7 Steps to Build a Performance-Centric Marketing Team

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As a seasoned marketing leader with 15 years of experience in the industry, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing the tremendous impact a high-performing marketing team can have on an organization. Throughout my journey, I’ve gathered valuable lessons from both triumphs and hiccups along the way. Your team forms the backbone of your marketing efforts, and the success of your campaigns hinges upon the skills, expertise, and unwavering passion of your team members.

With that in mind, this blog shares my insights and advice on how to construct a high-performing marketing team that will propel your company toward its growth goals and surpass key performance indicators (KPIs). But who says we can’t have a little fun while we’re at it? After all, building a strong team is not only about achieving results but also fostering an environment that inspires creativity, collaboration, and perhaps even the occasional laughter.

So, let’s embark on this journey together, where I’ll equip you with the wisdom gained from my experiences, helping you assemble a marketing dream team that not only delivers outstanding results but also finds joy in the process. Because, let’s face it, life’s too short not to enjoy the ride while conquering the marketing world!

1. Define your team’s mission, priorities, and values

As you start building your team, clearly define and communicate your team’s mission, priorities, and values. This will help align your team’s goals with the overall business objectives, create a strong sense of purpose and direction, set internal expectations on what your team will deliver on, and bridge the gap to other departments. The mission should be a clear and inspiring statement of what your team aims to achieve. The priorities should outline your team’s specific and most important actions to achieve their mission. Finally, the values should be the guiding principles that underpin how your team works together and interacts with others.

At Adlucent, we love our company-wide core values, but we also worked together as a marketing team to define our specific team values based on what works well for us. We defined additional values, such as creating a flywheel of impact, embracing experimentation, and having each others’ backs.  

2. Hire the right people

Once you have a clear mission, priorities, and values for your team, the next step is to hire the right people. Look for individuals who have the skills, experience, and attitude that align with your company and team’s goals and values. At Adlucent, we, of course, need to hire for certain technical skills, but we also look for candidates who have a positive attitude, are resourceful, and have a passion for marketing. These traits are essential for building a cohesive and high-performing team.

In cases where you may not have the budget to hire an additional headcount or you require a highly specialized skill set, look to outsource to a third party. At Adlucent, we supplement our clients’ in-house marketing teams with performance advertising management across search, social, display, video, and retail media networks. I have also hired external agencies throughout my career for specialized support in areas including PR, design, and website management. 

Additionally, look for skill sets and experiences that diversify the team and complement each other’s gaps. For example, I know I am not as passionate about or as strong at creating detailed workflow processes and KPI tracking documents, but these things are necessary for my team to execute and scale. Therefore, when filling a key role on my team, it was clear that I needed someone who excelled in this particular skill to strike the perfect balance.   

3. Create a culture of curiosity

Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field, and to stay ahead, your team needs to be constantly learning and adapting. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to create a culture of continuous curiosity. Encourage your team members to read articles, listen to podcasts, and attend webinars. Provide them with access to industry resources and support their ongoing professional development. By investing in your team’s learning and development, you’ll not only improve their skills but also boost their motivation and engagement. 

Additionally, provide air cover for your team to learn from other departments. Fortunately, Adlucent is an innovative performance marketing agency filled with savvy people and top-notch clients, so we have plenty of opportunities to shadow other teams’ meetings and processes. Sharing internal lessons and knowledge through our monthly company-wide huddles, Slack, and other channels has helped us remain curious to make our approach and strategy better every day. 

4. Foster alignment across departments 

Marketing is a team sport, and to succeed, your team members need to work together effectively not just with one another, but with other departments. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to foster a collaborative and inclusive environment that breaks down silos. The goal is to create alignment across leadership and the organization to reduce friction amongst teams, provide clear direction and accountability, and stay on track to hit your goals. This starts at the top. Open communication, active listening, and regular conversations are necessary across leaders, including marketing, sales, strategy, product, finance, and client services. This can be difficult as your organization grows and you have a dispersed/remote team. 

