8 Great Tips to Manage a Remote Marketing Team Effectively

There is one unavoidable truth right before our eyes: Times have changed. 

From how we watch movies to how we work, the digital era has changed our way of living. Many have swapped suits for comfortable home clothes, high-heels, and dress shoes for fuzzy slippers or sneakers. Many are interested in working remotely and seeing a change in their daily lives. 

But what does managing a remote team imply? How can you manage a remote marketing team without facing bumps in the road? Stay with us as we go through the motions of remote working and give you eight excellent management recommendations. 

The Tipping Point: How the Digital Era Changed the Way We Work

Remote workers have been around for a few decades. Jack Nilles, a NASA engineer, was the first to call it “teleworking.” Around that decade, five IBM employees started a work-from-home experiment. By the ’90s, their remote employees’ number had grown to 2,000. 

As of 2023, remote working has come to stay. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many found that working from home suits them better. Others still enjoy in-office work. But if you plan to have a remote digital marketing agency, it’s crucial to have some tips on how to manage your team effectively. 

Tips to Manage Your Team Effectively

Keeping your team in check is crucial in both working forms. But when it comes to remote teams, Knowing what can set your managing skills apart is essential. 

Your work will be vital for your team to function. You’re not micromanaging them, but becoming part of your employees’ puzzle. So, if you’re looking for tips to manage your team to success, here’s what you need to know. 

Set Clear Expectations

You want your team to know what you expect of them and their productivity goals. Each team member should have knowledge of what their tasks consist of, and to do this, consider sharing this information during remote meetings: 

1. What must be done: Employees must know what tasks they must accomplish daily, weekly, and monthly. 
2. How you’ll track their time: Remote working implies using work-tracking tools. Let them know what tools you’ll be using and how these apps operate. 
3. How to get in touch with you: We will expand on this later, but you will notice that having clear, open communication channels is one of the most valuable tools for managing remote employees. 
4. How they’ll showcase their productivity: Let them know your agency’s goals. Inform them about the objectives they must meet. 
5. How often do they need to check in: Some remote teams work by having daily check-ins, others do it twice a day, and some even do it weekly. See what works for your agency, and let your team members know. 

Having clear expectations and objectives for your team will help everyone have a more productive, successful work experience. But it’s crucial to shift the way you set them.

Remote working is not about measuring your team’s productivity by how long they spend glued to their computers. To be fair, this never was a reliable metric. 

Communicate Openly and Frequently

A remote marketing manager must ensure their team communicates frequently and effectively. Building a remote marketing team implies using effective communication strategies. Here are some of the methods you can implement for your team: 

1. Team meetings: Have full team meetings at least twice a month. Figuring out the virtual team’s meetings will change based on each agency. But the most crucial information to share with your employees during these gatherings includes changes within the agency, any updates regarding their colleagues, and any other relevant details. These meetings can also help with brainstorming and keep everyone on the same page. 
2. One-on-one meetings: Keeping in touch with every member personally is crucial to know their concerns and if they have anything they want to share but don’t feel comfortable doing so in the team meetings. These meetings can go from ten to fifteen minutes, and you can do them bi-monthly. 
3. Inter-departmental meetings: Another way to improve your agency’s communication and overall performance is by encouraging your teams to work together. Virtual sessions can provide an excellent opportunity for your employees to work together and boost their interactions and results. 

Remote team management relies heavily on communication, which means you must provide open-channel communication for your employees. Ensure there’s not a wall between you and your team, stay approachable, and make it easy for them to talk to you. 

Similar to how you would lead a face-to-face meeting, validate you have a prepared itinerary for these virtual conferences. Furthermore, be flexible about cameras, as not everyone will feel comfortable being seen. You don’t want to make your team feel like they’re being micromanaged. Establish clear standards for the meetings, and ask them to keep their microphones off if they’re not talking, as this action helps make these video conferencing moments professional.

Team-Building Activities Are Still Important

Chances are that everyone on your team has worked in offices previous to this job. They know what camaraderie looks like in person, and new remote work practices could look like the chance of social interaction with coworkers is no longer an option. 

However, managing remote teams requires implementing team-building activities outside of work-related encounters. Here are some examples of what you can do: 

1. Dinner parties: Having virtual team dinner parties with delivered meals can help you keep your employees motivated and provide an opportunity for them to get to know each other. 
2. Book online events for your team: Team building events are another excellent strategy to help you build your employees’ connections. Find out what their hobbies are and see what works best for your budget. 
3. If possible, do daily meetings: These don’t need to be unnecessarily long since you want to make the most of the work hours available. Brief meet-ups to know how they’re doing in and outside of work can be beneficial for your employees. 
4. Do video conferences: Take some time out of the month to have a video conference with your team. You can discuss relevant topics in your niche, like new software launches or trending marketing strategies. 

