If you are looking at building a high performing marketing team that is focused on growth and client acquisition, here are the five most important positions you need to fill.

The player-coach – Your marketing team will need a leader who is someone with high intellectual capacity, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to lead others. Although this position involves managing others, they will also have to learn to be hands-on and look carefully into all aspects of the business.

The researcher – Marketing correctly will require information like algorithms, bid management, and Google updates.

The Writer – Good quality content is vital to your marketing portfolio. Exceptional writers are required for blogs, social media, for PR, or advertising.

The website pro – You will need someone to design and develop your website. Managing your website in-house is an excellent way to stay current and make changes whenever required.

The analytics and operations pro – It is essential for any business to have a data-driven, operations-focused team member who can manage technology solutions and provide analytics that will help decision making. They will also be able to track your progress and help with forecasting sales and customer engagement as and when products, services or marketing tactics change.

If finding five professionals is difficult as your business is small, look at integrating the roles with individuals who have previous experience in similar positions.

Being a successful entrepreneur is a dream of many young professionals who aspire to become successful in the business world. Here are some simple tips that will help young business owners succeed in business.

Set a budget – Budgeting is key to managing your personal and business expenses. However, it is important that the budgets set are realistic and cover your expenses. Look at focusing on your business’s needs, instead of your wants to help you spend on what is important.

Decode financial statements – Financial statements will provide you with information about the health of your business. Therefore understanding financial data is key to making sound decisions that will help you steer your business in the right direction. Understand basic finance and mathematical concepts before you embark on any business venture.

Save receipts – When calculating your taxes, you will find that your old receipts will become highly beneficial. Look at recording your receipts and business expenses in an organized manner that can be referred by you or a staff member with ease.

File your taxes – Paying taxes is a must as not paying your taxes is a federal crime. To avoid heavy penalties, file your taxes and hire an expert to assist you if you are unable to do it on your own.

Diversify – Reduce you effects of failure by diversifying your business and placing funds in alternate investments. Diversifying is a contingency plan that will act as a cushion when your core business is not doing well.

Digital marketing handwriting note with laptop, pencil on notebook, eyeglasses and coffee cup on desk

If you are a small business owner, you will realize that you have to wear many hats to keep your costs low and manageable. Here are some digital marketing skills that will help your business generate more buzz and reach its intended target market.

Blogging and content management – Look at what you want to achieve from your blog and how you can enhance your branding. The best way to get the most from your blog and content is to understand what motivates your audience. Your content should be based on the goals and the aspirations that motivate your target audience. Consider developing an editorial calendar that plans out the posts that will be released. Mix relevant topics to balance the site and to provide consistent content to your audience.

Web analytics – Data on how your online visitors engage with your website will help you create advertising campaigns that are effective. Look at creating a Google Analytics account and use this account to understand your audience.

Social media – Social media has become a strong platform for companies, as they look at building relationships with their audience. Look at platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to reach your audience on a personal level.

Email marketing – Email marketing will help to boost web traffic and generate leads to make your company visible. Look at always sending welcome notes, payment approvals, or shipping confirmations to keep constant contact with your audience.

Small businesses will not have large budgets to spend on marketing and communications. Therefore, it is important that small businesses have a clear plan when embarking on any form of advertising.

When you are looking at selecting advertising methods ensure that they grab your consumers’ attention, provide information and offer consumers a reason to buy your product or service. Any marketing campaign should try to create a relationship, that will build a two-way interaction between the business and the consumer. Your message to your consumer must nudge the consumer to buy your product or service by providing a clear message that is visual and one that offers the consumer a single inspiring idea.

When creating a marketing campaign, consider starting the project with clear objectives. Clear objectives will provide a single creative message that will help the team working on the project. Reaching out to any target market can be difficult, as people are busy and distracted with the large number of marketing messages they receive. Making your idea stand out is key to fuel interest and inspire action.

Gather inspiration from campaigns that used key features of their product to make a statement in the market. Look at the “got milk” ads and the “smell like a man” old spice slogan. These messages resonate in consumers’ minds as they are simple and give you an overall idea about the product and focus on the products need to the consumer.