Intro
There’s a particular hiring conversation I really enjoy.
A founder or CEO has grown a decent business.
Marketing has happened.
Perhaps reasonably successfully.
There might be a small team.
A couple of agencies.
Some paid media.
CRM.
Social.
A website that’s been rebuilt approximately 47 times. 😂
But marketing has never really had one senior person properly owning it.
Eventually the business reaches the point where somebody says:
“I think we need a Marketing Director.”
Maybe.
But before recruiting one, work out what you’re actually handing them.
What stage is the business at?
A £5m founder-led business trying to establish product-market fit needs something very different from a £100m retailer trying to transform an established marketing function.
Think about revenue and growth ambitions.
Customer base.
Market maturity.
Team.
Budget.
Channels.
Data.
Technology.
Brand maturity.
And what the CEO currently owns that they want to hand over.
What does the team look like?
If your new Marketing Director inherits six good specialists, you may need a leader who can create direction and get more from them.
If they inherit nobody, you need a builder.
Those aren’t necessarily the same person.
What’s the budget?
This sounds obvious.
It isn’t always.
You can’t ask somebody to deliver enormous growth and then give them £14.50 and a Canva subscription. 😂
Be clear about what they genuinely control.
Brand, growth or both?
One of the biggest challenges with senior marketing briefs is expecting one person to be world-class at everything.
Brand.
Performance.
CRM.
Ecommerce.
Data.
PR.
Content.
Product.
Commercial strategy.
AI.
And probably organise the Christmas party while they’re at it.
Strong Marketing Directors can operate broadly.
But everybody has strengths.
Know which ones your business actually needs.
What does the CEO relationship look like?
This can make or break the hire.
If you’ve historically owned every marketing decision, are you genuinely ready to hand some of that responsibility over?
A good senior marketer should challenge you occasionally.
If what you really want is somebody senior enough to be accountable but junior enough to agree with everything you say, you’re going to have an interesting search.
What needs to change?
This is the question I’d build the whole brief around.
Twelve months after this person starts:
What does the team look like?
What has happened to revenue?
What has happened to acquisition?
What has happened to the brand?
What decisions are being made differently?
What are you, as CEO, no longer having to do?
Now we’ve got a brief.