 people may be challenging right now. We understand and are right there with you. 

That’s why it’s worth taking a different route—hiring a digital marketing agency. In doing so, you can work with a company that already has an expert marketing team assembled and is ready to help you with your marketing. 

Outsourcing your marketing efforts to an agency is a cost-effective option. The expense will be much lower than hiring for individual roles. You can have access to an entire team of experts in various disciplines for significantly less than an in-house team. That’s because you won’t have to factor in individual salaries, benefits, PTO, etc. 

Plus, running campaigns is less stressful because you aren’t managing roughly a dozen employees or worrying about personnel. This also equates to lower overhead costs and less time spent working one-on-one with so many employees. Instead, you can focus on the day-to-day running of your organization. 

Takeaway

A powerful marketing team is the driving force behind marketing wins and business growth. But assembling the right team is critical to getting it right. To get strategic, data-centric, and positioned for maximum growth, you should ideally have all the experts mentioned above.

Whether you are struggling to get leads and sales or you simply need some guidance, we can help. Our team of experts brings decades of collective experience, and we have been working with small businesses since 2011. Let us be your marketing arm and take the burden off you.Contact us today for a free consultation. We can discuss your needs and help you get back on track and primed for growth!

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