The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Growth Marketer

Your business is picking up speed, but you need one final push to make it big. Enter: growth marketing.

Whether you want to hire a marketing freelancer or have an agency take care of your needs, this guide will give you the how, why, what, and where of the hiring process for a growth marketer.

Considerations for Hiring Growth Marketer

When hiring a growth marketer, there are several key considerations you should keep in mind regarding the type of growth marketer, the scope of the work you need, and your company’s goals.

Here are some important factors to consider:

Type of Growth Marketer

• Generalist vs. Specialist: Decide whether you need a growth marketer who can handle multiple aspects of growth marketing or a specialist who focuses on a specific area like user acquisition, retention, conversion optimization, or product-led growth.
• Industry expertise: Consider whether industry-specific knowledge matters for your business since certain industries might require a deeper understanding of things like market dynamics, consumer behavior, or regulatory considerations.

Scope of Responsibilities

• Channel expertise: Determine which marketing channels you feel are essential for your business growth, like social media, content marketing, SEO, paid advertising, email marketing, influencer marketing, or partnerships.

Goals and Objectives

• Define your growth goals: Define and articulate your growth objectives, whether it's increasing user acquisition, improving conversion rates, enhancing customer retention, or expanding into new markets.
• Long-term vs. short-term focus: Consider whether you need a growth marketer who can deliver immediate results or develop more long-term strategies for sustainable, consistent growth.

Remember to clearly communicate your expectations, and provide context about your business to ensure you find the right growth marketer who aligns with your goals and can best contribute to your organization's growth.

How to Hire a Growth Marketer: Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s take it step-by-step.

1. Define Why You Want to Hire a Growth Marketer

The first step is knowing why you’re hiring a growth marketer in the first place.

Are you starting to pick up steam with your business? Is your target market buying what you’re selling?

You may need a growth marketer to keep up the momentum. You may want a growth marketer to handle growing your social media presence, incorporate PPC advertising into your marketing strategy, or reach an even larger audience.

Once you know your “why,” it’s time to determine your “who.”

2. Decide Whether You Want a Freelancer or Agency

This step requires you to consider your budget and needs to find a match that meets both.

Suppose you want an all-inclusive growth marketing plan encompassing social media, SEO, PPC, and other marketing avenues to achieve maximum growth and take your company from good to great. In that case, you’ll likely need a growth marketing agency.

If you just need a hand in making your social media presence more significant, it may be more financially sensible to hire a freelance growth marketer for a shorter time.

3. Create a Job Description

If you’re going the marketing freelancer route, you’ll need to craft a winning job description that attracts the right candidates.

Include all of the necessary specifics like pay, experience requirements, the scope of the job, and what industry expertise your growth marketer needs to have. It’s also a good idea to include information about your company culture to make sure your candidates would be a good fit personality-wise.

If you’re going with an agency, you need to be clear about expectations and needs. This means planning out exactly what you want to tell the marketing agency about your expected marketing outcomes as well as any personality types that you would prefer if possible.

4. Hold Interviews

If you go the freelancer route, you will need to hold interviews with your prospective growth marketing candidates. Many agencies will also have you interview some hand-picked marketers so that you can curate a winning team of individuals that fit your needs.

Ask a mix of questions including ones about experience level, prior work and results, and ones that allow you to understand the candidate’s personality so that you can determine if they would be a good fit for your company culture.

We’ll cover some good interview questions later.

5. Track Performance

Once you found your growth marketer or agency, it’s crucial to maintain consistent communication with them about your goals and their progress.

Tracking performance is essential to determine if this agency or freelancer is meeting your goals and if you want to continue the working relationship.

Analyzing KPI-related things like social media engagement, ROI, user acquisition, conversion rates, and customer retention.

What Does a Growth Marketer Do?

A growth marketer implements marketing strategies to drive user acquisition, engagement, and retention, all to accelerate business growth.

The primary focus of a growth marketer is to leverage digital marketing channels and techniques to optimize marketing campaigns and achieve measurable results.

This includes things like conducting market research to identify target audiences and develop customer personas, and planning and executing digital advertising campaigns across various channels like search engines (PPC), social media platforms, and affiliate marketing.

When to Hire a Growth Marketer

The best time to hire a growth marketer is once your company has achieved product/market fit.

In other words, once you have a strong value proposition, people find out about your product or service by word of mouth, you have a steady stream of customers and sales, and your product or service solves a problem within a large market.

What to Look for in a Growth Marketer

Whether you choose an agency or a freelancer, here’s what you need to look for.

Characteristics

It’s important that your growth marketer has a collaborative approach to their job and is generally pleasant to work with.

