We've all done it. Sat there and stared mindlessly at our Marketing Manager's office thinking, "What do you even do?".
Actually, I lied. I've never thought this BUT that's because (spoiler alert) I was the Marketing Manager! After years of people asking me that loaded question, I learned to answer with, well, what I was doing...
If you've never worked with marketing or are new to management, here are a few ways to gauge if your marketing person is Batman or the Joker, Eliot Ness or Al Capone, Captain Ahab or Moby Di-you get the point.
Here we go! Your Marketing Manager might suck if:
1. They aren't a Goal Digger.
You have sales goals to meet, you have inventory levels to reach, you have budgets to keep. So, why shouldn't your marketing person? Whether it's increasing email open rates or driving more customers to your website, there should be goals for them to hit! A proactive and driven Marketing Manager will have weekly/monthly/yearly goals in place, a way to track them, and be able to present the wins or losses to the team.
2. They aren't a Kangaroo.
Did you know the Kangaroo is a creature that keeps growing until it dies? Just like them, the Marketing Manager should be constantly "growing" so to speak. Innovation keeps the wheels spinning for businesses. This person should be the creative catalyst. If you or someone else is constantly coming up with new ways to advertise or increase brand awareness without the help of your marketing department, you should re-evaluate and get yourself a Kangaroo. Or a new employee, whatever works.
3. They Don't Like to Win.
Alongside innovation comes competitive research. This person should know who is in the race, who is the person to beat, and who is the person to learn from. You can always correlate trends in business with competitors in your market. Was the store slow today? Maybe that's because XYZCompetitor was having a huge sale. Was web traffic down? Maybe it's because XYZCompetitor has a more aggressive Google spend. Your marketing person should know, or at least be aware of what's going on around them.
4. They Have Been Called Negative Nelly or Lazy Larry.
If your marketing person has a bad attitude or needs constant motivation to get the job done, this is not the person for your thriving business. Listen to your employees. If multiple people repeatedly express their concern or disdain for someone, chances are there is a common denominator. A positive, go-getter is who you want in this role. OBVIOUSLY.
5. Smiling is Not Their Favorite.
Okay, they don't necessarily have to be smiling all the time, that's creepy. But your marketing person should have a positive attitude. I always see the marketing department as the cheerleaders for the business because they are always telling everyone how great the company is. You should feel like this employee is inspiring others and is your companies biggest fan. Remember: passion reflects in a person's work.
Of course, there are many other ways to see if your marketing person sucks. You need to evaluate what's important to you and your team. Decide what type of employee you want for a Marketing Manager. If it's not the person you currently have, give them a chance to change their bad habits. Or not.
