Introduction: The First Marketing Hire — A Transformative Step
Hiring your first marketing leader is not just a mere recruitment process — it’s a transformative step that can propel your business’s growth. It’s imperative to approach this decision with a strategic mindset, and deliberate approach.
Key Factors for Your First Marketing Hire
Before delving into your options, it’s essential to consider key factors that will shape your decision when hiring your first marketing leader.
1. Understanding Your Needs
Before you begin the search, it’s important to assess your business’s current marketing needs. Are you looking to build brand awareness, generate leads, boost sales, or a combination of other factors? A thorough understanding of your goals is crucial.
2. Assess Your Budget
Consider your budget constraints when hiring your first marketing professional. In the early stages of your business, it might not be feasible to hire a full-time seasoned Marketing Director or CMO. Also keep in mind that you will need to plan for a marketing budget for this person to operate with, typically a single-digit percentage of revenue for B2B companies.
3. Level of Expertise
Should your first marketing be an entry-level specialist, a mid-level manager, or a seasoned CMO? The answer depends on your specific needs, the scale of your operations, and your budget. A common misstep for early-stage companies is hiring someone who is expected to do it all. While it’s possible to plan and drive a compressive marketing strategy, the level of experience needed for a marketing leader to successfully often leads you to overpay for the execution of their strategy.
4. Range of Marketing Knowledge
While every business is unique, having someone with a broad marketing background is invaluable. Look for candidates who have demonstrated success in various marketing domains. That person will be better suited to lead marketing cross-functionally than someone who is highly specialized, and their versatility can provide immense value to a small team.
5. Industry Experience
If your challenges and target audience are specific to your field, having a candidate with experience in the same or a similar industry can be a significant advantage. They will be familiar with the nuances and intricacies of your sector, allowing for more tailored and effective marketing strategies.
6. Building a Team
As you’re contemplating your first marketing hire, think about the team they’ll lead. Will it be a solo role, or are you looking to create a dedicated marketing department? The size of your team should align with your growth ambitions.
7. Measuring Success
One of the biggest challenges in marketing is measuring success. Your first marketing leader should be proficient in setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and analyzing data for continual improvement, that are aligned with your company’s mission and growth goals.
8. Cultural Fit
Your first marketing leader should be more than just a professional. They should align with your company’s culture and values. Their passion and personality should resonate with your vision. It’s the support from the people you work with that can make all the difference in your day-to-day work life.
Selecting Your Marketing Direction:
Now, let’s explore the options available to you as a CEO trying to figure out the best approach to building out a marketing function within your firm.
Option 1: Hiring a Full-Time Marketing Employee
Hiring a full-time marketing employee can be challenging. You might face questions about which level to hire, cultural fit, cost-effectiveness, and the risk of not obtaining the best strategies.
If you hire a full-time marketing leader but don’t allocate the additional headcount or budget to outsource the execution of their strategy, you may find yourself drastically overpaying them to execute the day-to-day tasks that would be better left to a more junior marketing team member.
A similar challenge exists if you hire someone who lacks the skills or experience to create and drive a comprehensive marketing strategy. You may be lowering your expenses, but it could come at the cost of the effectiveness of your company’s marketing strategy and ROI on this endeavor.
Option 2: Outsourcing Marketing Functions to Agencies
If you feel the timing isn’t right for a new hire or lack the time, resources, or expertise needed to onboard a full-time marketing leader, you might consider outsourcing your marketing work to external agencies.
However, marketing without a comprehensive strategy is like attempting to solve a complex puzzle without a picture on the box. Your efforts can quickly become fragmented, misaligned, and potentially ineffective — all of which lead to increased costs in the business world. Agencies may find it more challenging to work efficiently and deliver results without clear creative and strategic direction from a seasoned marketing leader, possibly resulting in higher charges.
Option 3: Hiring a Fractional Marketing Leader
Opting to onboard a fractional marketing leader presents a unique and increasingly popular solution, especially beneficial for small to medium-sized businesses. This approach allows you to swiftly address your challenges and maximize your marketing effectiveness, all without the immediate necessity of building an extensive in-house marketing department. When you choose a fractional marketing leader, you gain more control over your expenditures, ensuring that you allocate your budget appropriately between strategic planning and cost-effective execution.
This approach offers an ideal starting point with minimal initial investment, creating an opportunity to experiment, refine, and devise a systematic path to scaling your marketing team at a manageable pace. In the beginning, it provides the advantage of having multiple marketing experts involved in your business without the commitment of full-time hires.
Furthermore, exceptional fractional marketing leaders always focus on the future. They should equip you with a roadmap for expanding your marketing team in alignment with your company’s growth objectives and revenue trajectory.
Bonus: What if our goal is acquisition?
In the B2B landscape, larger companies often prioritize systems over personnel when contemplating an acquisition. Many prospective B2B acquirers already boast established marketing teams. To them, demonstrating that you’ve methodically determined your firm’s success, and improved it through strategic planning and system development — instead of through workforce expansion — is a strong point in your favor.
In addition to this, hiring a fractional marketing leader can swiftly enhance your company’s visibility and branding at a lower cost, while simultaneously delivering a remarkable return on investment.
Conclusion:
Hiring your first marketing leader is a significant milestone in your company’s journey. By considering your specific needs and the pros and cons of each option, you can make an informed decision. While each choice has its merits, hiring a fractional marketing leader can provide the strategic leadership you need without the risks and uncertainties that come with hiring a full-time employee. It’s the path to achieving a well-rounded marketing strategy that will propel your business to thrive and outperform competitors.