How Do You Effectively Manage a Remote Marketing Team?
In the digital age, managing a remote marketing team requires insight and innovation, so we've gathered the top fourteen pieces of advice from Directors to CEOs. From maintaining clear, consistent communication to building preferred communication channels, discover the single most valuable tips provided by seasoned digital marketing professionals.
- Maintain Clear, Consistent Communication
- Cultivate Over-Communication and Socializing
- Lead with Implicit Trust
- Focus on Outcome-Based Management
- Embrace Flexibility and Trust
- Implement Autonomous 'Pods'
- Prioritize Open Communication Channels
- Set Clear Communication Processes
- Facilitate Team-Building Opportunities
- Leverage Technology for Team Management
- Nail Your Communication Game
- Use Video for Clear Instructions
- Celebrate Small Victories Regularly
- Build Preferred Communication Channels
Maintain Clear, Consistent Communication
The importance of communication. When you're managing a remote marketing team, it's imperative that you maintain clear and consistent communication. With emails, text messages, and Zoom meetings—it's so easy for things to get lost in translation. So, setting up meetings and using collaboration tools is essential. I like to start the week with a team meeting online to make sure we all have the same goals and priorities in mind for that week.
We use tools like Slack for our ongoing communication, and we use software like Trello and Asana to keep track of our jobs and deadlines. With open communication through these channels, we can make sure everyone knows what is expected of them. We can also see the progress being made, which helps with team management as well.
Cultivate Over-Communication and Socializing
Establish a culture of over-communication, which includes socializing.
When we switched to a fully remote setup, we found it challenging to maintain the same level of alignment compared to being in an office together. Some people went quiet, and others lost direction or focus.
In our attempt to address this, we implemented daily 1-2-1 quick check-ins and a weekly virtual team meeting that happens alongside other project-based meetings. The 1-2-1s are not just for work-related discussions but also for casual interactions. Yes, I proactively encourage socializing as a key component to keep channels of communication open between the whole team.
This helps to keep communication channels open and allows for the type of water-cooler discussion and management that happened when we were office-based.
Lead with Implicit Trust
Lead with implicit trust. It is super-important for your remote team to trust you because nothing affects their commitment and productivity as much as trust. Remote employees who don't trust you are likely to experience burnout and disengage from work. Everything starts with you. Don't assume that people are not working just because they don't respond to your email within 30 minutes. Make sure you set up expectations around communication and let everyone know what is expected of them.
I tell my team members that they are free to call me any time of the day, but I will never call them before or after work hours. We use Microsoft Teams for urgent questions that need instant replies and emails for matters that don't need to be addressed instantly. I also conduct one-on-one weekly meetings with my team members to build rapport and learn more about the challenges they face and how I can help them overcome them.
Focus on Outcome-Based Management
I run a very high-velocity, remote-first SEO marketing agency. And despite the workload and client demands, I’m proud to say I’ve built a team that’s always ready to grow, scale, and deliver results without complaining.
Here’s something that’s worked for me.
I’ve learned to focus on outcome-based management compared to output-based management.
Here’s what I mean.
Output-focused management often involves micromanaging daily tasks and activities, which can be challenging and stifle creativity in a remote setting.
But outcome-oriented management shifts the focus to what 'needs to be achieved' rather than how it's done. As little as this seems, it has helped my team members to be more productive and nurture a sense of ownership.
Embrace Flexibility and Trust
Making things work with a remote marketing team will always come back to flexibility and trust. Maybe your colleagues wake up right at the start of office hours in another time zone and start early, but they might also work until late or take some hours off. The critical thing to do is focus on output rather than on specific schedules and micromanagement.
Let team members determine their schedule as long as deadlines are met and work is of quality. Trust your team to keep on top of their work and to complete it in their unique way. You will promote greater productivity, lower stress, and a happier work environment.
By promoting a flexible work schedule, you're not only boosting morale but also encouraging a healthier work-life balance. This, in turn, leads to increased job satisfaction and retention. When team members feel trusted and valued, they are more likely to develop the motivation and commitment needed to help achieve the team's goals.
Implement Autonomous 'Pods'
My single most effective piece of advice is to implement 'Pods.' This approach involves dividing the team into small, cross-functional groups, each responsible for a specific topical area of our marketing efforts. For instance, one pod might focus on content marketing, another on social media, and another on email campaigns.
Each pod has the autonomy to make decisions within their area, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability. We use project management tools to track progress and ensure alignment with overall goals. This structure has dramatically improved our remote team's productivity and creativity. For example, our content marketing pod increased output by 30% while maintaining quality, as measured by engagement metrics and SEO performance.
The key is that this approach leverages the strengths of remote work—flexibility and focused work time—while addressing common challenges like communication gaps and siloed thinking. By giving team members clear ownership over specific areas, we've created a more engaged, proactive remote marketing team that consistently delivers strong results.
Prioritize Open Communication Channels
My team and I have always viewed communication as the link between misunderstanding and comprehension.
It's more than just a pre-made expression. In fact, as we don't have the opportunity to meet each other, excellent communication serves as the foundation for successful remote marketing team management.
Prioritize the development of open and inviting ways for team members to express their ideas, thoughts, and concerns.
Frequent video conferences help maintain a personal connection and ensure that everyone is on the same page with objectives.
