Top Tips for Your First Marketing Hire

For early-stage B2B, SaaS and tech companies it is all about the product.

For example, an initial early milestone is often the creation of a Minimal Viable Product.

Soon after, the milestone shifts to achieving Product-Market fit.

At this juncture, the team will likely consist primarily of developers. Their job is to build, and this is where the bulk of the initial seed capital is deployed.

The CEO will act as a jack/ jill of all trades at this stage, with founder-led sales being an important part of their role for this phase of growth.

During this pre-seed / seed phase, marketing will largely be absent.

Beyond a basic website, and some marketing collateral the function simply won’t exist.

While this makes perfect sense given resource constraints it is not tenable. Driving growth without a sales or marketing function is rare, especially when one considers most categories consist of competitive alternatives or close substitutes.

In short, the best product won’t win if no one has heard of it.

At some point bringing in a dedicated marketing person will be on the cards.

Characteristics of the First Marketing Hire

In most instances, the first marketing hire is a junior hire.

While their title may be ‘Marketing Manager’ the team will often be just themselves — a marketing ‘team of one’.

They will likely be early in their careers.

They may have some formal marketing qualifications, but unlike other qualifications, the overlap with what actually happens in real B2B / SaaS marketing jobs tends to be slim at best. US-centric academic textbooks lead primarily with case studies on big B2C brands, assume resource abundance and bias towards consumer marketing strategies.

A far cry from the realities of a nascent B2B marketing function.

As junior hires, they will tend to be ‘order takers’. Responsible for creating content and collateral for the sales function. Or whatever the CEO asks them to do.

But the marketing function is a broad one.

Half of the battle is knowing what to prioritize.

After all, it is an easy function to be kept busy in.

But busy doing what? Busy doing the wrong thing?

As leading US VC, Tom Tunguz argues:

The most frequent mishire in startups is the first head of marketing. Many different disciplines fall under marketing’s purview. The question facing founders recruiting marketers is: which is the most important to prioritize?

Marketing expertise falls into three segments: product marketing, demand generation, and brand marketing. Each of these kinds of marketers have critical skills for a startup. But the reason many marketing hires fail is the business doesn’t hire the right expertise at the right time.

What Should They Focus On?

This first point is a rather obvious one, but worth stressing nonetheless.

Prioritization is highly context-specific.

The number of variables impacting what should be prioritized is significant. It means that no playbook can be followed with any degree of confidence. Of course, there are some broad buckets to focus on like content marketing, paid acquisition and demand generation, but what is right for your business is dependent on so many different elements.

Indeed as Tunguz argues a common challenge is that the default often tends to be demand generation and growth, when all too often this is premature and will likely fail. The skills of a product marketer tend to be more valuable in these formative years, ensuring that the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is well described (and is accurate) and that the core benefits of your application are messaged correctly.

In summary, it is hard to prescribe what they should focus on without having a lot more context. That said an initial process should include:

1. Undertaking an initial audit, using data from disparate tools like Similar Web, SEMRush. aHrefs, Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console and the CRM to help understand the current position.
2. Gaining clarity as to the marketing budget.
3. Meeting key stakeholders so they are clear on the overall strategic goals.
4. Creation of a short marketing plan (ideally a two-pager) that outlines priorities.

Once a clear marketing plan is agreed upon the deliverables can be rank ordered by priority in a Trello board, so there is full transparency as to what is being worked on.

Finally, a note about managing expectations. Immediate impact is hard with marketing. Hence measuring return in terms of translating into a visible uplift in sales is not realistic. Unfortunately, this is not how it works.

What Qualities Should You Look For With This Hire?

1- Bias for Action

Firstly, they need to be high-octane with a bias for getting stuff done. This can be difficult to ascertain at the interview stage, so setting a time-based task as part of the recruitment process may help you identify suitable candidates.

2- Need to Act Autonomously

They need to be able to act autonomously despite their inexperience. After all, the last thing you want as a CEO is to be an additional bottleneck in the process, where all marketing decisions are escalated.

