What is the Ideal Brand Marketing Team Structure?

You could go with organized, centralized, next level, efficient. Well, in 2021, your team structure should be all that and a little bit more.

Don’t get left behind.

Right now, there’s a revolution in how B2B and B2C businesses structure their marketing teams. 

There’s a focus on agile methodologies, a shift towards customer experience, as well as sales enablement through the removal of silos. So it’s about time you jump on this bandwagon.

What Makes a Modern Brand Marketing Team: Your Ultimate Checklist

Before you even get to the ideal marketing team structure, you have to know the people that keep your brand marketing team running in the first place.

So how many can you name off the top of your head?

Obviously, content writers, editors, as well as your chief marketing officer (CMO) come to mind. It also depends on the size of your marketing team. 

A small team doesn’t have to contain ten roles; however, that doesn’t mean it can’t run circles around a giant one. In fact, it all comes down to strategy.

The marketing roles in your company’s organizational structure may include:

1. Chief Content Officer

Your chief content officer is the topmost role in your content marketing. In other words, the boss. They are the ones who set the roadmap as well as the long and short-term deliverables of your marketing campaign.

Your CCO also interacts with the higher-ups as far as budgeting and funding are concerned. Even though your CCO may not interact directly with your brand marketing team, they supervise your marketing efforts.

• Content Marketing Manager

Unlike your CCO, who may never deal with your team directly, your content marketing manager has direct supervision over the content your team will create.

Additionally, your CMM is in charge of:

• Project management-assigning different tasks to different content creators

• Creation of content as well as editorial guidelines

• Creating buyer personas

• The setting of goals and outcomes for each project

• Creating and updating style guides

2. Data Scientist/ Analyst

You’ve probably heard enough about how crucial data is in today’s marketing to teach an online course. That’s why many brand marketing teams have data analysts.

Let’s say your Return on Interest (ROI) is satisfactory, but your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is mediocre. What does this tell you about your Facebook brand campaign?

Don’t fret. Just ask your data analyst or scientist. He’ll tell you that your ad is effective, only that other costs such as labor are high. Besides this, some of their other roles include to: 

• Gather analytics about your marketing 

• Funnel data into marketing automation tools

• Conduct market research to discover your customer needs

• Come up with metrics as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress

• Develop data-based strategies for your team

3. SEO Strategist

We’d all agree that any marketing blog that doesn’t mention search engine optimization is incomplete. Given the complexity of SEO, it often requires its specialist.

Your SEO strategist works to increase the visibility of your brand to search engines. You could also have her handle your other inbound marketing activities. 

Additionally, some of the roles of an SEO strategist include:

• Developing SEO based brand guidelines

• Research keywords

• Re-optimize existing content

• Deal with other inbound marketing strategies such as PPC

4. Writer/ Editor/ Content Creator

Behind any successful blog or content marketing is an army of writers. Pardon the slight bias, but your writers will always be at the heart of your creative talent. 

They gather the style guidelines from your CMM and create content that meets those guidelines. In fact, some of the roles of your writers include:

• Writing your long-form and short-form blogs

• Writing your website content

• Guest writing on Forbes and LinkedIn

• Ghostwriting for busy roles such as your chief marketing officer

• Ideating your social media summaries

5. Visual Designer

Did you know that people following text and instructions do 323% better than people who follow text alone?

Well, that’s why your brand marketing team ought to have a visual designer. Some of the roles of a visual designer include:

• Developing social graphics  

• Designing videos

• Drawing infographics 

• Shooting videos

• Working with content creators to add visuals into your content

 6. Content Editor

Your content editor is your last line of defense. You also never know what illegal substance that new writer is on in their free time. 

So, if he dropped the “F word” somewhere in your brand development blog or, even worse, a racial slur, it won’t slip through with an editor in your team.

You don’t trust anyone. That’s why you have an editor. In addition, some of the roles of an editor include:

• Checking your blogs for grammatical mistakes

• Ensuring your content meets brand guidelines

• Quality control

• Coming up with edits as well as corrections for your content creators

7. Content Publisher

Your content publisher is in charge of releasing your content to the audience. Depending on the size of your marketing plan, this can range from a single post on Facebook to launching over several digital marketing platforms.

8. Social Media Manager

The role of a social media manager is broad, especially in this decade. Yours can do anything from running your Twitter account to developing social media strategies.

Additionally, some of the roles of a social media manager does include:

• Run your online business accounts

• Manage your email marketing

• Work with your writers to come up with social media summaries

• Work with publishers to publish blogs on social media sites

9. Public Relations Expert

Your PR expert deals with the perception of your brand in the public eye. In 2021, you’re either a giant corporation ruining America or a socially-conscious “green” brand. And it’s backed by numbers.

In fact, 88% of clients want you to help them make a difference. For this, you can invent electric peanut butter and call it NUTESLA. Millennials will love you. If that’s hard, just hire a PR expert. Your PR expert will also be responsible for:

• Putting the positives of your company out there

• Highlighting your initiatives towards creating change

• Brand management

• Telling your story (If you don’t, someone else will)

• Working with influencers

Your Marketing Team Now vs. Your Marketing Team In 2010

The 2010s were some of the best years. However, there’s nothing we can do given that we’re stuck here in 2021. That said, you’d be surprised at how much things change in a few years.

Like everything else, including that Ford parked in your driveway, things have also changed in marketing. If you’re an optimist, you may even say for the better.

In fact, some of the changes in brand marketing over the past few years include:

1. More Customer-Centric Marketing Teams

In 2010, your company could have gotten away with a product-centric marketing team. Back then, your marketing organization could be product-based, with each product having its marketing team. 

