The Importance of Inclusion and Vulnerability in Leading Marketing Teams

Ask any marketer what it takes to be a great leader, and you’ll probably get some predictable responses. Things like creative vision, decisiveness, and data-driven decision making are common leadership traits that marketers fixate on at the moment.

It’s true that these are important for successful marketing. But when you’re talking about leading marketing teams, there are two absolutely critical traits that can’t slip off of the radar: inclusion and vulnerability.

The Power of Vulnerability

The concept of "vulnerability" often comes up in the context of personal life. It’s encouraged to be open and honest with partners and, to a lesser (or at least different) degree, with friends and extended family members.

You shouldn’t restrict vulnerability to home life and social circles, though. Being appropriately vulnerable can increase your influence and impact as a leader, as well as contributing to a healthy workplace culture where psychological safety is allowed to flourish.

Role-modeling vulnerability in the workplace isn’t easy nor straight-forward. It requires courage: vulnerability at work starts by being willing to share shortcomings, failures, and weaknesses — and that’s the easy part.

It also requires an ability to "read the room" on what appropriate vulnerability might be. Some contexts are more or less appropriate for sharing. Different people have different levels of status or power in any given transaction, which means there can be a risk by being vulnerable.

But even with courage and a good guess at what’s appropriate, displaying vulnerability still carries with it risk. Where vulnerability can be a challenge is navigating the various human responses to perceived weakness. Professionals who display vulnerability must be open to disappointment, rejection, and at times even ridicule. Remaining committed to being vulnerable requires the conviction of knowing that the benefits outweigh the uncomfortable and unpleasant moments.

Vulnerability in Marketing

When vulnerability comes up in the context of marketing, it is usually referring to how consumers see a brand. In the book Marketing 4.0: Moving From Traditional to Digital, the "Father of Modern Marketing," Dr. Philip Kotler, even directly states that brands need to behave like humans and be "approachable and likable but also vulnerable." (Emphasis added.)

While this is absolutely true, the need for vulnerability goes beyond outward-facing marketing interactions. Marketing teams that inwardly embrace vulnerability as a core philosophy benefit in multiple ways.

Vulnerability, especially when exhibited by a leader of a marketing team, can encourage trust through open communication. Vulnerable acts like admitting mistakes and asking for help can also empower a team and spark greater creativity and productivity. The result is a stronger, more effective team.

Vulnerability should be present from the get-go. If marketing leaders want to establish a healthy, productive culture for their teams, they must not only allow but invest in a vulnerable, open, and honest status quo.

Creating an Inclusive Culture

Inclusion is a hot topic throughout 21st-century culture. As current phenomena — such as technology, the information age, and globalism — bring everyone together, people are more aware of their unique cultural characteristics than ever before.

The need to embrace these differences is important, nowhere more so than in the workplace.

Inclusion, as the name implies, indicates the positive coming together of individuals. At work, this means cultivating a culture that helps everyone feel welcome, valued, comfortable, and confident.

Inclusion should go beyond establishing comfort zones, too. It should actively seek to empower and encourage professionals from all cultures, experiences, and walks of life to positively contribute to the collective success of a team.

Inclusivity in a marketing context is, once again, often seen as a customer-facing element. As marketers assemble messages and create content, they must maintain an inclusive perspective of their target audience.

They need to avoid polarizing or insensitive messages and look for universal elements that appeal to consumers. Fitness cycling brand SoulCycle is a good example of this. Even though the company focuses on individual transformation, it has woven a sense of inclusivity and community into its messaging and core brand values.

While inclusive marketing messages are important, the concept should also apply to internal marketing team activity. Marketing teams that prioritize inclusivity can attract better marketers by opening themselves up to a larger talent pool.

Truly inclusive environments also give marketers the confidence to be creative, take chances, and offer unique perspectives. Together, these can create synergistic marketing campaigns that take all important cultural factors into consideration.

Inclusion is important for a marketing team. But it isn’t always natural. On the contrary, it’s easy for biases to slip in and skew a marketing team’s members or environment in a less inclusive direction.

Leaders are responsible for creating, fostering, and maintaining inclusivity — starting with themselves. They must prioritize integrating inclusion into their leadership styles.

This doesn’t have to be complicated. Leaders should invest in educating themselves on inclusivity and work on having an inclusive perspective. They can also encourage basic inclusive activities like maintaining clear communication and collaboration within their team.

Building a truly diverse and inclusive marketing team starts with who you hire, too. Celarity points out that "To ensure that you’re hiring a diverse range of people is to ensure that there is diversity in who is applying to your open positions." The staff recruiting agency adds that leaders can accomplish this by:

– Using job boards that prioritize diversity and inclusion
– Clearly stating that your company values diversity and will provide equal opportunities
– Actively seeking out candidates from underrepresented groups
– Implementing blind resume screening to anonymize the selection process

When leaders embrace inclusivity in their teams, they can build groups of individuals that perform with an all-encompassing excellence that is difficult to match with a less diversified group.

