As a small business, you might be ready to expand a little, and one of the ways to make that happen is by having great marketing.
But, there is a reason that there are marketing experts- they are trained, knowledgeable, and know what it takes to make things happen.
But how do you hire the right person for the job?
It would be best to decide what you need (and be prepared to be wrong). Marketing is a much broader topic that many people know – unless you are a marketeer, that is! And therein lies the issue: if you aren’t sure what you need, how can you get the right person?
So, to prepare, you can think about what your business needs now and future goals. Once you have determined your primary goals, you are closer to finding what you need.
Once you get closer to what you need, you can refine it further: find a recruiter who understands what you need and has the experience to prove it.
There are four main profiles that you need to have some understanding of.
Brand and Creative Marketing
A brand marketer will take your brand story and turn it into something people resonate with. From a single logo and a loose vision, they can sculpt and mold it into a complete brand marketing strategy. The brand strategy will include design, social, research, content, and more. A brand and creative marketeer understands how to tell a story and frame it in a way that matters to your audience.
Communications
Press releases, internal communications, content marketing, and media relations anything that comes under getting a message across. It would be best if you started talking about your branding and your product when you have your branding nailed.
A communications marketer will influence internal messaging, influencer marketing, social media, PR, and company news.
Product Marketing
When you have a selling product, you know it could do better. Positioning your product, understanding the competitors, and messaging fall under product marketing. Your product marketer will create value for you through creating impactful sales, competitor analysis, and storytelling.
Performance Marketing
This one strongly focuses on digital marketing campaigns, such as native advertising, newsletter sponsorship, Google Adwords, and PPC. A performance marketing person is ideal if you already know who you’re talking to (your audience) and that your product works.
Keep in mind that advertising costs are ever-increasing and increasingly complex, with so many users utilizing their privacy options.
Digital marketers are typically more analytical.
With those broad descriptions in mind, it is an excellent time to think about which of those you might need more. More than a few mistakes can be made, though, and they are worth understanding so they can be avoided.
Overhiring
A mistake that many smaller companies make is hiring someone more expensive and more senior than you need. Since your team is growing, it is easy to overhire and not fully understand how a person might fit into your team. You might find that someone with less experience and seniority grows with the team you are building better.
No clear goals
It would be best to consider your organization’s long-term needs, which means having solid goals. These goals are what your marketing person will use to build their strategy. Another issue is that without a clear path, you might hire someone who seems to cover all of these bases and then some. And while hiring someone with multiple marketing skills is essential, don’t try to set your sights on a unicorn.
What skills should you be looking for?
Since the pool for great marketers is so vast now with freelancers and other small companies, spotting the hard skills that will make a big difference to your company is essential.
Project management
Hiring a marketing person with a good track record in project management will make a huge difference. There are many moving parts, and the person in charge needs to be able to handle all of them. Prioritization is a skill they need. Deadline management, overseeing the people involved, and remaining calm are essential.
Demand generation
Creating an interest in your services and products is about building a stream of leads for your sales team. You let customers know that you can solve their problems and exactly how you do it. Your marketing person will have some experience with this and ask to see it because you need to speak to your audience before they are ready to buy. It’s all about the story.
Paid marketing
Managing paid media covers ads on social media, google, and anywhere else you are digitally advertising. The skill here is creating a smooth user journey to bump traffic and conversions. Paid media works faster than SEO but is more potent in unison.
Most often, businesses in growth mode are budget-strapped, meaning paid advertisements must be intelligent and effective. Your marketer will create, research, re-test, and get results.
Analytical skills
Marketing is about numbers, analyzing data, problem-solving, and innovation. Analytical skills are the ability to gather information, make sense of it, and then use it. It solves business problems effectively.
Writing skills
Most marketing people will have a way with words – because those words sell. They will likely be able to work with a copywriter to create engine copy or, in some cases, do it themselves.
Good marketing copy is clear and concise, tells a story without straying from the point, evokes emotion, convinces, and engages. Social media content, blog content, press releases, and paid marketing all need good copy.
Teamwork
The best marketing comes from a melting pot of ideas and a master plan, and that typically comes from teamwork. Marketers will work closely with all the other people on the team to produce something that resonates with the audience.
Technical skills
Modern marketing is heavily reliant on software to make it work. Here are some of the skills that you should be looking for:
- CMS
- Content curation
- Project management software
- Editing software
- Budgeting
- Ai content
- Social media
The skills may vary based on the specialism of the marketing person.
It is common for the hiring process to have multiple rounds, and one of those is typically a test case. The test case will be used to prove the skills of the person that you are considering hiring.
Your chosen recruitment company will filter out almost everyone unsuitable for the position. All those who meet the first set of criteria will have a more formal conversation, and the best candidates from that round will often be asked to do a test case. A skills test will be able to separate those with the skills with those who have a great personality and talk the talk.
Hiring the right person the first time is something that all companies should strive for because hiring is an expensive process to get wrong. However, this is a much smaller mistake than undertaking your marketing with limited experience and knowledge. Start with the basics, and go from A Beginner’s Guide To Influencer Marketing For E-commerce.
