4 Tips for Onboarding Your Marketing Professional

Hiring a marketing professional for your CPA firm is a big step that proves a growth focus in your firm. Hiring the right person for the job may have seemed like the challenge, but the fun really starts when you need to create goals and identify training to assist them in their role. We commend firms that have the foresight to make marketing a priority in their firm, but if you’re like most, you may not know where to start in orientating this professional. At Inovautus, we often help firms create and implement onboarding plans for marketing coordinators and directors. Here are four steps you can follow to set your marketing professional up for success!

1. Who’s the Boss?

Ideally, your firm should identify who their direct supervisor will be before hiring a marketing professional. The most successful firms have a partner in charge of marketing (PICM) who oversees marketing staff. The PICM is usually the managing partner or another partner in the group, but occasionally it’s the COO or CEO. Marketing, especially in a new role for the firm, will need the support of the partner group to be successful in their initiatives. Their supervisors are the conduit to ensure messages are heard directly from the partner group, avoiding miscommunication or no communication. The PICM also provides marketing with a champion among the partner group. Learn more about what to do when you’ve been named partner in charge of marketing here.

2. Have an Onboarding Plan

Having an onboarding plan in place before the marketing professional’s start date will be key. Base the plan on goals and tasks that align with the position and include the training necessary for them to be successful. Examples of onboarding tasks may include:

• reading the firm’s strategic plan and marketing plan,
• scheduling meetings with each partner to learn their specialties and niche areas, and
• collecting and analyzing all current marketing materials for branding consistency.

Training pieces may include:

• website software and digital marketing tools,
• practice management
• proposal and RFP processes and templates, and
• sales processes and CRM.

These are just a few of the areas your marketing professional should focus on within the first month of their employment. Consider grouping the onboarding process week to week, and think about what your expectations are for the first week of their employment. With an onboarding plan, you’ll be able to accurately gauge your new hire’s efforts and knowledge level within the first month of their employment.

3. Set Goals

Setting goals for your marketing professional is the next step in positioning them for success. This role, especially if it’s a first for the firm, will require a clear outline of the goals the firm has in mind. Use the concerns and/or initiatives that spurred the discussion about hiring a marketing professional to guide the process. If your firm has strategic goals, identify the marketing and business development related areas and form goals to support these objectives. Goals may vary from creating a practice group specifically for your nonprofit service offerings to leading the process of content development. Ensure your goals are measurable and that your marketing professional understands how these will be assessed. If you aren’t sure how to do this, assign ownership to your new marketing hire and enlist their input.

4. Outline a Few Projects

There is nothing worse than starting a job with little or no direction. As part of the onboarding process, have a couple of key projects in mind. In the beginning, your incoming professional may not have a bunch of ideas, but over time, they will develop initiatives on their own. Don’t forget that it will also take time for your firm and partner group to learn how to work with marketing.

It can be challenging to onboard a new position, but your hard work will pay off! With a little planning and clear direction, your marketing professional will become an integral piece of your continued growth. Give us a call today if you’d like to discuss hiring a marketing professional or if you need assistance with your onboarding process.