5 Reasons Start-ups Should Rethink Hiring a Full-time Marketing Team

Learn why B2B start-up companies should reconsider their marketing hiring strategy post-Series A funding. 

Securing your Series A funding is an incredible feat for any B2B start-up company. It’s important for start-up teams to celebrate this major milestone. 

But once you receive your funds, it’s time to put that money to work. This new infusion of capital comes with big strings attached - you must deliver the results your business needs to survive and your investors expect to thrive. 

At this point you are likely on the hook to bring your products or services to market, increase revenue, and grow your client-base. These growth-oriented goals require marketing resources with expertise across branding, demand generation, marketing automation and operations, product strategy, customer acquisition and retention, and the list goes on. 

To put it simply, you need experienced marketers to get you from Series A to B. 

It’s tempting for start-up executives and founders to spend your Series A funds on expensive marketing hires. And while marketers are in fact essential to delivering your growth goals, what if you didn’t need to hire full-time employees? What if you could get the same results in less time, all within your budget?

Keep reading this article to learn about the best alternative to hiring a full-time marketing executive and team and the top 5 reasons why you should hire an interim marketing team to reach your growth goals. 

The Best Alternative to a Full-Time Marketing Team

A common mistake I see start-up companies make is hiring a senior marketing executive (such as a VP or CMO) that is great at strategy but doesn’t execute and deliver results. 

Hiring a seasoned executive will get years of experience, guidance and mentorship for your team, executive sponsorship, and high level strategy. What you most likely will not get is someone who can roll up their sleeves to execute against the plan you hired them to build. Senior marketing talent is typically really great at building strategy and empowering teams but not so great at doing the nitty gritty, tactical work that is really the driving force behind results. 

CMO’s can end up being very costly for start-ups, especially when you consider all of the expenses that come with hiring full-time employees - salary and compensation structure, benefits, onboarding and training, travel, bonuses, moving expenses, and so on. 

On the other hand, when it comes to hiring a team of marketers as individual contributors, or a marketing team, start-up leaders often place too high of expectations on junior marketers or on those who are in specialized roles. This can lead to a disconnect between leadership’s expectations and the marketing team’s skill set that often results in overspending, lack of results and lost time. 

So what options do start-ups have in terms of your marketing hiring strategy? 

Hands down, the best alternative to a full-time marketing team is hiring a Fractional CMO and a Collective of marketing talent.

-Amanda Rabideau, CEO & Founder of Arch Collective

Let’s quickly review what a Fractional CMO plus a Collective actually is. 

What is a Fractional CMO plus a Collective? 

Fractional CMO Defined A Fractional CMO is an interim executive that provides your company CMO-level marketing expertise, strategy and execution without the hassle of hiring a costly, full-time senior leader. A Fractional CMO is a part-time, dedicated executive that is driven by helping start-ups reach their aggressive growth goals and scaling marketing efforts. You can check out this article to learn more about Fractional CMOs.

The Collective Defined - Successful Fractional CMOs have built a strong network of marketers they have worked with in the past and/or consistently work with today. These marketers are typically best suited for full-time hire. 

At Arch Collective, we do things a little differently. Our marketers are highly talented freelancers and contractors. This network includes highly specialized, talented marketers across a myriad of disciplines. Our Collective includes diverse professional experiences across industries, company sizes, and geographies. This network of marketers can be tapped to work with your start-up in an “on-demand” manner so you get the specific results you need when you need them. This network of top marketing talent is known as The Collective. 

And the power of this Collective is the ability to make a $5M start-up look like a $50M company. 

Fractional CMO develops the overall marketing roadmap while the Collective is the horsepower that is driving the marketing plan across the finish line. Read this article to learn more about a Collective of marketing talent. 

Now that you’re up to speed on what a Fractional CMO + a Collective is, let’s dive into WHY you should hire an interim marketing team to hit your growth goals. 

The 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Interim Marketing Team 

1.) Executive level input when you can’t afford an executive.  

As we’ve discussed, CMOs and VPs typically come with a hefty price tag. Executives can really cut into your new capital without a guarantee of results-driven action. 

A Fractional CMO delivers everything you would expect from a seasoned marketing executive plus everything else you get. The real value is found in the strategy a Fractional CMO can bring to the table. The ability to help start-ups determine how to get to their goal whether that’s getting from Series A to B or an acquisition. 

You get the executive sponsorship, input, and expertise at a lower overall cost to your business. The challenge with hiring a strong executive talent is that a full-time CMO costs a lot of money. Oftentimes the overall cost is more than your company will likely want to spend. A Fractional CMO allows start-ups to get amazing talent without the full-time price tag.

2.) Power of The Collective. 

By harnessing the power of a Collective of marketing talent, start-ups get an “on-demand” team of marketers that are at the top of their games, all working towards a shared goal - delivering the results you need. In this way, you get trust and collaboration. 

Working with a Collective of marketers naturally lends itself to collaboration. So many start-up executives overlook the power of collaboration but it’s one of the most efficient ways to use your funding dollars. Successful companies take a collaborative approach to getting stuff done. Collaboration ultimately = more bang for your buck.

3.) Tap into the best and brightest without having to find and recruit them. 

The traditional hiring approach requires start-up founders to not only need to determine which type of marketing roles they need to hire for, but they also have to find the right people to fill those roles. Developing a hire strategy, drawing up job descriptions, recruiting, and interviewing is a time consuming process.

By employing a Collective, you get access to the best and brightest marketers across a wide range of disciplines, experience, and expertise. Match your performance expectations with the team that can deliver. Plus (and this is a big plus), you don’t need to recruit for these roles. You get all the work of a highly effective marketing team without the challenges that are a part of the recruiting and onboarding process.

4.) The right skill set, when you need it, for the biggest impact. 

By taking this new approach to your marketing strategy, you can expect a big impact from day one. A Fractional CMO can get up and running quickly to deliver results. Without a full-time executive you can quickly scale up and down. For example, if your organization has a quick project, like a last minute speaking invitation, and needs the right presentation materials, an interim team can cater to your needs and get things done on your timeline. Or let’s say you have exciting news or a significant milestone that you’re looking to announce, a Fractional CMO can tap into a pre-built network of freelance PR executives to bring to your team. 

Working with an interim marketing team - a Fractional CMO plus a Collective - ensures that you will get all of the marketing strategy and execution you need to hit your targets within your desired timeframe and within your budget. You no longer need to spin your wheels on recruiting and hiring expensive marketing hires. 

5.) Smarter deployment of capital for maximum ROI. 

At this stage for start-ups, each dollar spent should guarantee a return. Meaning, smart deployment of your marketing dollars is essential to getting from Series A to B.

Hiring a Fractional CMO plus a Collective is one of the best ways to intelligently deploy your capital, or make your money work for you. 

By working with an interim marketing team, you’ll burn less cash in making the wrong hiring decision. A Fractional CMO plus a Collective sets you up with strategy and execution without the commitment (or risk) of hiring full time employees. This approach ensures that you don’t spend too quickly and recklessly. 

If your B2B start-up is looking to achieve your post-Series A growth targets, we’re here to help.

Arch Collective is purpose-built to help B2B companies thrive. We offer clients a Fractional CMO + A Collective of the best and brightest marketing talent. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you reach your goals.