In business, it’s crucial to have the right people.

But what’s just as important is having them in the right positions.

Take marketing, for example. Two marketing professionals of equal skill and experience can have a completely different take on marketing strategy. One may be a passionate advocate for social media, the other excellent in email marketing – and if they switch seats, they’ll both be disastrous.

Maximizing your team’s productivity means ensuring each contributor is doing the highest-leverage work, ideally at the lowest lasting stress to them. That means personality does matter – but it is secondary to the framework you place those personalities in.

Too Often, Focusing on Personalities Leads to Asking the Wrong Questions

Everyone has unique perspectives and opinions, hang-ups and talents.

But focusing on those things can lure you into playing the wrong game.

Imagine: You develop a marketing strategy that looks great on paper. Internal alignment seems strong at first. But it’s not too long before things start to go off the rails. Deliverables wind up late, and milestones are missed.

Despite having a great roster of individual talents, nerves begin to fray. Timelines are pushed back further and further. Soon, you realize customers are starting to move on without you. Your marketing strategy is now out of step with the very people it’s designed to inspire, educate, and persuade.

What happens next? At moments like this, tensions run high.

Sooner or later, someone asks: Who dropped the ball?

By the time you get to that point, you’ve probably reached a dead end for your marketing strategy. There may be things that could have been done differently – in fact, there probably are – but a personality focus is forever a temptation to reinvent the wheel: that is, to restructure the team rather than the marketing process.

And that, inevitably, leads to more time lost.

There’s a better way.

Three Pillars of Performance for Your Marketing Team or Marketing Partner

The truth is this: systems drive results, not personalities. Most brands aren’t under-resourced; they are under-processed. Fix procedural, structural roadblocks, and you can outperform your previous best.

No matter if you plan to build a marketing team or partner with a marketing agency, focusing on these aspects of process will yield true marketing agency performance from your people:

1. Partner Accountability

Partner accountability starts before the first deliverable is ever defined. In fact, it begins before a dollar changes hands. Potential marketing partners should show a proactive interest in your business and your goals for it – not just your budget. Interview a prospective agency every bit as thoroughly as you would a future employee.

As the vetting process kicks off, define who in your organization owns the agency relationship. It’s not unusual for key stakeholders who’ll interface with marketing to come prepared with their top five questions (or even more). A worthwhile partner should provide cogent, satisfying answers.

If they’re not willing to put in the effort now, they won’t be after you sign on the dotted line.

2. Internal Alignment

Marketing strategy works best when everyone understands their role. Even an experienced marketing agency still needs insights from your internal stakeholders: for example, your sales pros witness your customers’ new desires, pain points, and objections in real time. That information is invaluable.

In practice, internal alignment means everyone knows what expectations apply to them and when they should provide or solicit feedback. It might seem silly, but even world-class teams are vulnerable to missing key updates and deadlines when everyone sincerely believes someone else has it handled.

3. Execution Rhythm

Marketing strategy is more than just a collection of tactics, but tactics are where the rubber meets the road.

For marketing campaigns to gain traction, a few things need to come together:

• You clearly identify your target audience.
• You meet the audience wherever they are.
• You keep showing up until they know you.

It seems simple on the surface, but there are countless variations. That’s why marketing partners use tools like content calendars to keep everyone on the same page. Logistically, those tools ensure each piece of content is as effective as it can be and gets published in a predictable cadence.

No matter how sophisticated the strategy is, it should be effective and repeatable.

Consistent execution builds trust and enables true connection with your audience.

Delegation with Participation Makes the Winning Difference

Savvy leaders know that delegation multiplies their impact by freeing them up for the most important work. Artificial intelligence can enhance delegation with human oversight, but it’s only one piece of the equation.

At its heart, collaboration is about human beings coordinating for a common goal inside a structure that works. New York Ave helps you find the right structure for your successful marketing strategy. Contact us to get started.