You've decided you need marketing help. Maybe you're doing all the marketing yourself and it's unsustainable. Maybe you tried hiring someone and it didn't work out. Maybe you're just not sure where to start.
Here's the challenge: "marketer" means about twelve different things. A product marketer who excels at positioning is very different from a demand gen manager who builds paid acquisition engines. Someone with a strong content background operates differently than a growth marketer.
Most founders hire for a title ("Marketing Manager") rather than a specific problem ("We need someone to build our inbound lead engine"). This often leads to mismatched expectations and disappointing results.
This guide will help you figure out what type of marketer you actually need, how to evaluate candidates effectively, and what to watch out for in the hiring process.
Before you write a job description or talk to candidates, get clear on specific problems you're solving for. Of course this hire will do many things, but try to get focused on your biggest priorities and current issues. They could sound something like:
What you probably need: A Marketing Manager or Demand Generation Manager who can build your inbound engine from scratch.
What they'll do: Set up paid acquisition channels (LinkedIn, Google), create content that drives organic traffic, build email nurture programs, optimize your website for conversion.
What to look for: Someone who's built demand gen programs at companies in similar ARR range as you, can work with limited budget, comfortable being hands-on with multiple channels.
What you probably need: A Product Marketer or Marketing Manager with strong positioning and messaging skills.
What they'll do: Conduct customer research, develop clear positioning, create messaging frameworks, build sales enablement materials, help with product launches.
What to look for: Someone who's done positioning work before, can do customer interviews, works well with sales and product teams, has examples of messaging that improved conversion or win rates.
What you probably need: A Content Marketer or Content Marketing Manager.
What they'll do: Develop content strategy, write blog posts and guides, optimize for SEO, create sales collateral, potentially manage freelancers.
What to look for: Someone who can write well (ask for samples), understands SEO basics, has created content that drove leads or pipeline, not just traffic.
What you probably need: A Marketing Manager or Senior Marketing Manager (generalist).
What they'll do: A combination of content creation, paid acquisition oversight, email marketing, website optimization, sales enablement, and analytics. They'll need to be versatile and figure out what to prioritize.
What to look for: Someone who's worn multiple hats, built marketing programs from scratch at early-stage companies, comfortable with limited resources, can work independently with weekly check-ins.
What you probably need: A Senior Marketing Manager or Head of Marketing.
What they'll do: Audit what's working, develop an integrated strategy, make channel allocation decisions, potentially build a small team over time, own the marketing budget.
What to look for: Someone who's built marketing functions before, brings frameworks and processes, can think strategically while being hands-on, comfortable with ambiguity.
Still not sure? That's completely normal. Many founders benefit from talking through their specific situation with someone who specializes in marketing hiring. We help founders figure this out every day.
Regardless of which type of marketer you're hiring, these questions will help you evaluate judgment, ownership, and fit.
What you're evaluating: Can they build something from zero? Do they think strategically before executing? Can they share actual results?
What strong answers include:
Watch out for:
What you're evaluating: Do they have good judgment? Can they say no? Do they understand business impact?
What strong answers include:
Watch out for:
What you're evaluating: Do they take ownership? Are they self-aware? Do they learn from mistakes?
What strong answers include:
Watch out for:
What you're evaluating: Do they connect marketing to business outcomes? Do they think analytically?
What strong answers include:
Watch out for:
What you're evaluating: Do they ask questions before proposing solutions? Do they lead with diagnosis?
What strong answers include:
Watch out for:
Some patterns suggest a candidate may not be the right fit, regardless of which marketing role you're hiring for.
There's a big difference between taking an existing marketing program from good to great versus building one from zero. If your candidate has only worked at well-funded, later-stage companies where everything was already set up, they may struggle at earlier stages.
What to ask: "Tell me about a time you had to build something with very limited budget or resources."
"I published 50 blog posts" or "I managed 10 campaigns" tells you about effort, not impact. Strong marketers talk about business outcomes: "I drove 30% of pipeline" or "I reduced CAC by 40%."
What to ask: "Can you share specific metrics from your last role showing the business impact of your work?"
Early-stage companies don't have enterprise Martech stacks, fancy agencies, or full design teams. If a candidate says they need a lot of infrastructure and support to be effective, they may not be scrappy enough for your environment.
What to ask: "What's the minimum set of tools and resources you'd need to be effective in this role?"
Great candidates interview you as much as you interview them. They want to understand your ICP, sales cycle, current metrics, budget, and team dynamics. If someone doesn't ask thoughtful questions, they're either not strategic or not seriously interested.