For instance, we mainly use Slack as a cooperative tool to keep projects on track and make them accessible to all.
It's crucial to recognize successes, large and small, to foster a sense of community and motivation. I also make sure to give constructive feedback in order to keep everyone improving and getting the best out of them.
Remember, that a leader is not just guiding; we're also encouraging and supporting our team, keeping everyone engaged and focused on success.
Set Clear Communication Processes
To effectively manage a remote marketing team, it is all about setting communication processes and clear deadlines. Often in this remote world, brainstorming and ad-hoc conversations are less common due to physical proximity. However, for marketing teams, those moments can greatly help with campaign strategy, content development, or other aspects.
Setting aside time to brainstorm, review, and discuss the specific project/campaign as part of the standard team process can help ensure everyone is clear on the objective, aware of the work being done, can have their say during key milestones, knows the deadlines to plan their workload, and can share the success.
However, to ensure the usefulness of the sessions, it means complete buy-in on the process, including sending meeting agendas so people can come prepared, ready to discuss and make the most of the virtual meetings. This will allow the various project leads to build everything into the work-back and allow the entire team to be clear on priorities and micro-deadlines, thus effectively managing the team to be optimized and aligned.
Facilitate Team-Building Opportunities
Provide some opportunities for team-building. Remote workers may find themselves feeling isolated and lonely. Most of them struggle to make friends and maintain professional relationships. This is something you must address if you want to manage a remote marketing team effectively.
I organize occasional Zoom lunches with my team, where every team member is allowed to charge a lunch bill on the company card. We also engage in fun team-building activities such as guessing personal fun facts or wearing funny hats. We have a Slack channel named 'Life' where team members can discuss personal matters openly. We also play trivia games on this channel, and it has worked well in keeping the team bond tight.
I keep the Zoom lunch meetings to an hour and encourage everyone to attend. I also build in plenty of time for cross-chatting and letting everyone feel at ease. While it is hard to quantify the impact of such meetings, I noticed that after we had done a few of them, my team members would set up their own group chats on Slack to ask each other questions and offer help.
Leverage Technology for Team Management
I use technology to its fullest in order to effectively manage my remote marketing team. Slack, Zoom, ClickUp, Dropbox, etc. Slack and ClickUp (or Monday or any similar project management tool) are great for ensuring constant communication, so nothing slips through the cracks in a remote work environment, leaving a nice digital paper trail. The same goes for Dropbox or Google Drive—everyone can easily share work iterations with each other right in that shared space, despite being states or even countries apart. And Slack and Zoom (or Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and the like) are great for team building.
Yes, they are obviously the go-tos for remote meetings, but don't underestimate the power of connecting on a personal level and just asking your team members how their weekend was, or how their sick dog has been feeling lately. Using tech to stay connected with each other both professionally and personally is my biggest piece of advice for remote managers.
Nail Your Communication Game
Managing a remote marketing team can be quite the adventure, and as the CEO of Strategic Pete and Head of Growth at WebStreet, I've definitely picked up a few tricks along the way. The biggest piece of advice I'd offer? Nail your communication game.
Stay Connected: Think of your remote team as a well-oiled machine that runs on clear, consistent communication. At Strategic Pete and WebStreet, we've found our groove with a mix of daily check-ins, weekly strategy huddles, and tools like Slack and Trello. These help us keep everyone on the same page, no matter where in the world they are.
We focus on more than just task management – creating a culture where everyone feels connected and in the loop. Regular updates, transparent sharing of information, and open channels for feedback make all the difference. It's the secret sauce that turns a bunch of remote workers into a cohesive, high-performing team.
Use Video for Clear Instructions
I have found that using video for tutorials or instructions before a project is super effective at communicating your expectations and providing a framework for the team. I will put together a video using a free video software, VidShare, and lay out exactly what they need to do. It takes more work to demo their tasks, but it definitely saves time later on from expectations not being met or clearly defined at the start.
Celebrate Small Victories Regularly
I've managed remote and hybrid teams for a while now, and I've noticed that less face-to-face interaction can sometimes hide challenges and wins. To counter this, I regularly check in to offer extra support and celebrate small victories. This really helps improve communication, set clear expectations, and build trust. It's super important to clearly communicate goals, deadlines, and responsibilities.
Building trust means following through on commitments, giving timely feedback, and fostering an open environment. I also use technology for casual chats to build camaraderie. Promoting work-life balance is key to preventing burnout. So, effective remote management is all about regular communication, clear expectations, building trust, and promoting balance. By embracing the perks of remote work and tackling its challenges, managers can lead their teams to success.
Build Preferred Communication Channels
I've managed teams in remote and hybrid setups for many years and realize that building communication channels as per the preference of your team members can go a long way in making coordination and collaboration smooth. Even in a small team, people can prefer different mediums of communication, like phone calls, emails, online meetings, in-person conversations, or instant messaging apps. As a manager, you must develop familiar and comfortable channels that give people the flexibility to communicate in their own way.
So, in our team, we have one central communication channel for urgent updates that has everyone on it, and I reserve the more direct information, like feedback, for different mediums as per the preferences of different people. This has helped me ensure that everyone receives time-sensitive information, while also giving me the room to manage each person individually and customize my communication style for maximum effect.
