What type of marketing support do you actually need?

For every business owner doing their own marketing, there comes a time when you wonder, "Am I doing this right?" or "Is it time to hire marketing help?"

If you have been running it yourself, aside from running short on time or bandwidth, you may wonder if you are actually doing as much as you can.

Perhaps you've hired an agency, and at the end of every month the invoices are creeping up, and you're not really sure if you + an agency is the most effective solution. Have you asked yourself: "Is this really how businesses scale?"

I've talked about the types of hiring you can do: In-House, Agency, Consultant, or Fractional CMO > if you are interested, read that here: Hiring Marketing

Along with when to decide what professional to hire for the job you need done.

This post isn't to talk about that; it's to consider what type of marketing you actually need -- which, spoiler alert, can help you decide what type of marketing professional will work best.

Types of marketing people generally think of:

• Marketing Generalist - This can be in-house or CMO level; the difference is the conversations at the table and the requirement for results.

• Strategist - Senior level, CMO or Fractional CMO

• Graphic Designer - In-House or specialist

• Communications - In-House: varying levels depending on need; this can also be accomplished by hiring an external specialist or Agency

• Marketing Leadership - CMO or Fractional CMO

• Digital Marketing - In-House or Agency

• Website Maintenance - Agency, or in-house depending on skillset

• Public Relations - Agency, some CMO/fCMOs

• Advertising - Agency, or CMO/fCMO

• Brand Strategy - Agency, or CMO/fCMO

When you look at the functions of marketing and what marketing can entail, you can see how marketing tasks can contribute to determining what type of marketing professional will work best for your business.

If your business is customer-service-heavy, you may need someone strong in communications, email, and/or digital marketing, this could mean you need an in-house specialist. For specific activities, like advertising, you may choose to go with an agency. Or if you need a wide range of activities, you may focus on a marketing generalist.

When an Agency Is the Right Call

Agencies are built to produce. Content, ads, design, social with have teams, tools, and processes oriented around maximizing output. Agencies build off of, or help extract, what you already know (yes, they still need you) and create from there.

Ask:

Do you have a go-to-market strategy?

Is the work repeatable? (corporate materials)

Is someone internal able to manage the work and relationship?

What is more important - speed, volume, or refinement?

Agencies fill a gap, or build from what already exists. Their business runs on retained hours and deliverables, so the more clarity you provide, the better off this relationship will be.

When a Full-Time CMO Hire Makes Sense (In-House)

A full-time CMO is the right investment when the marketing is complex enough to require full cognitive bandwidth on your business and when the activity level warrants it, including internal.

A few key conditions:

• You're past $10–15M in revenue and marketing is a meaningful organizational function with internal team members who need a leader

• You're preparing for a raise, a market expansion, or a brand repositioning that requires deep institutional context

• You need someone who will be in the room for strategic conversations with the board, product discussions, sales pipeline reviews

• The consistent volume of work justifies the total compensation package (salary, bonus, equity, benefits — you're realistically looking at USD $200K+ for a CMO who can do what you need)

The risk of hiring too early is real. A strong CMO in an environment without the right infrastructure will typically leave within 18 months.

When Fractional Is the Right Answer (In-House/Contract)

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader working with your business for a defined number of hours per month. Not a junior, not a consultant, not project-based, but a consistent strategic partner in your business and, accountable to outcomes.

Consider this when:

• You need strategic leadership but can't support the cost of a full-time executive

• Marketing decisions are currently being made by you, or by whoever is loudest rather than by a strategic process

• You've had agencies not deliver and can't figure out why or the results have made no impact

• You're at a growth inflection: 15 to 100 employees, scaling revenue, entering new markets, and the cost of bad, or no, marketing decisions is more costly

• You need someone who can build the function: the strategy, the process, the metrics, the team — and then hand it off or stay, depending on what you need

The fractional model gives you the caliber of experience without the overhead of a full-time commitment before your business is ready for one.

When In-House Makes Sense

Hiring in-house is often the first place a company thinks of, it often aligns with a comfortable budget and offers the commitment businesses seek. Many businesses will start with a junior level employee to test it out.

This model is right when:

• Much of the work will be directed by senior leaders or the founder, with time to provide oversight and guidance.

• No specific expertise is needed; this is a general-level role designed to test whether, or what, is actually needed.

• There is not a lot of high-level requirements for ROI for any specific activities.

The in-house model gives you an added person to learn your business and hone their skills. This could lead to a larger role or remain the same.

The best way to decide who to hire is by assessing the tasks and skills needed to accomplish the desired outcome and the expectations - if you are ready to grow and know what skill sets you need, and can afford it, in-house is a great place to start.

julie boake

awedity