Some thoughts on realistic expectations, the value of experience and what businesses really need from marketing.
A pattern keeps repeating in marketing hiring. A business needs help, so it writes a job description for one person to handle all of it. Brand strategy, websites, SEO, social media, graphic design, video production, email and text campaigns, CRM management, events, public relations, analytics and more.
Then comes the budget. Sometimes it’s $50,000 a year.
That’s roughly $24 an hour. It can fit a focused, clearly defined role. It can’t cover the skills and judgment of an entire marketing department, and no job title changes that. This is a planning problem, and it’s easier to fix before the posting goes up than after the search comes up empty.
Knowing the Tools Isn’t the Same as Knowing Marketing
Marketing has changed enormously. We’ve moved from traditional advertising into digital media, social platforms, automation and now artificial intelligence.
But while the tools have changed, the fundamentals haven’t.
Knowing Canva doesn’t make someone a designer. Understanding WordPress doesn’t make someone a web strategist. And knowing how to post on social media doesn’t necessarily mean someone knows how to build a brand.
These are valuable skills, but they’re not interchangeable. And they don’t automatically add up to marketing leadership.
Good marketing still requires understanding audiences, positioning, messaging, competitive differentiation and business objectives.
There’s a difference between producing marketing materials and knowing what those materials need to accomplish.
Experience Is Worth Budgeting For
Most job descriptions ask for years of experience, proven leadership, strategic thinking and the ability to work independently. Those qualifications carry real value, and the compensation should reflect it.
Curiosity, creativity and adaptability aren’t exclusive to any generation. Neither is good judgment.
And Then There’s AI
I’m an enthusiastic adopter of AI, and I’m continually amazed by what it allows me to accomplish.
Work that once took hours can sometimes be completed in minutes. Research, content development, website updates and presentations are becoming dramatically more efficient.
But AI doesn’t eliminate the need for experience. It makes sound judgment more important.
Someone still needs to understand the business, ask the right questions, evaluate the results and recognize what actually works.
AI can help produce the work. It doesn’t automatically know what work is worth producing.
And an experienced professional who embraces these tools can be extraordinarily effective.
What to Hire Instead
Smaller businesses have limited budgets. Not every organization can afford a six-figure marketing executive or a fully staffed department, and it doesn’t need to.
If your budget is $50,000, there are better options than a job description that requires the expertise of several different professionals:
- A marketing coordinator supported by outside specialists. The coordinator keeps the work moving day to day, while designers, web developers, video producers and others handle the pieces that need real expertise.
- A fractional strategist. An experienced professional sets the direction, priorities and messaging on a part-time basis, and your team carries it out.
- A realistic list of priorities. Decide what one person can accomplish well, then do that first. The rest can wait or be assigned elsewhere.
The concern isn’t just the salary. It’s the suggestion that marketing is a collection of tasks rather than a business discipline.
Being busy isn’t the same as being effective. And knowing how to operate the tools isn’t the same as knowing how to market.
If you’re hiring one person to do the work of an entire marketing department, the problem may not be finding the right candidate. It may be understanding what you’re actually hiring for.
If you’re sorting out what your marketing needs, I’d enjoy talking it through. Stop by the Let’s Grab Coffee page and say hello.
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