Here's how you can engage employees in marketing decisions for better outcomes.

Fostering open dialogue is crucial for engaging employees in marketing decisions. Encouraging open communication allows employees to share their insights, ideas, and feedback, creating a collaborative environment. Research indicates that organizations with open communication are 4.5 times more likely to have engaged employees. Schedule regular meetings, use digital communication platforms, and create safe spaces for employees to voice their opinions. Open dialogue helps to uncover innovative ideas and ensures that all team members feel valued and heard, which can lead to more effective and inclusive marketing strategies.

There are a few practical ways in which employees across the organization can be engaged in marketing which will lead to better outcomes. 1. Encourage participation: Identify avenues in which employees can contribute in marketing activities and encourage them to participate. For eg: Running idea contests, contribution to content like articles, blogs, demos, whitepapers etc 2. Employee referrals: This is another area which is not utilized very well. Companies/marketing teams should devise plans to promote employees to refer customers/leads

As a leader, it starts with you. If you share the learnings and mistakes you've made, then it opens up the opportunity for your team to do the same. So think about how you can embed this into your team culture.

Start meeting sharing written objective for the meeting 1. Respect All Ideas: There should be no criticism or judgment during brainstorming phase. 2. Encourage Participation: Everyone should feel comfortable contributing. Encourage quieter members to share thoughts. 3. One Conversation at a Time. 4. Stay on Topic: While creativity is encouraged, stay focused on the meeting's objectives. 5. Time Management: Set time limits for each part of the discussion 6. Use Visual Aids: Whiteboards, sticky notes, or digital tools like Mural to capture and visualize ideas. 7. No Devices: 8. Be Open-Minded: Remind everyone to keep an open mind, explore unconventional ideas. 9. Clarify Next Steps: End w/ clear plan of action, assign tasks, set deadlines

Empowering teams by giving them the authority and resources to make decisions enhances their engagement and productivity. When employees are empowered, they feel a sense of ownership and responsibility towards their tasks. According to a Gallup study, empowered employees show 21% higher profitability and 20% higher productivity. Provide clear guidelines, offer autonomy in decision-making, and support their initiatives. Empowered teams are more likely to take initiative, think creatively, and contribute effectively to marketing strategies, driving better outcomes and fostering a culture of trust and innovation.

I learned this from @Dave Kline, but the last thing you want to say is "Okay thanks, I'll review it later". That means one more thing for you to do and it takes away the power from your employee. Instead - tell them what the goal is and have them involve you when they need guidance or are stuck or need decisions made.

The most important thing you can do as a leader is to define what success looks like. Once they know that, then your employees will know how to go above and beyond. This is a critical step.

Sharing goals with employees aligns their efforts with the organization's objectives, ensuring everyone works towards a common purpose. Clearly defined goals provide direction and motivation, increasing employee engagement. Studies show that goal-setting improves performance by 15-25%. Communicate the marketing goals and how each team member's role contributes to achieving them. Regularly update the team on progress and celebrate milestones. When employees understand the bigger picture and see their impact, they are more committed and motivated to contribute their best ideas and efforts towards achieving marketing success.

All of these things are important, but one of the most effective ways I've found to encourage employee feedback is through an amplification event. One scenario is that maybe you want to have employees vote on new logo concepts. So, you start a fun poll on Slack to capture employee feedback while offering a raffle prize to the employees that participate. There are all kinds of simple tools online that can coordinate the event and integrate with Slack. It's a simple yet effective way to get employee feedback, especially when you need feedback on something a little more boring that employees aren't likely to participate in.

Com as últimas experiências que tive, foi possível perceber que parte dos problemas estavam na comunicação, e em alguns momentos a falta de comunicação. Manter uma comunicação ativa com, clareza, transparência e feedback são essenciais.