A look at LinkedIn Marketing Manager job descriptions tells you everything you need to know—marketing professionals are being asked to do it all. Digital, content, product, brand, and event marketing—and the analysis that comes with each of them—get lumped together into one job when each could be a full-time job on its own.
Generally speaking, businesses hire a full-time marketing manager between $5 million and $10 million in sales. That $5 million difference can leave a lot of work on the shoulders of a part-time marketing person or a huge workload for one lucky full-time marketing professional.
This leaves Marketing Managers facing many challenges.
- Possibly the biggest challenge facing marketers is the ever-changing state of social media. Meta’s algorithm saw four major changes in 2022. Staying abreast of changes to ideal post length or image sizes, shifting hashtag trends, new platforms, not to mention emerging technology (hello, ChatGPT) requires immense flexibility and time.
- For years, technology and digital marketing far outpaced marketing education. Until recently, social media wasn’t taught in universities, which means that many marketing graduates enter the workforce needing to figure out digital marketing as they go.
- The misconception that social media is “free” or that advertising cannot be tracked and therefore is not worthy of investment results in many marketing departments suffering from low budgets. Unsure where your budget falls? According to the CMO Survey 2022, marketing budgets accounted for 13.8 percent of overall budgets or 8.7 percent of company revenues. To see a breakdown of economic and industry sectors, see slide 21 here.
- Understaffing, while its own challenge, exacerbates all of the issues above. The Great Resignation, or as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling it, The Great Reshuffling, continues to leave its mark on marketing departments. Working with an understaffed department increases stress, risks burnout, and increases the possibility of mistakes as employees scramble to get more done with fewer hands.
The good news is that managing these challenges is possible. As this Forbes article outlines, using your resources, dividing and conquering, and looking to trusted contractors are all ways that marketing departments can combat understaffing. At aJuxt Media Group, our menu of a la carte services allow you to supplement your in-house marketing department with expert help for the areas you need the most help. We are also here if you need the strategy and reports to support your in-house team’s efforts. If you’re interested in discussing how we can help, email us at troupe@aJuxt.com.
Written by Cristin Burns || Amazon Specialist & Social Media Maven