Enhancing and strengthening your team’s communication will help you keep them on track and boost their morale. You want to ensure they’re proud of working at your agency and show them virtual team building is crucial for your team’s well-being. 

Ensure They Have the Needed Tools

You want them to be productive and have the best remote team, so you must give them the tools that make them reach that status. 

If you want to see an increase in productivity, these tools can help you with this goal: 

1. Communication tools: Slack, Zoom, Google Meetings, and any other instruments that can help you boost your team’s communication and collaboration are essential to managing remote talent. 
2. Project management tools: Trello, ClickUp, or Asana can help you effectively manage your team. These instruments will help your employees know about their deadlines and upcoming projects. 
3. Time-tracking instruments: These time-tracking software can help you know the team’s productivity and see if they need support. 
4. Cloud storage tools: Platforms like Google Drive can make file sharing easier between employees. 
5. Password tools: Instruments like LastPass can help your team keep their passwords organized and secured. 

Some companies prioritize security, so they provide computers and laptops to protect their data. Others work with secure virtual networks and other resources to prevent hacking risks.

Nurture Your Team’s Trust

To build an effective remote team, they must feel you trust in their skills. Here are some practices that can taint your team’s trust: 

• Asking for reports repeatedly can make your employees feel you don’t trust their skills. 
• Not being open to suggestions might make you seem like someone who isn’t open to their team’s vision, damaging trust and communication. 
• Not admitting mistakes could lead your teams to believe you’re not a reliable manager. 

Encouraging communication, ensuring they feel comfortable approaching you, and trusting their work is essential to boosting your team’s trust. Of course, you do need reports, but find a suitable way of getting the information required. 

Remote-Friendly Policies Are Your Right-Hand

Remote work policies are just as important as in-person work policies. Ensure your team takes their breaks, set rules and boundaries that will help you keep your group on the right path, and specify meeting etiquette. Here’s what you can do: 

1. Setting rules and limits: Setting rules for your team must be a priority. From expected worked hours to protocols the agency has, ensure your employees are aware of this.
2. Encourage taking breaks: One of the benefits of remote work for many is that they can work for as long as their tasks require. However, you must ensure that everyone takes a lunch break or the breaks your policies establish so their productivity and mental/physical health don’t decline over time. 
3. Establish online meeting etiquette: Everyone working remotely has had a situation in which a pet decides to join the meeting, or a neighbor decides to carry out their renovations at that exact time. So, set some parameters for your gatherings. From muting microphones when an employee is not talking, to setting an arrival time to prevent tardiness, include everything that can take your regular team meetings to the next level. 

Be Mindful of Time Zones

Another great benefit of remote working is that it allows you to find the right people across the globe. However, this can imply that your team may work in different time zones, and this is something you must be mindful of. 

If you don’t have established daily work hours, you’ll have to be aware of the time zones of each employee for video calls and any other activities that require conjunct work between team members. 

Challenges of Having a Remote Team

Having a remote marketing team is an excellent option for most marketers nowadays, but what are the drawbacks you could face by going fully remote? 

The first drawback many have in common is the lack of in-person supervision. Agency owners have shared their concerns about employees working remotely but not meeting the deadlines and goals. Productivity remains one of the most concerning items regarding remote work. 

Another outstanding concern for business owners is communication. Remote marketing teams have people across different countries, and cultural differences could be a challenging setting for many. 

The Face-Off: Remote Working vs. In-Person

When teams go remote, many marketing professionals find this way of working doesn’t suit them. The transition to remote working back in 2020 was rushed, and the world was not prepared for it, leading to many workers turning down remote work options.

However, sales and marketing jobs are on the rise. SEO work, marketing campaign creation, lead generation management, and more are now highly sought-after positions online. Coming across people from different countries could be a game changer for your business. 

And if you aren’t entirely ready to make the transition, hybrid teams are popular, too. Some implement working two days a week from home, others have opted to have three remote working days. See what works best for you, and don’t shy away from this popular working method. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Strengthen a Remote Team? 

You boost your team’s strength by sharing the results of their efforts. Encourage professional work and prevent your team from isolating from one another. When going through a hiring process, ensure the person meets your company’s culture and is a rich addition to your roster. 

How Do You Make Remote Team Members Feel Included?

Implementing the tips we gave you here will make your team members feel included. Furthermore, ask for their opinion on the projects they’re working on, check in on them as often as possible, and promote a healthy work environment where professionalism meets camaraderie. 

What Are the Barriers to Remote Working?

The barriers to remote working can come from cultural differences, including language skills or work ethics, to more complex barriers like faulty Internet connection or issues regarding the country they live in. That’s why many agency owners do thorough research when putting their remote team together. 

Wrapping Up

Managing a remote marketing team is no easy task, but it also isn’t an impossible hill to climb. 

By implementing the tips you read in this article, such as communicating with your team, establishing rules and boundaries, and setting the difference between remote work and office space, you will see a difference in your managing skills and overall results.