What to watch for: Do they ask about your customers, your goals, your constraints? Or do they just answer your questions?
It's fine to say "we had strategic differences" or "the company direction changed." But if someone is highly critical of past bosses, coworkers, or companies, it may suggest challenges with accountability or professionalism.
What to watch for: Do they take ownership or blame others? Do they speak respectfully about past experiences?
No one is excellent at 12 different marketing disciplines. Strong candidates are clear about where they excel ("I'm great at paid acquisition and content") and where they have gaps ("I haven't done much with PR or events"). If someone claims to be great at everything, dig deeper.
What to ask: "What are you still developing or learning? Where would you want support?"
Many founders rely on one or two interviews and then make a hiring decision based on gut feel. This approach often leads to disappointing results.
Here's a more effective structure.
Quick conversation to cover basics: Are they looking for what you're offering? Are salary expectations aligned? Do they have the core experience you need? Can they start when you need them to? Why are they looking or willing to leave their current company? What is their key motivation in seeking a new role?
This stage filters out obvious mismatches before you invest more time.
This is where you dig into their actual work. Start with a chronological career walkthrough (15 minutes), then use the 5 questions above plus any role-specific questions.
Focus on specific examples, not hypotheticals. "Tell me about a time you..." is much more revealing than "How would you approach..."
This gives other team members or leadership a chance to interview and ask follow up questions that might have been missed in the last step.
Give them a real problem from your business. Provide context (your ICP, current metrics, budget, goals) and ask them to create a plan or strategy. You can also ask them to provide you with an example from their current role and give them your business context so they have a chance to align their chosen examples to the open role.
This shows you how they think, prioritize, and communicate. It's the best predictor of actual job performance.
Be respectful of their time. This should take 3-4 hours, not an entire day.
Have them present their assignment to you and key stakeholders (your sales leader, product lead, or other team members). Ask questions about their approach and reasoning.
This stage reveals how they handle questions, defend decisions, and communicate with your team.
Talk to 2-3 people who've worked with them and look to get 1-2 people who have directly managed them. Ask specific questions about their strengths, areas for development, and work style. People rarely say negative things directly, but lukewarm feedback ("they were fine") tells you something.
Total candidate time investment: About 6-7 hours
Your time investment: About 4-5 hours per finalist
You've run a thorough process. You have 2-3 finalists. How do you choose?
"If this person joined tomorrow, could they start executing within a week, or would they need significant hand-holding to figure out what to do?"
For Manager and above roles at early-stage companies, they should be able to:
If you're thinking "they'll need a month to ramp" or "I'll need to spend a lot of time getting them oriented," that might indicate the fit isn't quite right.
Early-stage companies don't have time for long ramp-ups. You need people who can hit the ground running.
Go back to your original requirements. What were the 3-4 things this person absolutely must be able to do? Do your finalists meet those criteria?
If they don't meet your must-haves, they're not the right hire, even if you like them.
Write down your specific concerns about each finalist. Then ask yourself:
No one is perfect. But some concerns are dealbreakers. Trust your instincts when something feels off.
Strong references will say things like "they're one of the best marketers I've worked with" or "I'd hire them again in a heartbeat." Lukewarm references say things like "they were fine" or "they did good work." Listen to the enthusiasm level. But also be sure not to over rely on the references, because it's impossible for you to see the whole context of that past situation. Use references as a gut check but don’t wrestle with everything the references say.
Hiring marketing talent is challenging because:
If you're still figuring out what type of marketer you need, we can help. At Demand Recruiting, we specialize in helping SaaS founders at $1-10M ARR figure out what marketing role to hire and then finding the right person.
Not sure what you need? We'll talk through your growth stage, current challenges, and budget to help you determine whether you need a generalist, a product marketer, a demand gen specialist, or something else entirely.
Know what you need but don't have time to recruit? We handle everything: creating the job description, sourcing candidates, screening for quality, and presenting only pre-vetted people who can actually do the job.
Want to run the search yourself but need guidance? We offer consulting on role definition, interview strategy, and candidate evaluation.
Ready to talk through your specific situation?
Schedule a 45-minute consultation and we'll help you figure out exactly what you need.
Before you start interviewing, make sure you have:
Defined:
Prepared:
Decided:
The difference between a great marketing hire and a mediocre one is enormous. A great hire accelerates your growth for years. Take the time to get it right.
Need help figuring out your next step? Let's talk.
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