Clients come in varying shapes, sizes, interests, brand tones, flexibility, etc. That’s exactly what you must consider when recruiting people onto the social media team of a digital marketing company or when assigning already employed members of the team to a client.
Most people would say ability is positively connected/correlated to performance, but I disagree. Everyone has the ability to succeed in one field or the other but do they have the interest? I believe performance is mostly influenced by interest and not ability, especially in the digital marketing space. I know a ton of people will disagree with me but that’s my experience and that’s why I am doing the writing (tongue sticking out emoji). Here is my genie’s Intel for you to help you get your social media team right…or at least ‘ight’. Hehe.
Take you for example, you know next to nothing about make up or hair pieces but you are passionate about sports and things to do with the environment. If your boss came up to you and asked you to handle a cosmetic brand, you would do it of course but once there is no or little natural connection, it will be evident in my work. Yes, you can research and get into character to produce content but it would have a very different feel to content created and managed by someone with an interest or closer relationship with cosmetics. This leads me to my tip #1, understand the natural interests of each team member and assign them (as closely as possible) to brands that they will find easy to flow with.
Imagine you have a client who has a $100k/year budget and another who has a $15k/year budget – would you put a novice graphic designer on the $100k account or the $15k account? I am guessing like me, most of us would want our best and most experienced resources on the $100k account, why? Well, you want to put your best foot forward. It’s important to ensure silly mistakes or poor quality work doesn’t cost you your biggest client. Here is my tip #2: budget is queen, put your queen on the queen of budgets.
Who doesn’t like to be around people they naturally can vibe with? Human beings have a fundamental need to connect. Some business relationships have been established or strengthened because a CEO plays golf with a BDM and that vibe ends up getting carried on into business deals. Sometimes the healthy relationships or friendships people naturally strike up when doing business enable smoother workflows and general goodwill on the business side of things. So this is my final tip, tip #3, pick a team with greatest probability of ‘vibing’ with your contact on the client’s side.
Getting your team right for each client can make or unmake the business relationship. It is not an easy decision to make but one that must be made all the same. These three (3) tips should help you analyse and choose an optimal team composition for your next digital marketing campaign to ensure you are more relaxed on contract review day. Your client deserves the best value you can offer, give it to them!
Watch out for more intel to help your business grow in our next blog. Adios!
Jonathan is a self-proclaimed “words and numbers guy” with a degree in Engineering and masters in Development Finance. Mix that with his word play and that’s what he applies to demystify products for consumers while providing insights to businesses.