9 Things to Consider When Hiring a Generalist or Specialist Marketing for Start-Ups

In the dynamic world of start-up marketing, the debate between hiring a generalist or specialist marketing is pivotal. We’ve gathered nine insightful perspectives from marketing managers and CEOs, ranging from starting with a generalist, then specializing to choosing based on marketing goals, to guide your first marketing hire decision.

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Hiring a Generalist or Specialist Marketing? Start With a Generalist, Then Specialize

A startup should first hire a generalist. They will be able to lay out an overall marketing plan for the company. Once these plans start to be implemented, it could be time to hire a specialist to make sure that the generalist’s goals are being met and that their campaigns are being managed correctly.

Emily Falcone, MS, Marketing Manager, SurvTech Solutions

Generalist First for Brand Foundation

Hiring a Generalist or Specialist Marketing, as my first marketing hire, I would choose a generalist to start setting up my brand and create awareness in the industry. I can hire a specialist after the company creates a firm foundation. My industry needs to learn about the services we offer and why they should utilize our company versus whoever they are currently using.

If there is a targeted campaign later on, I would consider hiring a specialist to target that particular campaign.

It is key that my industry knows that I am now in the market and what I have to offer, and why I am different from my competitors. That is why I would hire a generalist at the start. First impressions are key, so I want to create a positive image at the very inception of my marketing.

The above is not set in stone because there might be specific reasons to go with the specialist first, but in general, I would definitely start with the generalist marketer.

Ron Greenfield, Chief Marketing Officer, Partners Edge

Generalist Versus Specialist Based on Data Focus

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing? For most startups, hiring a generalist marketer first makes sense. They can do a bit of everything, from social media to video production. They’re quick to adapt and try new things, which is great for a startup’s fast pace.

However, if your startup is all about data and needs tight processes right away, go for a marketing operations expert. They’re pros at handling data and setting up systems. They make sure your marketing decisions are data-driven. In short, generalists are flexible all-rounders, but if data is key, pick a marketing operations pro.

Andy Smith, Marketing Manager, HatchWorks

Invest in an Experienced Marketing Generalist

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing, a start-up needs a generalist as their first marketing hire because many different skill sets and types of knowledge are needed to deploy successful marketing campaigns. The mistake that too many start-ups make, however, is waiting too long to hire a marketing person or hiring someone who is young and inexperienced in an effort to save money. 

In a past job, I was the first marketing person to be hired by a start-up that had been in business for eight years. As I worked to understand the company’s marketing efforts up to that point, I discovered that there had been many costly and unfortunate mistakes made before my arrival. 

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing, my advice to start-ups is to invest in an experienced person with a broad knowledge base who can guide the marketing strategy and set up a system for tracking KPIs to ensure quality marketing decisions are being made.

Jennifer Yamnitz, Independent Marketing Consultant, Adance Marketing

Generalist Sets Up Early Marketing Success

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing, unless you have a very specific set of tasks for your first marketer—one that is extremely narrow in scope, like just blasting out emails to a predefined customer list—then you should most definitely hire a generalist. 

Odds are, you’re not going to have the best idea of your own marketing needs when you first start shopping around for your first marketing hire, and someone with a broad range of skills, even if they’re shallow, will do a much better job getting you set up for success than a specialist. 

When you’ve been around the block a few times between hiring a Generalist or Specialist Marketing and have a much firmer grasp on your marketing needs, then you can specialize.

Dragos Badea, CEO, Yarooms

Generalist as a Startup’s Versatile First Hire

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing, In terms of the first marketing hire for a startup, I think it is important to first hire a generalist marketer with a broad skill set. The reason for doing this is that a general marketer offers both adaptability and versatility, which can be highly beneficial in the early days of a startup, as he or she will be able to handle multiple tasks without using a bulk of resources. 

However, when a startup grows to a certain stage, then you can hire a specialist to understand how to expand your operations.

Faizan Khan, Public Relation and Content Marketing Specialist, Ubuy Australia

Generalist Strategy, Specialist Activation

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing is the growth driver of a business. Startups need people who can drive the marketing strategy and then hire out the specialists. The strategy can come from the founders, fractional CMOs, project consultants, or full-time marketing generalists. 

Marketing activation should come from specialist agencies and marketing partners because good partners will have the specialists in-house. Hiring specialists at the startup will be relatively expensive, and those funds are better saved or deployed elsewhere.

Robert Brill, CEO, Brill Media

Hire for Trust-Building Capabilities

We do business with organizations we know, like, and trust. So, whether Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing doesn’t matter. The top ingredient you are looking for in marketing leadership is their ability to build trust. Your organization’s trust factor will hopefully grow over time, but how quickly can your “start-up hire” start the trust-building journey? I have an equation for building trust:

Trust = (Credibility x Rapport) / Risk

If you are building credibility and developing rapport, while driving down risk, trust in your organization will grow.

Does your marketer have a strategy for doing so?

Alan See, Chief Marketing Officer, Alan See CMO Temps, LLC

Choose Based on Marketing Goals

Hiring a generalist or specialist marketing, It honestly depends on their goals. If your focus is on one area, such as influencer marketing or selling your product via social media, you absolutely need a specialist. 

But if you are first working on just increasing your exposure online through all media channels, you need someone who has experience in everything, so you don’t have to rely on multiple hires to get the work done, especially being a start-up.

Jeff Michael, Ecommerce Business Owner, Supplement Warehouse

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