Do you really need a Marketing Manager?

Assumptions ruin things.

 

“When you struggle with sales, turn to marketing”

 

It’s easy to assume you need a marketing manager because you want a better bottom line but hiring for a role that you’re completely disconnected from can be disastrous.

Know your deliverables

Small business owners often scramble to hire a marketing manager as soon as they notice a lack of engagement on their social media or a dip in the bottom line figure. They assume that sales will automatically get boosted from marketing. Marketing almost seems like a solid investment to guarantee revenue.

They’ll say things like “we need to run some ads and post 3 times a day!”.

They’ll assume that a marketing manager will be a cure-all solution.

More often than not, this results in wasted ad expenditure, multiple costly platforms to monitor engagement and no idea how to really use the accumulated data. The newly hired marketing manager gets stick from the senior team because they’ve not seen any ROI or understand what’s expected from a marketing manager. You’ll end up with a super cheesed off employee who loathes you and you can’t blame them!

Marketing isn’t a magic wand that’ll fix your revenue problem just because you’ve decided to set aside a budget, and even then, sometimes the big ones get it wrong…

 

 

 

So if the big corporations still get it wrong, surely our smaller businesses would REALLY struggle?

First, know your customer, then press down on marketing

This doesn’t need to be the case. Aligning with a marketing agency that speaks your language and understands your brand, vision & industry will make a big difference. Sometimes costing a fraction of the price of a marketing manager, an agency can be the best step for an SME.

You set your goals and the agency works towards bridging the digital gap, without you having to decipher complex platforms & channels. (Assuming you’re going more digital this year).

If you’re a small business owner with a limited budget looking for a marketing agency, we’ve got you covered; you can post a project and connect with agencies here. We know it’s a minefield trying to find the right agency, so we’ve got a handy little guide here for you.

Some businesses do need a marketing manager!

If you’re seeking a marketing manager, LinkedIn is one of the top places to find one. You can easily drop a request with the hashtag #findapro, this ensures better visibility on the platform. If you’ve got a premium version of LinkedIn, it’s far easier to sift through marketing managers that are seeking a new role.

For many SMEs nowadays, a full-time marketing manager isn’t always necessary, working with a part-time or fractional CMO is more than enough.

Be very clear on the deliverables and don’t expect them to be able to cover every single marketing aspect. One of the most important steps to figuring out if you need a marketing manager is knowing if you need help with strategy or execution.

Strategy = find a fractional CMO.

Execution = hire a marketing assistant/executive.

Marketing managers do tend to dabble in both, it’s better to ask as many questions as possible to figure out what the candidate is seeking. Finding freelancers to lay out a strategy and check KPIs every quarter with a marketing assistant to execute tasks might be a better solution for the majority of small businesses.

One of the best things you can do before you jump straight into hiring a marketing manager is to learn a little about marketing yourself!