The marketing team of today is a product of its time. Where traditional ad agencies and PR once reigned supreme, now sit those versed in influencers and content strategy. Commercials are trumped by 30-second viral videos and relevancy driven by the development of brand identity over big budgets alone.
To traverse this digital landscape successfully, your company undoubtedly needs a team. And on this team, requirements aren’t as much shaped by calling oneself an ‘expert’, as they are about versatility and a passion for the craft.
These individuals, able to check the boxes in multiple areas of marketing know-how, are sometimes referred to as hybrid marketers. It’s not a new concept by any means, seeing as tight budgets often force teams to get comfortable wearing many hats. But when applying this concept to digital marketing specifically, it’s clear that hybridity is necessary more for the fluidity of channels themselves than company size.
What is a Hybrid Marketer?
Technology fuels marketing evolution. As audiences familiarize themselves with said technology, their behaviors evolve right alongside it. This proves a difficult task for most generalists to stay ahead of.
Hybrid marketers are just that, individuals who have found balance in the melding of multiple digital marketing-based skill sets. They may be trained copywriters and learned SEM (search engine marketing) managers, savvy SEO specialists and content editors. Generally, they know how all of the parts fit together to form the larger whole while maintaining an area of distinct interest.
You can drill into this further by exploring the concept of the T-shaped marketer. Using a core framework of knowledge as the baseline for hire, a team rounds itself out by bringing on individuals that balance out irregularities in channel expertise.
It’s important to emphasize that hybrid marketers are less about being generalists, and more about solid foundations complemented with focused specialties.
7 Roles Necessary for a Successful Digital Marketing Team
As you think about shaping a digital marketing team of your own, you’ll throw around any number of titles for developed job descriptions. Before you get too caught up in the nomenclature, take into consideration any specialized skills needed to fill in the gaps amongst your current employees.
Be mindful of the ways in which those on staff might also have the capacity to further develop upon the skill sets they already have established. Only then can you begin to fill out these 7 roles needed for a successful digital marketing team.
Product Marketer
Think of your product marketer as a project manager of sorts. They help define and oversee departmental goals as they relate to bigger picture goals held by the company itself.
In addition, they serve as an intermediary between your development and/or sales teams, and marketing. This individual should be highly adept in areas like account management, project management, research, and growth tactics.
Growth Marketer
In the realm of growth marketing, ad management is king. This individual isn’t just well versed in running the ads themselves, however. They’re also capable of developing full-fledged campaigns, from awareness to conversion.
When searching for a growth marketer, look for someone with experience in SEM, as well as social media ad management. Other useful skills to highlight may include UX design, content marketing, conversion rate optimization, and SEO.
Social Media Manager
Your social media manager should be someone that sees beyond hashtags. They understand the inner workings of each channel and more importantly, how audience behaviors translate on each one.
This individual should speak to the idea of community, able to unify and soothe customer sentiment with ease. Additionally, you’ll likely want someone with experience in influencer partnerships, paid advertising, multimedia, and content creation.
Content Producer
Your content producer is the wordsmith of the group, but their abilities don’t stop there. This individual knows how to develop and tell a story. Their thoughts are consumed by segmented pieces that when interwoven, produce a larger brand narrative.
Creativity aside, any content creator nowadays should understand key performance metrics and how they impact the work they do. They’ll also likely be skilled in SEO, community development, and social media.
Graphic Designer
While there may be plenty of stock photos that don’t completely suck, having someone on staff that can visually bring your brand to life is key.
Counter to what this exact title may imply, your graphic designer should have an eye for visualizations outside of graphics alone. This person may also display skills in photography and videography. An ability to speak to design in terms of the user experience would also prove useful in the development of landing pages and other assets for lead generation.
Email Specialist
Relatively speaking, email marketing is one of the oldest players on the digital marketing scene. That said, it has certainly undergone its fair share of evolution throughout the course of email history.
Your email marketer should speak CRM (customer relationship management) as a second language. They may also have a background in ad copy, in addition to content marketing and conversion rate optimization.
User Experience Marketer
Hiring in this category may prove more of a luxury for some, but there’s something to be said for marketers trained in user experience. These are people that can develop customer-conscious workflows in their sleep, accounting for every design element and layout likely to aid in conversion.
These marketers will likely overlap with those in design, growth marketing, and content creation—while building on their experience.
Final Thoughts: The Make-Up of Your Digital Marketing Team: Skills and Roles to Consider
When it comes to structuring your digital marketing team, success is found in the skills, not the titles, of those on board. And when said skills are combined in a harmonious way, you’ll find overlaps accentuated and differences complimented as they work to drive one overarching, cohesive brand vision.
