How to Delegate Marketing Tasks (And What Work to Hand Off)

Make more time to focus on other projects with these delegating tricks

Are you starting to feel overwhelmed with all the marketing work on your plate? Even though doing everything yourself gives you the most control, you can be a stronger leader by delegating your work to other people. Delegating helps you complete tasks much faster than you could on your own, and it keeps your team from feeling as stressed. Before you start giving employees your job duties, there are a few key ways to make sure the work still meets your standards. Keep reading and we'll walk you through which tasks are best for delegating and how to choose the best person for the job.

Things You Should Know

  • Delegate tasks that you struggle with or are tedious to complete, like social media management, market research, content writing, and image editing.
  • Choose motivated people that have the required skills to complete the task. Give the person all the tools and training they'll need.
  • State your expectations for the task's outcome and give any specific instructions you want the person to follow.
  • ​​Track the person's progress through regular check-ins and by using a project management program.
Section 1 of 3:

Delegating Effectively

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    Delegate tasks that take up your time or that you struggle with. Keep the tasks that are important for you to complete on your own, but look through your regular schedule and make note of any that aren’t a good use of your time. Small tasks that pile up and the tedious, time-consuming work you haven’t mastered yet are perfect candidates for delegating to others.[1]
    • If a task is time-sensitive but you have other priorities to take care of first, it’s a good idea to delegate it to someone else.
    • Avoid delegating tasks that are above another employee’s pay grade. For example, you shouldn’t delegate your social media management tasks to a personal assistant.
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    Choose people that are qualified and interested in the task. Look for a person that has the skills to do a good job, but check if they’re enthusiastic about doing the task. Ask your coworkers or employees what areas of work they’re passionate about to see if they’re the right fit. Don’t be afraid to choose someone who’s ready for a challenge as long as they have the skills to complete the task.[2]
    • If a person has the skills but doesn’t feel confident about doing the work, assure them they can do a good job. They’ll feel motivated knowing they have a leader believing in their ability.
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    Explain the purpose of the task. Tell the person why the task is important so they understand why it needs to get done in the first place. Then, let them know why they’re the best person for the job so they understand why you tapped on them to complete it.[3]
    • Example: “We need to compile this email list so we know how many subscribers we’ve gained in the last 3 months. You’re the perfect fit for this since you’ve been so savvy with our email marketing this quarter.”
    • Example: “We’re hoping to boost our user engagement on social media to connect with a wider audience. The posts on your page are always so fun and engaging, you immediately came to mind for this task.”
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    Provide clear expectations and instructions. People aren’t able to read your mind to know exactly what you want, so explain how you envision the end result. Let the person know the exact duties they need to complete so there isn’t any confusion. Give instructions if there are any specific ways you want the work to get done so the person does the task correctly.[4]
    • If you’re not sure how a task should get done, utilize the person’s ideas and strengths so you can collaborate together and show you trust their expertise.
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    Plan out resources and training. If there are any special tools, programs, or requirements for the task, ask the person how you can help them and what they need to get started. Provide them with any information on the task and train them on any processes that are important for finishing the job. That way, the person feels confident in their skills and motivated to do the work.[5]
    • Example: If you’re delegating a social media task, give the person the login information and train them on writing in a consistent company voice.
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    Use a project management system to track goals and deadlines. Add all of the tasks you’re delegating to the software you’re using. Add the deadline and any major milestones you want to achieve to the schedule so anyone assigned to the task knows when everything needs to be completed. As new tasks come up, continue adding them to the software and assigning them to the appropriate person.[6]
    • Some common project management software to try include Trello and Asana.
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    Check in on progress frequently. Set up a time every few days or every week to meet with the person you delegated responsibilities to. Ask them how they’re doing with the task and check that they’ve progressed how you expected them to. Find out if there are any areas where they’re struggling and offer to help them out if they’re confused.[7]
    • If the person isn’t doing the task how you’d expect them to, it’s okay to redirect them. Just avoid micromanaging every small decision since it could seem like you’re taking over and it may frustrate the other person.
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    Evaluate the person’s performance. Once the person completes the task, let them know how well they did based on the expectations you set for them at the start of the job. Tell the person what they did well as well as areas where they underperformed. Then, give feedback about where they could improve.[8]
    • If you forgot to mention something you wanted when you laid out your expectations or during check-ins, avoid criticizing the person if they don’t do it. Since you didn’t voice it clearly, it shouldn’t reflect on the person you delegated for the task.
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Section 2 of 3:

