Before COVID-19, we were already seeing companies and employees embracing the work-from-home setup. The pandemic forced employees to adopt a remote work set up so that they could “flatten the curve.”

Whether the pandemic will shape how the global workforce will operate remains to be seen. Nonetheless, this provided employers the opportunity to see whether a remote work setup can benefit them.

A study by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics shows that remote work has significantly increased to 44% in the US alone. And they are likely to adopt a hybrid model in the future. On the other hand, 9 out of 10 employees are eager to work in a remote or hybrid setup in the future.

Employees who work remotely are at least 30% more productive as far as advantages go. Meanwhile, it enables companies to save on operational costs since they no longer need to lease large office space.

Nonetheless, managing a remote team has its challenges. 

In this post, we will walk you through the seven management tips on how to build a successful remote marketing team:

1. Choose the right candidate

While remote work is gaining popularity, it’s always not the best fit for everyone. Some employees report an increase in productivity after working from home. However, some find it challenging to adopt this kind of setup. 

That’s why you need to ensure that your team members will be perfectly capable of thriving when faced with this kind of situation. 

In addition, you must choose the right employee candidate. This means that your employee should be knowledgeable about what you offer and the industry you are in. Your remote marketing team should have a good grasp of the market to share their unique insights later. 

2. Communicate your company’s core values

As we mentioned earlier, effective marketing requires every team member to grasp who you are as a brand entirely. This includes your company, the image you want to project, and your core values.

Ideally, everyone should have a good grasp of what the brand stands for. That way, they can feel more empowered and take on initiatives that align with your goals and objectives.

Also, they need to share the same vision. That way, everyone will work in the same direction while trying to achieve the same things.

3. Set clear guidelines and expectations

Setting clear expectations and guidelines on the current workflow is key to maximizing your team’s productivity. Here are some tips:

• Create a process of documentation for tasks
• Set goals that teams or individual employees can reach
• Who should be the point of contact if specific issues or projects arise
• What means of communication needs to be used under certain circumstances
• Setting particular work hours or check-ins

Depending on the nature of their work, there are many things that you can do to ensure your employees reach these expectations. Just see to it that they’re communicated clearly, and are implemented fairly.

You can do that by working with a remote project manager to help you manage your remote marketing team efficiently. 

4. Implement a comprehensive onboarding process

When onboarding a remote team member, you need to ensure that these people share your company’s vision and your brand value. That’s because these are the critical foundations of having an effective marketing campaign. 

By knowing your brand value and long-term objectives, your remote team members will feel more empowered to work autonomously. They would also gladly take on initiatives that contribute to the value of your organization. 

5. Use the right collaboration and communication tools

There are now tools that enable us to communicate and collaborate with our remote marketing team. Nonetheless, you need to consider the following when choosing what collaboration and communication tools to choose: 

• It lets you communicate with everyone efficiently.
• It allows you to have private communication without hassle. 
• It enables team communication and collaboration. 
• It allows you to follow up on a task, project, or campaign status. 

When you consider these things, you can quickly find the right tools to invest in. As a result, you can manage your team and get things done effectively and efficiently.

6. Implement IT security policies

Since your marketing team often collects, processes, and continually access customer information, data security should be high on your priority list. That’s because cyberattacks are prevalent and can lead to data breaches.

That said, your marketing team must follow the latest cybersecurity protocols. 

For one, your team should be using a VPN service to securely connect to the company’s network. Their devices should also be equipped with security measures like firewalls and antivirus. 

Moreover, your team members should be able to log in to the network and other online tools using strong passwords. As extra security, it’s advisable to enable two-factor authentication when accessing the internal system. You can do the same for other online applications. 

On cloud-based software apps, make sure that you implement access control. That way, employees will only access the information they need to do their job. Similarly, make sure to automate security log monitoring. This is to identify any suspicious patterns and immediately address any malicious activities. 

Finally, it would help if you also educated employees about cybersecurity. This is to avoid any phishing scams, equipment theft, and so on. 

7. Constantly measure success and improve

Apart from creating a solid business foundation, hiring the right people, using the right tools, and setting up workflows, you should regularly track your remote marketing team’s performance. 

Ensure the appropriate support and resources for the job to accomplish goals effectively. You should also be identifying the correct KPIs to measure productivity and results accurately. Similarly, implement a balanced scorecard system and reporting software to keep track of everything.

Wrapping it Up 

If you manage a remote marketing team, you must develop effective systems for efficient work. This is where communicating your core values, using the right tools, and establishing workflow become helpful.

So, make sure that you use the tips outlined in this post. That way, you can manage your remote marketing team the best you can.