At Adlucent, we achieve alignment across leaders through a variety of methods. First, we have three annual strategic pillars with specific departmental actions and measurable goals for each. And while we all groan at the idea of more meetings on our calendars, meeting regularly and keeping the agenda focused on the most important issues at hand is invaluable. Our leadership team meets every other week for 90 minutes to discuss high-priority company-wide decisions, including financial performance, major challenges, and upcoming goals. We also have a quarterly goals and alignment meeting to present departmental results from the past quarter along with the goals and strategy for the upcoming. Most leaders have regular one-on-one sessions to dive into more detailed topics specific to their areas. 

On our marketing team specifically, we identify who our key stakeholders, or “internal clients,” are and assign someone on our team to own that relationship. We have bi-weekly cross-departmental meetings with several internal groups to align on KPIs, launch initiatives, and brainstorm ideas. Lastly, we create quarterly reporting across sales and marketing that goes out to the company for transparency and accountability on shared performance goals. 

5. Set clear goals and expectations

To achieve your team’s mission and priorities, you need to set clear goals and expectations. Your team members should understand what they need to achieve and how their work contributes to the overall business objectives. Be specific about the outcomes you want to achieve and the metrics you’ll use to measure success. This will help your team members stay focused and motivated and ensure everyone is working towards the same goals.

Your marketers, at any given time, should be able to quickly answer the question of what the most important goal is at a company, team, and functional level. At Adlucent, our entire marketing team plays a part in setting our goals and contributing to the strategy for the year. We report on our KPIs monthly, quarterly, and annually and continuously revisit them along the way to pivot when needed. 

6. Empower your team members

As a leader, it’s important to empower your team members to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Give them the autonomy to make decisions within their areas of responsibility and trust them to deliver results.

Encourage your team members to take calculated risks and learn from their mistakes. 

I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to work with an executive coach, Verspark’s Keith Lewis, who taught me that oftentimes the lesson learned from making a mistake is more valuable than getting it perfect. My team has tremendous trust in one another and has the room to experiment, make mistakes, and use their jobs as an opportunity to play, learn, and grow. 

Everyone on my team completes the CliftonStrengths assessment, which we then discuss as a team at length. We seek to understand each other’s top strengths, so we can effectively leverage one another’s skills. We also understand that our greatest strengths can be our greatest weaknesses, and we use this to be aware of our blind spots and potential friction points with one another. 

Each team member has a crucial role to play, and we value the diverse talents that come together in harmony. Together, we outperform.

7. Recognize and reward success

Finally, recognize and reward success. When your team members complete a big project or achieve their goals, celebrate their achievements and publicly acknowledge their hard work and dedication. Recognition and rewards don’t have to be expensive or grandiose. A simple thank you note, or a shoutout in a team meeting can go a long way in motivating your team members and reinforcing their commitment to the team. Give your team members exposure and recognition across other members of leadership as well to ensure their expertise and contributions are valued across the company. 

At Adlucent, we have monthly, annual, and quarterly awards at Adlucent to celebrate our people. This consists of fun rewards including Core Values Spotlight, Rookie of the Year, Remote Rockstar, Culture Champion, and Ambassador of Awesomeness. We also use Work Tango, which gamifies giving recognition and provides great incentives such as gift cards and charitable donations. 

Conclusion

Building a high-performing marketing team is no easy feat. It requires a strategic approach that includes defining your team’s mission, values, and priorities. Hire individuals who align with your company’s goals and values, fostering a culture of curiosity and collaboration. Set clear goals, promote cross-departmental alignment, and reward success. With these guidelines, you’ll create a purpose-driven team that drives the success of your campaigns and fuels the overall growth of your business. Remember, your team is the backbone of your success.

So, assemble your dream team, fuel their curiosity, and provide them with a clear direction. Together, you’ll achieve outstanding results and take your business to new heights. To learn more about how Adlucent’s team of expert marketers can help your team achieve your goals, contact us.

Laura Russell

Laura is a creative problem solver and innovative marketer with 15 years of experience spanning business strategy, marketing, and client services. Currently serving as Adlucent’s VP of Marketing and Culture, Laura heads up both B2B marketing as well as the company's culture and employee experience function.