You’re here because you need to hire a Marketing Director for your small business.
You’ve been doing marketing yourself (or your office manager has been “handling it”), and you’ve finally decided it’s time to hire someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
So you start writing the job description.
And you realize: You need this person to do EVERYTHING.
Social media. Website. Email. SEO. Content. Ads. Strategy. Reporting. Maybe some graphic design. Possibly video editing. Oh, and they should be “strategic” and “data-driven” and “creative.”
Budget: $60,000/year.
Here’s the problem: You’re not hiring a Marketing Director. You’re hiring a unicorn.
And unicorns don’t exist.
The Realistic Small Business Marketing Director Job Description
Before we get into why your job posting is probably unrealistic, let me give you a GOOD job description you can actually use.
Job Title: Marketing Director (Small Business)
Company: [Your Company Name]
Location: [City, State] (or Remote)
Salary Range: $70,000 – $90,000 (depending on experience)
Reports To: CEO / Owner
About the Role
We’re looking for a Marketing Director who can lead our marketing strategy and execute key initiatives. This isn’t a “do everything” role—we’re looking for someone who excels at strategy, can manage vendors/freelancers, and can handle 2-3 core execution areas themselves.
You’ll be the only marketing person on our team, which means you need to be resourceful, strategic, and comfortable wearing multiple hats—but we’re realistic about what one person can accomplish.
What You’ll Actually Do
Strategic Leadership (40% of your time)
- Develop and execute our annual marketing strategy
- Identify target audiences and positioning
- Determine which channels to prioritize (and which to ignore)
- Set KPIs and track performance
- Report monthly on what’s working and what’s not
Core Execution Areas (Pick 2-3 based on your strengths)
Option A: Content & Social Media
- Manage social media strategy and posting
- Create content calendar
- Write blog posts and website copy
- Build email campaigns
Option B: Digital Marketing & SEO
- Manage SEO strategy and optimization
- Oversee website updates and improvements
- Run and optimize paid ad campaigns
- Manage Google Business Profile
Option C: Brand & Creative
- Oversee brand consistency
- Manage design projects (working with freelancers)
- Create marketing collateral
- Develop campaign concepts
Vendor & Freelancer Management (20% of your time)
- Coordinate with external specialists (designers, videographers, writers, web developers)
- Manage freelancer budgets and timelines
- Quality control on external work
What You Won’t Do (Because One Person Can’t Do Everything)
We’ll either hire freelancers, use agencies, or not do these things at all:
- Professional graphic design (we’ll hire a designer)
- Professional video production (we’ll hire a videographer)
- Complex website development (we’ll hire a developer)
- Advanced analytics/data science (we’ll use simple tools)
Requirements
Must Have:
- 5+ years of marketing experience (agency or in-house)
- Proven ability to develop marketing strategy
- Strong writing skills
- Experience managing budgets and vendors
- Comfortable with analytics and reporting
- Self-starter who doesn’t need constant direction
Nice to Have:
- Experience in [your industry]
- Familiarity with [tools you use: HubSpot, WordPress, Hootsuite, etc.]
- Paid advertising experience (Google, Meta)
- Basic design skills (Canva, Adobe)
Must NOT Have:
- Expectation that you’ll have a team beneath you (it’s just you)
- Need for extensive management or hand-holding
- Expectation of a massive budget (we’re a small business)
What We Offer
- Salary: $70K-90K based on experience
- Health benefits
- 3 weeks PTO
- Professional development budget
- Flexible schedule / remote options
- Realistic expectations (we know one person can’t do everything)
To Apply
Send resume and cover letter explaining:
- Which 2-3 execution areas (from Option A, B, C above) are your strengths
- One example of a marketing strategy you developed and the results it achieved
- Why you’re interested in working for a small business (vs. agency or enterprise)
There. That’s a REALISTIC job description.
Now let’s talk about why most small business marketing director postings look nothing like that.
Why Most Small Business Marketing Job Postings Are Unrealistic
Here’s what usually happens:
You sit down to write the job description. You think about everything you need help with. And you write:
“Responsibilities:
- Develop and execute comprehensive marketing strategy
- Manage all social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok)
- Create engaging content (blogs, posts, videos, graphics)
- Design marketing materials (flyers, brochures, ads)
- Manage and optimize website (including SEO)
- Build and manage email marketing campaigns
- Create and manage paid advertising (Google, Facebook, Instagram)
- Analyze data and provide detailed reports
- Manage brand consistency across all channels
- Plan and execute events
- Coordinate with sales team
- Stay up to date on marketing trends
- Other duties as assigned”
Salary: $55,000 – $65,000
Here’s what you just did: You asked one person to do the work of five specialists for less than the cost of one.
The Math on What You’re Actually Asking For
Let’s break down that job description into actual roles:
Marketing Strategist / Director
- Develop strategy, manage vendors, report to leadership
- Market salary: $75,000 – $95,000
Social Media Manager
- Manage all platforms, create posts, engage with followers
- Market salary: $45,000 – $60,000
Content Creator / Writer
- Write blogs, emails, website copy, ad copy
- Market salary: $50,000 – $65,000
Graphic Designer
- Design all marketing materials, ads, social graphics
- Market salary: $50,000 – $65,000
Digital Marketing Specialist
- Manage SEO, website, paid ads, analytics
- Market salary: $55,000 – $70,000
TOTAL if you hired specialists: $275,000 – $355,000 per year
What you’re offering: $55,000 – $65,000 per year
You’re asking for $300K worth of skills for $60K.