Navigating the Hiring Maze
Embarking to hire a marketing expert can often feel like navigating through a complex maze. But what if we viewed this maze not as a perplexing labyrinth but as a thrilling adventure? Imagine each turn representing a new opportunity to discover a candidate who doesn’t just meet the criteria but elevates your team to new heights. Isn’t the essence of hiring about exploring the unknown, uncovering hidden gems in the professional field, and steering your ship toward uncharted territories to find that perfect fit? The key is to embrace the journey, anticipate the unexpected, and relish discoveries.
The Symphony of Skills
Picture a symphony where each instrument plays a pivotal role in creating a harmonious melody. Isn’t hiring a marketing expert somewhat similar? Each candidate brings a unique set of skills akin to a distinct musical note. Some may excel in digital landscapes, while others might weave magic through content. The conductor, or in this case, the hiring manager, must identify how these individual notes can be orchestrated to compose a melody that resonates with the brand’s identity. How will you ensure that the piece your team creates is heard and remembered?
The Garden of Growth
Envision your business as a flourishing garden. The marketing expert you hire will be the gardener, nurturing and tending to the various plants representing different aspects of your marketing strategy. Each element requires meticulous care, from the seeds of content creation and the buds of social media management to the blossoming flowers of SEO optimization. The gardener must know when to water when to prune, and when to let it grow wild. In the garden of your business, ensuring each aspect blooms in its season is crucial for sustained growth and blooming success.
The Tapestry of Team Dynamics
Consider a tapestry, where each thread is meticulously woven to create a cohesive and captivating image. Each team member is a thread in the tapestry of your organization, and hiring a new marketing expert means introducing a new color, texture, and character to the weave. How will this new thread blend into the existing pattern? Will it enhance the current design or disrupt the harmony? Ensuring the new hire adds to and elevates the contemporary tapestry, improving its practice and strength, is a delicate art of team dynamics and culture fit.
The Culinary Art of Strategy Creation
Imagine crafting a marketing strategy as an exquisite culinary process. Each ingredient, whether SEO, content marketing, or social media management, must be measured, prepared, and utilized at the right time to create a delectable dish – your successful marketing campaign. Much like a seasoned chef, the marketing expert must know which ingredients to prioritize, how to blend different flavors, and when to let a component simmer to extract maximum potency. The end goal? To serve a dish that not only satiates but offers a memorable experience to the consumer, ensuring they return for more.
Summary
Embarking on the Hiring Adventure: The journey to hire a marketing expert is akin to navigating through an adventurous maze, with each turn revealing new opportunities and potential candidates that could elevate your team to new heights. Hiring involves exploring the unknown, uncovering hidden professional gems, and steering toward uncharted territories with anticipation and excitement. Weaving a Harmonious Melody: Hiring is like orchestrating a symphony, where each candidate represents a unique note, and the hiring manager, the conductor, must weave these notes together to create a melody that resonates and is remembered. The goal is to ensure that the song, or the collective skills and contributions of the team, is not merely heard but leaves a lasting
Frequently Asked Questions
How crucial is it to understand the different profiles in marketing before hiring?
Understanding the different profiles in marketing, such as Brand and Creative Marketing, Communications, Product Marketing, and Performance Marketing, is vital as it helps identify the specific skills and expertise your business needs.
What are some common mistakes to avoid when hiring a marketing expert?
Common mistakes include overhiring, not having clear, long-term organizational goals, and seeking a ” unicorn ” candidate with all possible marketing skills.
How does having clear organizational goals
Clear organizational goals provide a roadmap for the marketing expert to build their strategy and ensure the hiring process targets candidates who align with these objectives.
Why is it essential to evaluate a candidate’s hard and soft skills?
Evaluating hard and soft skills ensures that the candidate possesses the technical expertise and interpersonal and management skills to navigate the marketing landscape effectively.
How does a structured hiring process benefit in selecting the right candidate?
A structured hiring process involving multiple rounds and a skills test ensures that candidates are evaluated effectively, guaranteeing the selected individual possesses the necessary skills and fits into the organizational culture.
What role does a marketing expert play in small business growth?
A marketing expert navigates through various marketing channels, crafts strategies, and implements campaigns that enhance brand visibility, contributing to the business’s growth and expansion.
How does understanding the different marketing profiles aid in avoiding overhiring?
Understanding different marketing profiles enables businesses to identify the specific expertise they need, thereby avoiding the mistake of hiring individuals with more experience and seniority than required.
Why is considering the candidate’s experience with project management significant?
Project management experience is crucial as marketing involves managing various components and ensuring campaigns are executed efficiently and effectively within set timelines.
How does a marketing expert enhance brand and creative marketing?
A marketing expert enhances brand and creative marketing by crafting strategies that resonate with the target audience and weaving the brand story into campaigns that span design, content, social media, and more.
Why is it essential to evaluate a candidate’s experience with paid marketing?
Evaluating a candidate’s experience with paid marketing is essential as it involves managing budgets effectively and crafting campaigns that provide a substantial return on investment, ensuring that the business reaches its target audience effectively.