Marketing Tasks to Delegate

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    Social media management Building connections on social media isn’t just posting a status—it’s liking, commenting, sharing, and interacting with others as well. Since you’ll see more interactions and impressions on your posts if you dedicate more time to social media, it’s a great idea to delegate those responsibilities to other employees.[9]
    • If there’s someone on your team who has run business accounts or has gone viral before, pick them to manage the accounts.
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    Market research Market research is really time-consuming since it takes a while to gather and analyze data about your customers, your competitors, and your industry. Before you develop a marketing plan for your business, it’s important to have someone fully commit their time to it.[10]
    • Look for a person who has an eye for detail and can easily recognize patterns since they’ll can see where the market is trending.
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    Lead generation Generating leads is all about finding the right customers or users for your business, and they can make up a major portion of your sales or traffic. If you don’t have someone who can dedicate their time to finding these leads, then it could lead to a drop in customers.[11]
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    Email list management Emails are a great way to send newsletters and promotions, but it can be pretty time-consuming to gather email addresses into a list. Since it can be tedious to curate email lists and determine what promotions are best to send them, another person may be a better fit for the responsibility.[12]
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    Newsletter & blog writing Newsletters and blogs generate a huge return on investment for keeping customers engaged and updated about your business. Rather than using your spare minutes in the day to write some rushed copy, delegating the work to a gifted writer on your team could help drive more traffic.[13]
    • Train the person on SEO and using keywords so your posts take up the top spots on search engines.
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    Graphics and image editing If you have product photos that need touch-ups or complex graphics for marketing materials, outsource the work to another person. Since the editing tasks are usually simple and repetitive, it’s the perfect work for someone else to take over so you can focus on other work.[14]
    • Make sure the person has experience working with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Experience doing layout in InDesign is also a huge plus for formatting letters and brochures with images.
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    Content scheduling and promotion Someone who takes care of scheduling and promotion makes sure that social media and blog posts are visible to your audience. Whether that’s planning when posts are made available online or using paid promotions to reach more people, someone taking over the task can put a lot more time and energy towards it than you.[15]
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Section 3 of 3:

Why is delegating important?

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    Delegating small tasks lets you focus on larger, more important projects. When you’re overwhelmed with work that takes up a lot of your time, you don’t get to work on large-scale tasks that are a part of your job. Managing your team effectively and delegating tasks that others can handle lets you free up your schedule.[16]
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    Delegating finds new or creative ways to accomplish your goals. Asking for help and someone else to take the lead on a job brings in a fresh, outside perspective that you maybe wouldn’t have considered if you kept doing the task yourself. Rather than staying attached to the “old ways” of getting something done, delegating makes it easy to recognize new and more effective approaches.[17]
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    Delegating helps employees feel more valued and trusted. Employees feel more satisfied with their work when you trust them to do something on their own. When you give an employee a task that you used to take responsibility for, it makes them feel like they’re able to try out their ideas and feel like their voice is heard in the company.[18]
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Tips

  • Prepare ahead of time for if the person you delegated a task to is unable to work so you’re able to pick up where they left off.

Warnings

  • Be careful not to micromanage someone you’ve delegated a task to since it will still take up your time and it will make the person feel like they don’t have control over the project.[19]

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References

  1. ↑ https://hbr.org/2017/07/how-to-decide-which-tasks-to-delegate
  2. ↑ https://www.sdsmt.edu/uploadedFiles/Content/Campus_Life/Student_Activities/Organizations/Delegation.pdf
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/mOCnShqFvYk?t=125
  4. ↑ https://www.inc.com/martin-zwilling/how-to-delegate-work-be-a-more-productive-leader.html
  5. ↑ https://youtu.be/MdFJamQQssI?t=437
  6. ↑ https://youtu.be/t1LpD-9yuao?t=392
  7. ↑ https://youtu.be/Lr3Srk5wNlI?t=139
  8. ↑ https://www.sdsmt.edu/uploadedFiles/Content/Campus_Life/Student_Activities/Organizations/Delegation.pdf
  9. ↑ https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2023-2/4-things-to-look-for-in-a-social-media-team-lead/
  1. ↑ https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/issues/2001/1100/p39.html
  2. ↑ https://outfront.kw.com/training/the-lead-generation-model-your-ultimate-guide-to-business-growth/
  3. ↑ https://www.delegated.com/blog/marketing-tasks-to-delegate
  4. ↑ https://youtu.be/ltNEDHbbKU8?t=46
  5. ↑ https://youtu.be/vZhsTXWYZqU?t=77
  6. ↑ https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/issues/2001/1100/p39.html
  7. ↑ https://youtu.be/KApy2bpDMaQ?t=191
  8. ↑ https://hbr.org/2019/08/8-ways-leaders-delegate-successfully
  9. ↑ https://www.academia.edu/10017316/Delegation_Benefits_Limitations_and_Why_Managers_Find_It_Difficult_To_Delegate
  10. ↑ https://hbr.org/2017/10/to-be-a-great-leader-you-have-to-learn-how-to-delegate-well

About This Article

Natasha Miller
Co-authored by:
Natasha Miller
Event Planner & CEO, Entire Productions
This article was co-authored by Natasha Miller and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. Natasha Miller is an Event Planner, Chief Experience Designer, and President of Entire Productions, an event and entertainment production company based in San Francisco, California. Notable clients Natasha has collaborated with include Apple, Google, Gap, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Salesforce. Natasha and Entire Productions has been awarded Inc. 5,000's "Fastest Growing Companies in America", Entrepreneur Magazine's 360 List of "Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America." Entire Productions is also a Certified Women Business Enterprise. Natasha is a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
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Updated: March 24, 2023
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