3- Pointing to Evidence

Ideally, they have evidence they can point to that supports their candidacy.

• What does their digital footprint look like?
• Do they even have one?

Again if they don’t have their own basic website, or have written some content it is difficult to assess competency in advance.

In short, in an interview, they need to demonstrate, rather than assert, that they have the ability to meet the needs of the role.

4- Strong on Time Management

They should also demonstrate a keen willingness to learn and to be strong on time management. Prioritizing tasks and ensuring that they are done in a timely manner is vital in what will be a demanding role.

What are Some Common Pitfalls?

1- Poor Prioritization

It is important to realize that marketing is a specialist function, and it is easy to do tasks but to do them badly.

Take content by way of an example.

The junior marketing person publishes a blog.

To the naked eye, it might look fine.

To the trained eye it won’t.

• Have they considered SEO?
• Is the content indexed in Google Search Console?
• Is the content compelling enough to generate interest and inspire confidence?
• Do they have an amplification process in place to help get eyeballs on it?

Take the home page of the site as another example.

• Does it follow typical designs optimized for conversions?
• Does the page contain adequate social proof?
• Is the messaging on point and designed to convert?
• Are on-site funnels optimized?

In short, someone can be busy doing stuff, but the bar is a lot higher for most B2B services. Competition is intense, and risk reduction is a key part of the process. First impressions do count.

2- Never Saying ‘No’

When you are a team of one — the default answer should be ‘no’.

Managing expectations as to what can be done helps ensure the focus is on the right areas.

One tell-tale sign is when you see early-stage companies spreading themselves too thinly.

For many, focusing on your website, Linkedin and building an email list are the most sensible areas to focus on.

Often you’ll see nascent startups trying to build audiences on Instagram, X and Facebook in parallel.

Efforts need to be focused on channels where your ICP is most active, and trying to play in multiple channels when the team is one indicates poor strategic thinking.

3- Doing Everything in-House

Even when budgets are tight, and despite advances in software, a jack/ jill of all trades needs to source external expertise on occasion rather than try to do everything themselves. Classic examples include the creation of sales collateral or videos. It is easier than ever to access Freelance talent for ad hoc work.

What Support Should You Put in Place?

If a junior hire is leading the function, you should set expectations in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as well as how you want the function to operate (using some of the above points to shape how they work).

It is worth noting that the pool of talent for a junior hire may be shallow, especially if budget constraints mean the salary is on the low side. Hence, you should consider whether additional support is needed. There are three main routes that are common.

1. Laissez Faire Approach

One option is to let things be as they are.

Consider the box ticked.

There is someone looking after marketing.

As it is one of the more visible functions, you can assess the quality and the quantity of the outputs (even if marketing is not your thing) and intervene as necessary.

Maybe it is sufficient for the current phase of your business.

However, if you are looking to drive growth then you may want to consider some additional support.

2. Outsource to an Agency

There are dedicated B2B SaaS agencies that can be used to supplement the team of one.

Deliverables will vary depending on requirements but typically include content creation, paid acquisition, and collateral.

This can help ensure you get access to specialists who can complement the incumbent.

3. Engage a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Fractional CMOs have gained in popularity in recent years, as companies recognise the value in accessing marketing leadership without having to pay a six figure salary sum to lead the function.

Naturally, both of these last two options increase the cost of the function. Both will also create work which can also spike costs, so it is important to think about budgeting in advance.

However, if you are genuinely looking to drive growth, trying to do so on a shoestring budget with a junior marketer flying solo will only lead to frustration all round.

Summary

For many early-stage startups, a marketing team of one is common. However, once you’ve established Product-Market fit and are looking to grow it is important to ensure you resource the function adequately. Using external freelance (or fractional support) offers some strong advantages bringing leadership to the function without needing a C-suite level hire.

About the Author:

Alan Gleeson is a Fractional CMO specialising in supporting growing and scaling B2B and SaaS businesses. With 20 years + experience Alan has been fortunate to work with some of Europe’s fastest growing companies.