How to Foster Great Leaders in Your Marketing Agency

Published by Eleanor Hecks on September 16, 2022

Possessing leaders in your marketing agency is more than someone having a high-ranking title. A great leader must have the ability to take on every level of responsibility in business. Because the fact is that leadership is universal.

And if your goal is to foster great leaders in your agency, you must know how to empower others to reach the same purpose.

Here’s how to cultivate successful leaders in your marketing agency.

What Makes a Great Marketing Leader?

One of the most in-demand skills for marketers these days is leadership. According to Statista, 49% of job offers mentioned this as a must-have skill.

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But what exactly does a leader look like in a marketing agency?

Essentially, a leader possesses common qualities and skills that promote growth. The role of a marketing leader is to guide and influence team members to reach the agency’s goals.

The assortment of skills that a leader must have include:

Decision-making: By default, teams look to leaders for instruction. Therefore, a marketing leader must be able to take the initiative in making decisions and know when to seize opportunities.

Drive action: Good marketing leaders compel teams to challenge themselves. Instead of forcing teams to take the desired action, they empower them by compellingly explaining the value of an upcoming project.

Build relationships: Successful marketing leaders form positive relationships to build trust, communicate better, and better understand others.

Mentorship: A great leader can teach others to help them grow their careers. Lifting others is the key to developing an agency and helping it succeed.

Strategic thinking: A great leader tends to think strategically so marketing teams can work collaboratively and create value within their industry.

Communication: Leaders can effectively communicate by listening, bringing clarity to their message, and persuading others. This skill is essential for encouraging more action.

Empathy: An empathetic leader has emotional intelligence, putting themselves into team members’ shoes and understanding diverse perspectives.

Ways to Foster Great Leaders in Your Marketing Agency

To foster great leaders, your agency must create an environment encouraging growth. Consider using these tips to create more leaders within your agency.

1. Lead by Example

You must be able to lead by example. It’s what fosters more leaders in your team and influences them to do the same.

One way to lead by example is by encouraging integrity, respect, and honesty and behaving in this manner. Incorporating these ethics helps everyone be open and understand how to respond to certain situations in a healthy way.

You could also incorporate mentorship programs by showing employees what it looks like to be a great leader. By continuously modeling leadership and mentor traits, employees will feel more prepared to navigate obstacles and overcome them.

2. Invest in Leadership Training

You can develop leadership training in-house to make it more accessible to employees. During leadership training, consider inviting guest speakers to provide fresh perspectives and insights on the topic.

You could also play leadership games to provide hands-on training or consider starting a book club based on a leadership theme. While these are only a few ideas, there are plenty of ways to invest in training.

Some agency owners also find workshops discussing leadership topics such as emotional intelligence, negotiating and problem-solving can be beneficial.

3. Encourage Growth Mindset

A growth mindset involves someone who is always looking to improve themselves. Rather than seeing failure as a setback, they look for opportunities to try something new they think will help.

Therefore, allowing employees to own their tasks is a great way to build a growth-minded leader. Consider giving them the chance to take on a new challenge that will enable them to solve problems independently.

It’s still needed for you to provide direction and encouragement. However, this type of guidance will create a huge difference in helping them find success.

4. Provide More Responsibility

Leaders often need to work outside their job description, taking on more responsibilities and new projects.

You can build great leaders by giving your team members more responsibility. For example, suppose you notice a team member helping others refine and practice marketing tactics. You may ask them to present their tips for marketing success in a team meeting.

Or, you could give them the responsibility of training new hires.

5. Add More Freedom

Providing employees with the resources needed to succeed can build the confidence and empowerment of future leaders. While it’s necessary to clarify expectations, it helps foster their performance style.

That way, they can have some feeling of freedom. Otherwise, employees may feel undervalued and frustrated.

Additionally, it helps to allow your employees to take on a leadership role in team meetings. You may feel tempted to jump in with solutions at times. However, the best way to build a great leader is by letting them discover their resolutions.

6. Teach Networking Skills

Marketers need to learn how to sell products and services. Yet, they also need to know how to market themselves.

Teaching your marketing team how to hone their networking skills will prepare them for overcoming an awkward encounter. As a potential marketer becomes a great leader, they’ll be able to forge meaningful relationships with strangers and approach them confidently.

One of the ways you can teach networking skills is by holding small networking events. They must be able to practice to get comfortable in networking environments.

7. Promote Within

Whenever possible, it’s important to provide hiring opportunities from within your marketing agency. Building great leaders can start from within and strengthen your business. Plus, it shows a clear path for marketers to grow.

Once you provide growth and development opportunities from within, you allow your agency to expand. In turn, this creates an enriched environment and culture where employees feel they can thrive — benefitting your business in the long run.

8. Build Career Planning Goals

From the moment you identify someone as a potential leader, consider having someone work with them to set career goals for their future in the agency.

Every staff member should set and reset goals each year to provide insight into where employees would like to move forward within your agency. However, you must clarify that they’ll have opportunities to advance. That is so they can start thinking about their future early on.

Remember, career goal planning differs from the goals your team sets for their job. Instead, it’s a long-term view of what position they’d like to set for themselves in the future.

9. Identify Leaders Early

Consider making it a point to identify leaders early on, as you’ll find more success in recognizing them internally. Making this a priority can help you start training early and elevate them when they’re ready.

However, the training doesn’t need to be overly complex. You could start by ensuring you include them in some leadership upskill-building events.

You can also incorporate programs for employees who want to build their skills within your agency. Giving them these options can help improve their skills and confidence in becoming marketing agency leaders.

And since upskilling is becoming more important in the workplace, you can potentially retain more employees. According to one survey, 75% of people said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their company’s upskill training.

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Take this factor into consideration when retaining top talent and promoting potential leaders within your agency.

The Benefits of Having Great Leaders in Your Marketing Agency

Strong leadership can provide various benefits to your agency and its team. Here are the top reasons why it’s important for business.

1. Instills Agency Vision and Values

Most agency owners have a vision of where they’d like their business to be in the future. They also know how they want clients, stakeholders, and the community to perceive their company.

Without strong leadership, the agency’s vision and values can become lost in the day-to-day activities of running a business. With this in mind, good leaders remind staff of these necessities and how to implement them into their daily actions.

2. Increases Team Morale

Agencies can’t become anything without the effort of teamwork. But to keep those efforts strong, a leader can boost employee morale — crucial for retaining team members and saving resources on constant recruiting.

Leaders ensure the workforce stays happy, content, and loyal while consistently hitting productivity targets. It’s a surefire way for any agency to succeed.

3. Supports Employee Motivation

Marketing agency leaders have the power to motivate employees by providing recognition and rewards for their hard work.

It’s important to ensure the staff feels appreciated so they can continue to be successful in producing quality work and outstanding results.

4. Provides the Right Resources

Having the appropriate tools is paramount to completing a job effectively. It ensures that every staff member has the resources to produce good work. Without the necessary resources, teams can perform tasks, which can cause stress on the entire agency.

That’s where great leaders will do everything they can to support team members by making these tools available to everyone.

5. Boosts Communication

When making big decisions in an agency, everyone in the company needs to be on the same page. A great leader ensures that everyone learns the latest updates through effective communication.

Whether it’s a staff meeting or an email, hearing the news from the point of authority can reduce the risk of miscommunication and diffuse any doubts.

Build Great Leaders Within Your Marketing Agency

Your team may have more employees with the potential to lead than you realize. Start by observing each team member and teaching them the core traits of leadership. Then, implement a process allowing them to make progress decisions.

With leadership skills in the hands of your marketing team, they can thrive and move towards more opportunities for success.