{"id":14343,"date":"2020-07-06T14:51:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T14:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud\/?p=14343"},"modified":"2022-12-28T14:12:12","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T14:12:12","slug":"3-signs-your-marketing-department-is-siloed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/marketing\/3-signs-your-marketing-department-is-siloed\/","title":{"rendered":"3 signs your marketing department is siloed and how to encourage teamwork instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sales just refined their pitch but it\u2019s not aligned with the three digital campaigns you just launched. Your public relations team is scrambling to remove a blog post after the content team published it early. And who knows what your designers are working on – they have a backlog of 3 months of creative work.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the above rings a bell, then you may be working in a siloed marketing department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We all experience this disarray in one form or another, however, that doesn\u2019t mean that you should accept the situation as-is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To get the whole company to seamlessly work together, it\u2019s important to know how silos are affecting your department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get started with monday.com<\/a><\/p>\n

What are silos and why are they detrimental to a company\u2019s success?<\/h2>\n

Organizational silos<\/span><\/a> are any type of barrier between teams. Typically, they emerge when leadership struggles to bridge teams together, due to conflicting priorities, goals, work methods and work speed. This creates an environment where different departments withhold information as they use different software and services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oftentimes, siloed teams root from the use of different tools, not working together, or differing ways for completing work.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the long-term, this reduces productivity, motivation and leads to frustration and inner conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the function of a marketing department and why are they often siloed?<\/h2>\n

The primary role of a marketing department is to build a company\u2019s brand, generate leads, and provide back-up to sales and support teams to boost the bottom line of a business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marketing departments are made up of different teams, each responsible for a distinct marketing domain – from campaign management<\/a> and events, to content creation, creative design, and production.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although silos can occur in any company or team, <\/span>marketing departments are prime candidates<\/span><\/a>. This is due to the way they are naturally segmented by roles that typically have very different skill sets. This segmentation can lead to breaks in communication that threaten the professionalism and efficiency of a company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes silos occur within a marketing department – and sometimes your marketing department is siloed from other departments within the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Marketing<\/h2>\n

3 signs your marketing department is siloed<\/h2>\n

1. You\u2019re left wondering about teammates\u2019 work<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whether you are an associate or manage your own team, not having visibility into your colleagues\u2019 progress ultimately sets you back. When employees lack information, they\u2019re deprived of insight that could play a key role in their work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once such blind spots are created, employees start wondering: Did the newsletter go out? How successful were the FB Ad Campaigns? Did dev fix that website bug?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With everyone using a different platform or application to manage their work, each employee becomes a gatekeeper to their own information and collaboration between teammates becomes clunky. Data silos <\/em>emerge.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Your teams aren\u2019t in sync\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

You know your marketing department is siloed when teams aren\u2019t aligned. Each team starts their own project and carries out tasks without checking in with the rest of the division. When <\/span>teams function autonomously<\/span><\/a> without a shared workspace to keep everyone on the same page, a <\/span>collaborative silo<\/i> forms. Once teams become isolated and ownership is blurred, work can easily become redundant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. You don\u2019t know the procedures teams are following<\/span><\/h3>\n

When teams and departments don\u2019t enforce standard processes, individuals are likely to go with the system that best suits them, be it SAAS, CRM or payment tools. This discontinuity within the company is known as an<\/span> operational silo<\/i>, a barrier caused by the lack of one established procedure. When operational silos exist, employees struggle to understand the systems others are using.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, without a uniform content development and publishing method, copywriters may leave out important keywords outlined by the SEO team and designers may not complete their graphics on time. Teams need to work together to ensure that all these teams collaborate to produce the best content possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get started<\/a><\/p>\n

How to run a marketing department that is conducive to teamwork<\/h2>\n

Break down those pesky silos that are hurting your team with the following steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Build a cohesive leadership team<\/span><\/h3>\n

As mentioned earlier, silos root from leadership. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first step in dismantling silos is to solidify a team that interacts and collaborates. Employees, especially new hires, look at leadership to understand the culture of an organization. <\/span><\/a> If VPs and managers communicate, collaborate and <\/span>establish transparency<\/span><\/a>, trust and inclusion will flourish within teams. If leadership is in conflict or doesn\u2019t incorporate other teams, employees will naturally cluster.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Rally people over a common goal<\/span><\/h3>\n

The second step in boosting marketing performance and eliminating productivity barriers is to establish a thematic goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The moment a <\/span>goal is shared by the company<\/span><\/a>, the entire team can push towards the same objective. With one common cause, all employees become aligned and can easily jump back into focus when falling out of sync.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can set thematic goals by using the following steps:<\/span><\/p>\n