A lot of our clients find us because they feel like they have some sort of gap in marketing that they’re hoping to get some help with. Whether they are looking to hire a marketing person, assess their existing marketing program, or for ongoing consulting services, everyone needs a plan they can execute on.

Do you have a gap in the marketing arm of your org chart? You may be asking about when you should hire a marketing coordinator, whether you should evaluate your team to see if someone has the skills to take on some of the marketing work you have, or whether you should outsource certain marketing activities to experts who specialize in it.

Are you frustrated with your current marketing agency for not providing you with enough leads? You may need to evaluate arrangement with them, realign around your company goals and focus your efforts around a new strategy. Maybe you are looking for leads, but your marketing agency is working on something else, like keyword rankings. Establish a common goal or metric to work toward.

Do you have the marketing agency and marketing people on your staff, but it feels disjointed?
You may need to take a step back and develop a cohesive plan to get all the pieces working in conjunction to move the needle.

While there may not be definitive answers to any of the above questions, the one thing that will help you find clarity and guide your decision making is a plan.

Why do you need a plan?

A plan is important for three specific reasons.

Getting your team on the same page

A plan is important for the alignment of your teams — both external and internal. Whether you are the sole marketer in your organization, you have a large team or you are working with external vendors, having a plan means that you know you are properly delegating, utilizing everyone’s skills appropriately and you aren’t doubling up on any work.

Knowing how to fill the gaps

When you know that you think you need to hire someone, it’s best to have a plan for what this person will be expected to do. It’s possible in the creation of an overarching plan that this role changes quite a bit from what you initially thought. Having a plan first means that you know where your true gaps are and have a general idea of what this person should be doing. You can then take this to a recruiter or team analyzer to determine the best way to fill the gap — hiring or reassigning someone.

Knowing what you’re working toward

In the creation of an overarching revenue growth plan, you’ll define specific company goals and highlight the areas to optimize to achieve those goals. Having this roadmap and being aligned around these goals gives everyone — not just your marketing team — a trajectory and common vision to work toward. This is crucial before making any decisions, whether hiring, reassigning anyone or outsourcing work.

Before answering the question of whether you should hire a marketing person, it’s important to have a plan to guide your decision making.