You can’t afford a marketing team — but you can’t afford to get it wrong either

Écrit par Nataliia Kutselepa

Paru le 2 juillet 2025

Every early-stage business hits a point where it becomes clear: you can’t move forward without marketing. The product exists, the idea is alive, there are occasional clients — but there’s no system. That’s when the founder starts looking for solutions. Often — starting with the wrong question:

“We need a marketer who can do everything.”

That’s the first trap.

Why you shouldn’t hire a “do-it-all” marketer

A marketer who “does it all” sounds appealing — especially for a small business where it seems like one person should be able to “cover everything.” But in reality, this rarely works. Someone who’s trying to combine strategic planning, copywriting, design, paid ads, and analytics either lacks depth in each area or ends up working reactively instead of strategically.

Often these marketers focus on what’s most comfortable — like running social media or writing posts — while ignoring strategic decisions, offer testing, analytics, or alignment with sales. This creates an illusion of marketing: the posts go out, ads are running, visuals look fine. But the core is missing — there’s no real business impact.

Even worse, the marketer themselves often suffers in such conditions: constantly under pressure, handling chaotic requests, without clear priorities or support. This leads to burnout, a drop in quality, and eventual turnover. The business ends up losing money, time, and confidence in marketing altogether.

Define which functions must come first

You shouldn’t start with channels or visuals. You should start with the fundamentals: what exactly are you offering, who is it for, and how will you express that in the customer’s language? This isn’t about creativity — it’s about focus. The first person you need isn’t someone to run your Instagram account. It’s someone who will help you define and articulate your offer clearly. This might be a brand strategist, a consultant, or a mentor for 2–3 sessions. Their job is to pull the essence out of your head and shape it into simple, actionable messaging.

Only after that can you bring in a copywriter or content creator to craft landing page texts, a few posts, and some sales materials. And only after that — a technical assistant who can publish content, update your website, and set up simple campaigns.

Launching Is Not a Moment — It’s a Process

The idea that launching is a single big post and an ad campaign that instantly “works” is false. A real launch is a series of tests: how your audience reacts, what triggers responses, which words convert. It starts with sending your link manually. Then — posting in local groups or communities. After that — a minimal ad budget to amplify. And finally — the first round of data to evaluate. It’s a 4–6 week process. It needs to be paced and intentional.

What can (and should) wait for bigger budgets

Don’t rush to hire a full-time SMM if you don’t know what messaging works. Don’t invest in SEO if you don’t have consistent traffic. Don’t launch video production without a clearly defined brand voice. Don’t spend €1000 on a logo if you’re still figuring out what sets you apart. These things matter — but not at the beginning. They only make sense when you’ve already validated your foundation: positioning, early audience feedback, and working messages.

Analytics and next steps

Everything you do — measure it. Even manually. How many page visits? How many inquiries? How many of them were relevant? Which posts got reactions? Which offers got replies? This isn’t complex analytics. It’s a one-page spreadsheet that helps you make better decisions: repeat, revise, or drop. This is where real marketing begins — with data, not guesswork.

If your marketing begins with hiring someone to “do everything” — stop. Ask yourself: