10 Tips for In-House Marketing Directors

So you’ve just been hired as a marketing director, or promoted from within your organization to this position.

No matter how you got the job, congratulations. Being in charge of a company’s day-to-day marketing effort is a huge responsibility, as I’ve discovered, but it can be a highly rewarding one as well. Depending on the size of your staff – if you even HAVE a staff – you will be assigning tasks to your team, outsourcing work to agencies, or running the show completely on your own.

Here are 10 tips to help you get it all accomplished.

1. Plan: You can’t do enough of this. You need a big-picture marketing strategy for the year, including your budget. Then create more detailed plans for your various marketing initiatives.
2. Delegate: If you have staff, give them as much responsibility as they can handle. If you don’t feel someone is up to the challenge, can you coach or mentor this person?
3. Repurpose: Don’t reinvent the wheel. Figure out what content can be used for more than one medium.
4. Network: Keep up your professional contacts outside the company; and build them within the company. These allies will help you stay on top of trends and internal politics.
5. Share: Spread your wealth around. Marketing should be contributing to internal departments and customers, external customers and branding efforts, and any charitable causes and community organizations that the company supports.
6. Innovate: Don’t do things the same old way. Come up with new ideas for marketing strategies and campaigns. Try to bring a fresh perspective to standard tools like press releases.
7. Invite: Don’t build a wall around Marketing. Encourage input and suggestions. People are going to offer their opinions whether you like it or not, and embracing it will make you seem more approachable, and supportive of the company.
8. Appreciate: If Marketing gets helpful feedback from internal customers or external ones, show your appreciation. This is especially important within your company, where Marketing can be seen as aloof and superior by other employees – some of whom feel undervalued.
9. Decline: Sometimes, it’s best just to say ‘no’ to an internal or external customer when their request is not in anybody’s best interests. But don’t just cross your arms and shake your head from side to side; explain your reasoning and your concerns.

Last but not least…

1. Acquiesce: If you’ve stated your case and you’ve made the best argument for or against something, learn when you need to give in and/or make a gracious retreat.

Following these 10 tips will help you become, or remain, a highly-effective marketing director, whether you are a department of one or have a staff backing you up.