A question that most marketing managers will face at some point during their careers: how to motivate your marketing team.

There are few things more frustrating than working at a job where you feel undervalued and unmotivated. Research actually shows that motivated employees are 87% less likely to resign from their roles. With this in mind, it’s important that managers understand what motivates their team in order to ensure they feel valued. 

Different people have different motivations so it can be tricky to identify what works best for everyone, but there are some universally effective ways to inspire employees. Let’s take a look at how to motivate your marketing team.

Give your team a voice

One of the best ways to keep your team motivated is by evolving around them. As a manager, give your team the space to express their opinions and listen to what they have to say. You might not agree with all of their ideas or suggestions, but it’s important to show your employees that their contributions are valued. 

Letting go of control can be difficult, especially if your team has grown quickly and you’re not used to managing many people, but if it proves beneficial for the business then giving over control to the people who know their job best is a great way to create a motivated workforce.

Set clear goals

Another thing that helps employees feel engaged at work is having clear objectives and goals set out by management. If there’s no direction provided by leadership, then employees will start feeling confused about where they stand within an organisation or department; this leads them into uncharted territory where there isn’t any guidance or assistance available when needed most.

Understand your leadership style and learn how to hone your leadership skills to ensure you are supporting your team in the right way.

Challenge your team to achieve more

As a leader, it’s important to challenge your team. Most people feel motivated by a challenge so try to encourage your team to strive to improve their skills and achieve bigger goals.

Set specific and challenging goals that can be achieved within a reasonable time frame, making sure they are realistic and attainable for each individual member on the team. Setting unrealistic expectations will leave your employees feeling overwhelmed and stressed. 

As well as setting goals for your team, make sure you then provide feedback on how your employees are doing so they know where they stand at all times and can continue to improve until they achieve success.

Bring in some fun

When considering how to motivate your marketing team, bringing in some fun is a great way to mix things up and keep your team engaged. When you’re looking for ways to boost morale at work, try bringing in fun activities. For example, if your team loves music, perhaps you could set up a music quiz at the end of each week so everyone can compete against each other and have fun doing it. Or maybe there’s something else that your company could do on a regular basis—maybe it’s karaoke every Wednesday or monthly pizza parties—these are easy ways for everyone to bond over shared interests.

Whatever activity you choose as part of this step will depend on what makes sense for your workplace environment and culture overall; however, don’t forget that just because something feels like “work” doesn’t mean it has to be boring! If there are any opportunities within the confines of what’s currently available within your business model then take advantage!

Show you value their contributions

Motivate your team by making it clear that you value their input and contributions.

Let your team know that they are valued, and that their efforts are important. This can be done through praise, encouragement, and the occasional treat. 

Motivating your marketing team can be a difficult task, but it doesn’t have to be. By making sure that you’re keeping them engaged with fun activities and challenging them to do better every day, you can inspire a high level of motivation in your employees. 

If you’re looking for practical ways to improve your leadership skills and support your marketing team, join us for this year’s Marketing Leadership Virtual Conference on 13th and 14th September. The conference is a free 2-day event designed to equip senior marketers and marketing leaders with the knowledge and skills to lead their teams in the most efficient and effective way possible.