These characteristics include things like:

• Alignment with company culture: The growth marketer's values, work style, and ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams are important components of a growth marketer. Cultural fit is crucial for hiring a growth marketer to make collaboration stress-free.
• Analytical mindset: A growth marketer should possess strong analytical skills and be comfortable working with data.
• Creativity: Analytical skills are essential, however, a growth marketer also needs to think creatively to develop innovative marketing campaigns and strategies that capture audience attention to drive growth.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn: A growth marketer should have a natural curiosity and desire to stay updated on the latest industry trends, tools, and techniques. Ideally, they should be eager to learn and adapt to new strategies.
• Strategic thinking: The ability to see the bigger picture and develop a cohesive strategy that aligns with the organization's objectives is an important characteristic that every growth marketer should have.
• Data-driven decision-making: Growth marketers must base their decisions on data.
• Agility and adaptability: The ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies is important for a growth marketer. They should be agile in adjusting strategies and trying out new and different approaches.
• Passion for growth: Look for a growth marketer who is genuinely passionate about driving growth and achieving success. They should be enthusiastic about their work, highly motivated, and committed to making a significant impact on your business’s growth.

Skills

A great growth marketer should possess a combination of technical and soft skills to effectively drive growth.

Here are the skills that are crucial for a growth marketer:

• Data Analysis and Interpretation: A growth marketer should be skilled in analyzing data and drawing actionable insights from it. This includes proficiency in tools like Google Analytics, Excel, or data visualization platforms to measure and track key metrics, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
• Digital Advertising and Campaign Management: Proficiency in managing digital advertising campaigns across various platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads is essential. A growth marketer should know campaign setup, targeting, ad optimization, budget management, and tracking.
• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): CRO skills include the ability to optimize landing pages, website elements, and user flows that maximize conversion rates. A growth marketer should have experience with A/B testing, usability testing, heatmaps, and other CRO techniques.
• Content Marketing: A growth marketer should possess skills in content creation, distribution, and promotion across various channels such as blogs, social media, email, and video marketing.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Understanding the fundamentals of SEO is essential for a growth marketer. They should be knowledgeable about both on-page and off-page optimization techniques, keyword research, website structure, and content optimization.
• Email Marketing and Automation: Proficiency in email marketing tools and automation platforms is key. A growth marketer should be able to develop email marketing campaigns, segment audiences, set up automation workflows, and optimize email performance.
• Growth Hacking and Experimentation: A growth marketer should know all of the different growth hacking techniques including viral loops, referral programs, and product-led growth strategies.

Qualifications

Qualifications for a growth marketer can vary depending on the specific requirements of the role within your organization.

Here are a few common qualifications that may be a good marker of a great growth marketer:

• Education and Marketing Background: A bachelor's degree in marketing, business, or a related field is often preferred, as a solid educational foundation in marketing principles and strategies will provide a strong base for a growth marketer.
• Relevant Experience: Prior experience in digital marketing, growth marketing, or a related field is also highly valued. You should look for candidates who have a proven track record of driving growth and implementing successful marketing campaigns.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in various digital marketing tools and platforms is essential. Look for qualifications in areas such as Google Analytics, SEO tools, marketing automation platforms, content management systems, and advertising platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads Manager.
• Analytical Abilities: Qualifications in data analysis, statistical analysis, or experience in using data visualization tools can be valuable.
• Certifications: While not mandatory, certifications from reputable organizations or platforms can demonstrate a candidate's expertise and commitment to continuous learning. Look for certifications in areas such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, HubSpot, or Facebook Blueprint.

How Much Do Growth Marketers Cost?

Since growth marketing encompasses a large variety of tasks and positions, the price range can vary greatly.

That being said, freelance growth marketers can cost from $25 per hour/ $2,000 per project to $200 per hour/ $5,000 + per project.

Growth marketing agencies can cost between $3,000 per month/ $20,000 per project and $30,000 per month/ $200,000 per project.

Where to Find a Growth Marketer

To find the highest-quality growth marketers available, we recommend using MarketerHire (check out why in our review.) They work with companies to get a sense of what they’re looking for, then match those companies with highly-vetted growth marketing talent within just 48 hours. With MarketerHire, you get the best of both worlds with freelancing and a marketing agency. You can also use it to find brand marketers or fractional CMOs.

If you’re looking for something different or just want to see your options, use Agency Matchmaker to be matched with an agency.

And if you’re looking for a freelancer and don’t care as much about their level of experience, Fiverr has talent working at low hourly rates. Be aware that this will mean more work for you and a bit of a gamble talent-wise.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a growth marketer do?

A growth marketer implements marketing strategies to drive user acquisition, engagement, and retention, all to accelerate business growth.

How do I find a growth marketer?

To find a growth marketer, identify your needs, then try Agency Matchmaker or MarketerHire to find top growth marketing talent.

How much do growth marketers make?

Growth marketers make between $25 to $200 per hour, or between $2,000 and $5,000 per project.

Where is the best place to find a growth marketer?

MarketerHire is our favorite place for finding a growth marketer.