Conclusion

Marketing leaders must take inclusion and vulnerability seriously if they want to benefit from the powerful impact that they can have on team performance.

Vulnerability creates an atmosphere of trust, openness, and honesty that leads to a more effective team. Inclusivity unleashes unique levels of creativity and confidence that can take a group’s marketing performance to the next level.

Vulnerability and inclusivity are essential to both individual and collective success. They may not be at the top of everyone’s mind, but they are the keys to leading a great marketing team all the same. Make sure you’re prioritizing them properly. If you do that, the results will speak for themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important types of marketing?

Marketing is the act of communicating ideas, values, and messages to consumers. It is common to hear “marketing” interchangeably used with advertising. But in reality, marketing involves more than just advertising. Marketing covers all communications that promote and market products or services.

Marketing is made up of three components: promotion, branding, and distribution. Branding is the way a company presents itself to its target audiences. Promotion refers to attracting attention for your brand through paid advertising, promotions and other public relations activities. Distribution is the method of delivering your message to your target audience. It can be done through traditional methods like television, radio, print, and email, but new technologies have made this more accessible than ever.

Which are the five best social media marketing strategies for your business?

Social Media Marketing is an excellent way to market your business online. It's a great way to build brand awareness and generate leads. Here are five social media marketing strategies to help your business grow.

Make a Facebook fan page – This will allow you to interact directly on Facebook with your customers. Upload photos, videos, as well as other files.
Twitter Promotes Your Business – Twitter can be used to promote your business and connect with others. To increase visibility, use hashtags
Upload videos to YouTube – People love watching videos. If they like what is shown, they may click to visit you website.
Host Live Events. Organizing live events allows potential clients to meet face-toface. They can ask about your products and services.
Respond to Customer Reviews. Positive reviews can build trust with clients and encourage repeat sales. You should respond quickly to negative comments.

What are 3 examples for internet marketing?

Internet Marketing encompasses all activities online that are designed to promote products or services. Internet marketing can include email marketing, social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), as well as pay-per-click marketing (PPC) and website design.

It's important to note that these terms do not necessarily mean you'll have to spend money to make money. There are many ways to make income without spending money. You will get a better return on investment if you put more money into each method.

The most common form of internet marketing is email marketing. This involves sending out emails containing information about your business to potential customers.

Another popular way to market is via social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and LinkedIn allow users to interact with friends and families and share information. These sites also provide businesses with an excellent opportunity to connect with their clients and increase awareness of their products or services.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is a technique that improves the visibility of websites in major search engines. Webmasters can increase traffic to their websites by increasing the quantity and quality of relevant backlinks.

Website Design is the art or creating a website that looks good and works well. Website designers determine the style and layout of a website. Website designers also ensure accessibility standards are met and that technical specifications are adhered to.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) is advertising where advertisers bid on keywords related to their products or services. Advertisers get paid when someone clicks on an ad. PPC ads appear on search results pages at the top or bottom.

Statistics

A poll earlier this year found that 14% of older Gen Z's had bought an item in the previous six months based on an influencer's recommendation. (influencermarketinghub.com)
Companies that use personalization are seeing revenue increases ranging from 6-10%. (blog.hubspot.com)
This allows us to deliver CPCs that are 80% less than average and CTRs 4-5 times higher than average. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
According to statistics, 60% of online shoppers worldwide actively search for coupons before purchasing from a virtual shop. (influencermarketinghub.com)
Many experts recommend you share 20% of your promotional content and 80% of other valuable content you find. (marketinginsidergroup.com)

External Links

How To

20 Innovative Affiliate Marketing Strategies You Should Try in 2022

Affiliate marketing can be a great way for you to make money online. It's also among the easiest methods to get started because you must sign up with an affiliate network like Commission Junction or ShareASale and then place links on your website or blog. If someone makes a purchase through one of the links, you will be paid a commission.

Here are 20 strategies for affiliate marketing that you can try in 2022

Create a Content Calendar
Google Adwords
Start Your Podcast
Join A Blogging Network
Create an Email List
Get Paid For Reviews
You can become an influencer
Offer Free Trials
Start a Membership Website
Sell Products On Amazon
Write Articles
Start a YouTube Channel
Host Events
Develop A Mobile App
Promote Your Business Online
Run Facebook Ads
Start A Twitter Account
Grow Instagram Followers
Be transparent with your customers
Make More Long-Term Money

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By: Mikel Fields
Title: The Importance of Inclusion and Vulnerability in Leading Marketing Teams
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/best-practices/inclusion-and-vulnerability-the-keys-to-leading-a-great-marketing-team/
Published Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 10:00:03 +0000