Decide what marketing should achieve before your hire

Many businesses feel the pressure to build brand awareness, strengthen reputation, and drive sales. The instinct is to hire marketing support quickly, whether an internal hire or external partner, without first asking the most important question: What do you actually want marketing to achieve for your business?

This single decision shapes everything: the skills required, the level of seniority needed, and whether your investment delivers real commercial impact.

Define your marketing priorities: Creativity vs commercial impact

Before recruiting or outsourcing, clarify the primary purpose of your marketing function.

Creative excellence

• Memorable campaigns, striking visuals, engaging content

• Refreshed brand identity that elevates your presence

• Strengthening reputation and perception

Commercial impact

• Generating leads, higher conversions, measurable ROI

• Strategic planning aligned with business goals

• Marketing that directly drives business growth

Both goals are valid, but expecting one person or solution to excel equally at both often leads to disappointment. Clarity upfront prevents mismatched expectations and wasted investment.

Execution vs strategy: What do you really need?

Before hiring, decide whether your business needs:

• The Executor: Hands-on marketer managing campaigns, social media, website updates, and content creation

Best for businesses needing marketing done efficiently and consistently

• The Strategist: Senior marketer shaping brand narrative, aligning marketing with commercial goals, and developing long-term plans

Ideal for businesses needing clarity, direction, and strategic impact

These roles require different skill sets, experience, and mindset. Hiring the wrong one is like handing someone a map when what you really needed was a compass.

The power of a clear marketing brief

A strong brief ensures marketing decisions are aligned with business goals. It helps you:

• Define responsibilities clearly

• Set realistic expectations

• Choose the appropriate level of support

• Build marketing that delivers measurable value

Without a clear brief, businesses often:

• Hire someone talented but mismatched for the role

• Expect junior support to deliver senior-level strategy

• Ask someone to “do marketing” without clear direction

Marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all. The clearer your brief, the stronger your outcomes.

When marketing aligns with strategy, growth follows

When marketing capability matches commercial objectives, the benefits are clear:

• Less reactive activity

• Clearer brand direction

  Stronger business outcomes

• More consistent, strategic growth

It all starts with one honest question: What do you really want marketing to do for your business?

Answer that first, and every subsequent hiring or engagement decision becomes smarter, clearer, and far more effective.

If you’d like support defining marketing objectives, creating the right brief, or embedding strategic marketing leadership into your business, explore Services or get in touch.