b2b marketing team

The Fundamentals Of Building And Managing A Strong B2B Marketing Team (And How To Set Them Up For Growth)

Juggling a B2B marketing team from a leadership perspective is no easy feat. From implementing the best strategy for your team to creating an ideal environment for growth, it can be a tricky balance. Luckily, we’ve put together a trusty guide on how to build a B2B marketing team. Read on to find out the secrets to both building and strengthening it.

Recruitment: Hire diverse candidates

So how do you organize a B2B marketing team? Well, you need to build one first. In our most recent US Agencies Benchmarking Report, we discovered that the most significant challenges faced by agencies in the market was around attracting quality staff.

In addition, it took approximately two to three months to find the right candidate. Although this is specifically about agencies, it’s likely to be indicative of a wider marketing talent issue. While it can be a challenge to find the ideal person, there are a number of things that can be done from a top-level point of view.

Our advice? Start steering away from a ‘cultural fit’ when it comes to recruitment. ‘Fit’ comes with attached biases and preconceptions of what might make a great marketer. When in reality, creating diverse teams has proven to be far more effective. So be open to diversity in background and thought because these types of team members might be seeing blind spots in the industry that you’re not aware of.

Last year, we spoke with Maria Winn, CMO, Mitie about this very topic and she said: “One example we had was a team member who in meetings would always raise the awkward thing, but actually that team member had such an important role because they were asking the questions that meant that we were resolving those issues as a team before it got to our stakeholders.So those people that are sometimes perceived as asking annoying questions or taking you off in weird directions – you have to value them.”

Getting the strategy right: Adopting a commercial mindset

In 2024, our team at Propolis sought to find out how marketers can prove their value to the board. The answer? Becoming a commercial marketer is more essential than ever in order to set your team up for growth. So why is that?

Benefex, who happened to be one of two 2024 Gold winners for ‘B2B marketing team of the year’ (you can read about more of our winners here), is a prime example of what a great marketing team can do for the business as a whole. In the past 12 months, the team exceeded every target set for them to meet incredibly challenging business goals, so that Benefex could achieve its strongest growth and become a £50 million turnover company for the first time.

Not only were each team member’s skillset utilized, but the team adapted a commercial marketing mindset in order to connect their marketing with business goals. In short, a commercial marketer is simply a “marketer whose primary skillset and value is in their ability to think strategically and drive measurable business growth through marketing.”

Aligning your marketing efforts with tangible business outcomes helps create a results-driven culture within your team. Instead of vanity metrics and quick wins, there will be a noticeable shift to revenue growth, retention and customer acquisition when adopting a commercial marketing framework. And if your team is ultimately driven and motivated by these factors, this can connect marketing activities directly to other teams to support from product to finance and of course – sales. We’ve just scratched the surface of the benefits of becoming a commercial marketer so if you’re interested in models, reports, benchmarks and much more, we recommend checking out our Propolis Commercial Marketer Strategy Pack.

How to manage people? They key to juggling different personalities and skillsets

It doesn’t matter if you’re managing a large or small marketing team, the structure of your team will be dependent on the way it’s being led on an everyday basis. While the long-term business strategy is essential to hone in on, managing each person’s individual way of working can certainly present a challenge. The solution is to remain flexible.

In our most recent episode of The B2B Marketing Podcast, we spoke with Matt Allen – the winner at our 2024 B2B Marketing Awards for ‘B2B marketer of the year’.

He said: “In terms of what people are doing day-to-day, think about how you can give people as much ownership as possible. If you have people who feel like they own their projects, they’re likely to feel more into it. I’ve seen people do some brilliant work which wasn’t what I was expecting at the start but they’ve achieved something brilliant at the end because they’ve taken ownership and run with it.”

Ultimately, you want your staff to feel empowered and motivated to make decisions on their own so the more autonomy they have on their own work, the better the results will be.

Matt also advised that if someone is spending too much time on something, lead them away from that task and hand it over to someone else to take a crack at. And for the other person, you can give them an opportunity to work in a different team, service area or sector so they can build a more rounded experience. Ultimately, when it comes to creating an impactful marketing team, you need to connect your employee’s personal growth to the company’s business goals. And while that might be easier said than done, it’s much more achievable once you loosen the reins and allow each team member to experience their own journey.

Finally, studies show that offering training courses and some sort of mentorship can reduce anxiety in their roles so allow your employees to cite spaces they may want to grow in. And if you can’t offer anything formal right now, providing regular feedback and check-ins can be just as effective.

Understanding people’s lives outside of work

Beyond the business goals, it’s also important to understand the human side of people. As a leader, you should be creating a positive work environment.

Matt said: “I get into work quite early – one because I can get some work done before meetings. But I know if I get in early and less pressed for time, I will have a conversation with some of the team when they’re coming in. If they ask me a question, I have time to deal with it and can have a chat with someone about their weekend. Spending time with people as actual people is really important.”

Cultivating a good relationship is important, as well as establishing healthy work boundaries. In a high-pressure environment like marketing, it’s important to prioritize your staff’s mental health. This can be achieved through company away days, regular check-ins and flexible working environments.

In addition, be sure to carve out some time to regularly assess your team’s workload so you can set realistic targets and expectations. This will also help your team identify what tasks to prioritize over others while fostering a more productive work environment.

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