At some point, every growing business reaches the same conclusion.
“We need someone to handle our marketing.”
If you’ve built the business yourself, you’ve probably worn that hat for years. Along the way, you’ve done a little bit of everything. Sales. Operations. Finance. Marketing. Whatever needed to get done.
As the business grows, those responsibilities naturally begin to spread across a team. Eventually, marketing becomes important enough that you decide it’s time to hire someone to own it.
Even businesses that are experienced at hiring often approach marketing hires the same way.
You sit down to write the job description and start making a list.
We need someone who can manage our website. They should understand SEO. It would be great if they could run paid advertising, create content for social media, write email campaigns, shoot a little video, design graphics, manage our CRM, and keep an eye on analytics. While they’re at it, it would be nice if they could think strategically about where our marketing should go next.
None of those expectations seem unreasonable on their own. In fact, if you’re only hiring one person, they’re probably the same expectations anyone in your position would have.
Then one of two things happens. Sometimes you read the job description and realize you’ve described someone who’s going to be incredibly difficult to find. More often, you post the position, start interviewing candidates, and learn the hard way that finding someone who checks every box is nearly impossible. Or, if they do exist, they’re well outside the budget you had in mind.
Don’t worry. You’re not alone.
This is one of the most common things we see when businesses hire marketers.
Think about other professions for a minute. If you were building a house, you wouldn’t expect your electrician to pour the foundation or your plumber to install the roof. They’re all incredibly important to the project, but each has spent years developing a different area of expertise.
Marketing is similar.
The person who’s exceptional at SEO isn’t always the same person who’s passionate about (or capable of) producing video. A talented graphic designer may have little interest in running paid advertising campaigns. The copywriter who consistently writes compelling content may not be the person you want managing your CRM or digging through analytics reports.
Could you find someone who can do all of those things? Possibly.
Will they do all of them equally well? Unlikely.
Like every profession, marketers develop strengths over time. They become known for certain skills. They enjoy some parts of the job more than others. They develop expertise in one or two areas while remaining capable across many others.
So where does that leave you?
If we were sitting down together, this is probably where we’d ask a different question.
What are you actually hiring this person to accomplish?
It’s easy to overlook this because you’re understandably focused on finding the right person. But before you decide who you’re looking for, it helps to be clear about what success looks like.
Are you trying to generate more qualified leads? Do you need someone to bring consistency to your marketing? Are you trying to improve your website, build a stronger brand, support your sales team, or increase your visibility in search?
The answers to those questions should shape the role.
Once that becomes clear, something interesting happens. The job description usually gets shorter. The interviews become more focused. Candidates become easier to evaluate because you’re no longer looking for someone who can do everything. You’re looking for someone who’s well suited for the work your business actually needs.
In the end, you stop looking for the perfect marketer and start looking for the right marketer for your business.
If you’re preparing to hire a marketer and would like an outside perspective before you begin searching, we’d be glad to help. Our Marketing Talent Acquisition process helps businesses define the role before the search begins, making it easier to confidently identify the right candidate.
Coming next: Hiring the right marketer is only the beginning. In our next article, we’ll explore why talented marketing employees leave and what business owners can do about it. *Hint* It’s not all about the money!
