How to structure your first marketing team - the roles to hire in order, org chart at each stage, and how a fractional CMO leads the build.
Building your first marketing team is one of the most consequential decisions a growth-stage company makes. Get it right and you have a machine. Get it wrong and you have expensive overhead with inconsistent output. Here's how to build it correctly.
The first marketing hire should be determined by your biggest revenue constraint. If you have a great product and qualified leads but not enough pipeline, hire a demand generation specialist. If you have pipeline but are losing deals to better-known competitors, hire a content and brand specialist. Never hire a 'generalist marketing coordinator' as your first hire - you'll get general output when you need specific results.
Stage 1 (pre-hire, $0-$3M revenue): Fractional CMO sets strategy, external agencies execute. Stage 2 (first hire, $3M-$8M revenue): One internal demand gen or content specialist, fractional CMO leads. Stage 3 (team, $8M-$20M revenue): Demand gen, content, and ops each have an owner. Fractional CMO or VP of Marketing leads the team. Stage 4 (full function, $20M+ revenue): Full CMO hire with a VP of Marketing, 5-10 person team across all functions.
The critical mistake: hiring junior marketers before you have senior leadership to direct them. Without strategy and direction, a junior team produces activity without results. Always have a senior marketing leader (fractional or full-time) before building the team beneath them. The leader defines the work; the team executes it.
A fractional CMO can effectively lead a marketing team of 1-8 people on a part-time basis. They set direction, run the weekly team meeting, review and approve campaigns, own the budget, and report to the CEO. When the team reaches 8+ people or the marketing function needs full-time leadership, the fractional CMO helps define and hire the full-time role.
In priority order for most B2B growth-stage companies: 1) Head of Demand Generation / Growth, 2) Content Marketing Manager, 3) Marketing Operations / RevOps, 4) Product Marketing Manager, 5) Brand / Design. This order will vary based on your specific situation - a sales-led company needs demand gen first; a PLG company might need product marketing first.
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