Nowadays, this strategy can’t cut it. Most companies revolve their marketing and subsequent teams around the customer, their pain points, as well as their life cycle. You can build your brand marketing around segments such as:

• Brand awareness

• Consideration

• Exploration

• Purchase

2. Centralization and Harmony Across Marketing Departments

80% of marketers also say improving collaboration is important (Content Marketing Platform & Sirkin internal study, Jan. 2021)

In 2010, each marketing department worked to build as many walls with other departments as possible. Sales teams are an excellent example.

Now, the tide has shifted, and breaking down silos is seen as a key to customer success. You can also best see this with the rise of sales and marketing alignment.

According to statistics, aligning both sales and marketing could lead to 209% more revenue. 

Nowadays, your public relations, demand generation, as well as product development have to work in tandem to create an out-of-world customer experience. 

In addition, some of the activities where different departments come together include:

• Product launches

• Product development

• Development of go-to-market (GTM) strategies

3. Migration to Agile Methodologies 

Long unproductive meetings are becoming a thing of the past, so are long and distant marketing goals. In the 2020s, your teams are probably working under agile methodologies.

So, if they aren’t, it’s something you should consider. 

47% of marketers say freeing up their teams to drive results is very important (Content Marketing Platform & Sirkin study, Jan. 2021). In fact, an excellent way to do this is by using agile strategies.

A few agile marketing techniques that define marketing teams today include:

• Shorter 15-minute scrum meetings

• Breaking down of large targets into small tasks

• The removal of hierarchies and democratization of marketing teams

• The rise of cross-functional teams

• Centralized briefs as well as calendars for your team members

The Blueprint for a Killer Brand Marketing Team Structure

The way you structure your brand marketing team is also an essential part of your general marketing strategy. Given how critical it is, small changes and modifications bear excellent results.

That said, it’s also crucial to know that team structures vary. A start-up would have an entirely different team structure from a developed company, and overlapping roles are pretty standard.

1. SEO Team

According to HubSpot, only 64% of marketers actively invest time in search engine optimization, which is only the bare minimum.

With your dedicated SEO team, you’re also going the extra mile to ensure that your target audience has ease of access to your inbound messaging.  

Some of the skill sets your SEO team should have include technical, writing, editing, as well as programming skills.

Your SEO team will also focus on:

• Increasing the visibility of your content on search engines

• Improving the ranking of your content online

What is the Ideal Size of an Ideal SEO team?

For smaller companies, you can also give your specialists overlapping roles to save on budget. Overall, small teams are more efficient.

What Roles and Titles That Fit an SEO Team

Some of the roles you can include in your SEO team include:

• SEO strategist

• SEO writers

• Optimization strategist

2. Social Media Marketing Team

Did you know that 19% of retail banks have a dedicated Twitter customer service handle? In fact, that just goes to show how intertwined marketing teams are with other departments, such as customer service.

Your social media marketing team will include a list of experts from your talent pool that focus on increasing your visibility on social media platforms.

For this, you require people who are tech-savvy, creative, persuasive, as well as have experience with social media. Pro-tip, just go with whoever has the most followers; they also know their way around engagement.

In addition, some of the roles of your social media team will include:

• Increasing your presence across social media platforms

• Running your social media accounts

• Tracking and leveraging online trends such as hashtags

• Customer service and engagement through social media (e.g., Twitter)

• Creating conversions as well as generating leads online

What is the Size of an Ideal Social Media Marketing Team?

There is no one-size-fits-all go-to-market strategy. Neither is there a magic number. That said, you can take Jeff Bezos’s advice as well as find a team you can feed two pizzas with.

What are the Roles and Titles for an Effective Social Media Team?

Some of the roles you can include in your social media marketing team are:

• Account manager

• Chief account manager

• Content creator or writer

• Digital marketing strategist

3. Product Marketing Team

These are members of your brand marketing team whose specialties are in marketing your product as well as its features.

These are also the people who believe in your product and have a special connection with it. In fact, you’d be surprised at the number of people working at Apple who use Samsung phones.

Above that, they should also have a deep understanding of a consumer’s mindset and mannerisms. Some of their roles include:

• Finding creative ways to market the features of your product

• Introducing the new features of your product to your audience

• Communicating the utility of your product to your audience

What is the Size of an Ideal Product Marketing Team?

Your product marketing team can have as few as two people. In this role, what’s most important is their skill as well as the understanding of the customer.

Roles and Titles That Fit a Customer Acquisition Team

Some of the titles that you can include in your customer acquisition team are:

• Brand specialist

• Brand copywriter

• Product marketing manager (PMM)

4. Your Customer Acquisition Team

This team should be a section of your marketing department that specializes in your prospective and existing customers.

These people should eat, drink and dream customers, and ways to delight them. Your acquisition team should be one with your customer journey as well as obsessed with their experience and satisfaction.

Additionally, the marketing functions of your customer acquisition team should include:

• Mapping out your customer journey and experience

• Segmentation of your audience

• Development of lead generation as well as customer retention strategies 

What is the Size of an Ideal Customer Acquisition Team?

Your customer acquisition team should also have a broad base and a narrow top. This means that it should have many members from different departments inputting information and a few decision-makers.

Roles and Titles That Fit a Customer Acquisition Team

• Lead acquisition specialist

• Acquisition editor

• Lead generation specialist

• Customer retention specialist

Managing All These People Can be a Hassle: Why Not Bring Them Under a Single Dashboard?

Running a brand marketing team can be overwhelming. Tracking deadlines, creating workflows, as well as communicating with dozens of people can take a toll on someone.

You deserve a break. Fortunately, Content Marketing Platform offers a solution. Let our software bring all your cross-functional responsibilities under a single dashboard.