As a marketing professional, it can be difficult to regulate and get all of the required tasks done in a day. In an industry that is quite demanding and always changing, a marketing expert has to be on top of his or her game to be efficient. For this reason, having the ability to delegate tasks is invaluable — even though the concept may be easier said than done for some.
Let’s use an example of a digital marketing professional who is self-employed. Rather than working for an agency or in-house for a company, this individual prefers to take on projects solo. Great! However, what happens when things get busy and suddenly there is more work than one person can manage?
Of course, this is a good problem to have, many would argue. However, when someone is spread too thin and takes on too much, the quality of work and the level of customer service can suffer as a result.
But how does a sole proprietor delegate? What happens when the work just keeps coming, but there isn’t enough personnel to handle it? Here are a few best practices for delegation that can be applied to any marketing professional.
Consider the Value of the Freelancer
Just because a professional works on their own, that doesn’t mean they can’t hire help every now and then. Let’s say that managing clients’ social media is getting to be too time consuming to hold value. Or, let’s say that social media is not the marketing expert’s wheelhouse. Yes, this happens! Not everyone is good at coming up with clever captions, engaging with audience members, and researching hashtags. Plus, this takes time!
Hiring a freelancer to handle work that could be moved off of your desk can be highly beneficial. Of course, it’s important to ensure that the freelancer is well-qualified, as you do not want the quality of the work the client sees to suffer. But there are many platforms on which freelancers can easily be found and hired. The cost of hiring is often low enough that it’s worthwhile to move some more menial or time consuming work off of your plate.
It’s OK to Say No
Every person who is self-employed hesitates to turn away work. Additionally, every agency or company has trouble saying no. After all, more work means more money, and who wouldn’t want this?
But sometimes, the amount of work is just too high to guarantee quality. Let’s say you have a potential client who wishes to hire you for some marketing consultation, but your schedule is completely booked.
Rather than saying yes and “just figuring it out”, take the time to look at how the schedule may shake out over the coming weeks. Don’t be afraid to work with the client and find a timeline that works for you, too. Of course, some clients will be in more of a hurry, but often times the client wants to work with a specific professional and would rather be worked into the schedule and receive good, quality work in return.
Delegation is not a loss. Learning how to delegate properly and how to say no sometimes is important to any professional success. After all, no one wants to receive sub-par work. As a marketing professional, it’s important to know your limits and know how and when to say no. For in-house professionals or for agencies, learning how to structure workflow so that it maximizes the skill set of each employee will maximize returns over drowning them in work any day.