What Actually Happens When You Post This Job
Scenario 1: You Get No Qualified Applicants
The people who CAN do all these things know what they’re worth. They’re not applying for your $60K job.
You get crickets. Or you get a few applicants who are clearly unqualified.
Scenario 2: You Hire Someone Young and Eager
A recent grad or career-changer applies. They’re enthusiastic! They want to learn! They promise they can do it all!
Month 1-3: They’re working hard. Trying everything. Creating content. Learning the tools. Posting on social. Updating the website.
Month 4-6: They’re drowning. The quality is slipping. They’re working 50-60 hours a week trying to keep up. They’re stressed.
Month 7-12: They burn out and quit. Or you fire them because the work isn’t good enough.
You start over.
Scenario 3: You Hire Someone Experienced Who Knows Better
An experienced marketer applies because they need a job. They know the role is unrealistic, but they take it anyway.
Month 1-2: They assess the situation and realize it’s worse than they thought.
Month 3-4: They start looking for a new job.
Month 5-6: They quit for a better opportunity with realistic expectations.
You start over.
Scenario 4: You Leave It Open
You can’t find anyone qualified who will accept your salary. You leave the position open. You keep trying to “handle marketing” yourself while running the business.
Nothing gets done well.
How to Actually Hire a Small Business Marketing Director
Here’s how to do this right:
Step 1: Be Honest About What One Person Can Do
One person can realistically handle:
- Marketing strategy and planning
- 2-3 execution areas (not all of them)
- Vendor/freelancer management
- Basic reporting and analytics
One person CANNOT handle:
- Professional-level work in 8 different specialties
- Full-time execution across all channels
- Both strategy AND constant execution
- All of this for $60K
Step 2: Decide What’s Most Important
Pick your top 3 priorities:
Example for a service-based business:
- Strategy and planning
- SEO and website optimization
- Email marketing and lead nurture
Example for a product-based business:
- Strategy and planning
- Social media and content
- Paid advertising
Hire for those 3 things. Outsource the rest.
Step 3: Budget Appropriately
For a GOOD small business marketing director:
- $70,000 – $90,000 base salary
- $15,000 – $20,000 in benefits
- $10,000 – $20,000 freelancer/vendor budget
- Total first-year cost: $95,000 – $130,000
Yes, that’s more than $60K. But it’s also realistic.
Step 4: Set Realistic Expectations
In the job posting, be clear about:
- What they WILL do
- What they WON’T do
- What budget they’ll have for freelancers
- What success looks like in 6 months
Don’t say: “Manage all marketing activities”
Do say: “Lead marketing strategy and execute content marketing, while managing freelancers for design and paid advertising”
Step 5: Plan for Them to Need Support
Even a great Marketing Director can’t do everything. Budget for:
- Freelance graphic designer ($1,000-2,000/month)
- Freelance writer ($500-1,000/month as needed)
- Web developer on retainer ($500-1,000/month)
- Photography/video as needed ($1,000-3,000/project)
Total: $3,000-6,000/month in additional support
This is normal. Plan for it.
The Alternative: Don’t Hire. Build a Marketing Department Differently.
Here’s the option most small businesses don’t consider:
Instead of hiring one person to do everything (and failing), hire a marketing firm that actually does everything.
This is what we do at Paisley Marketing Group.
We become your marketing department:
- Strategy (20+ years experience)
- Content creation (we work with your team to get raw footage and turn it into usable content)
- Social media management
- Email marketing
- Website updates and SEO
- Ad management
- Reporting and analytics
Cost: $6,000 – $9,000/month ($72,000 – $108,000/year)
Compare that to:
- Marketing Director salary: $70,000-90,000
- Benefits: $15,000-20,000
- Freelancer budget: $36,000-72,000/year
- Total cost: $121,000 – $182,000/year
Plus:
- No recruiting costs
- No training period
- No risk of bad hire
- No management overhead
- If we don’t perform, you fire us (try doing that with a salaried employee)
And you get:
- Experienced strategist (not entry-level)
- Full team (not one overwhelmed person)
- Actual results (we have to deliver or you leave)
When Hiring Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)
Hire an internal Marketing Director when:
- Your revenue is $5M+
- You can pay $80K+ and provide a freelancer budget
- You’re realistic about what one person can do
- You’re willing to manage someone
- You have other internal resources (sales, ops) who can support marketing
Don’t hire when:
- Your revenue is under $2M
- You can only pay $50-65K
- You need someone to do “everything”
- You don’t have time to manage them
- You don’t understand marketing well enough to evaluate their work
In those cases, hire a marketing firm instead.
Start With a Marketing Diagnosis
Not sure what you actually need?
Before you hire anyone—or if you already hired someone and want to see if they’re on track—start with our Marketing Diagnosis.
$1,000 | 2 weeks
We’ll audit your entire marketing and tell you:
- What’s actually broken
- What you need to fix it
- Whether one hire can realistically do it
- What alternatives exist
Then you decide: hire someone with realistic expectations, or let us handle it.
No sales pitch. Just honest assessment.
The Bottom Line
Most small business marketing director job postings ask for $300K worth of skills for $60K.
You’re not going to find that person. And if you do, they won’t stay.
Here’s what you should do instead:
Option 1: Rewrite the job description to be realistic
- Pick 2-3 core responsibilities
- Pay appropriately ($75K-90K)
- Budget for freelancer support
- Set realistic expectations
Option 2: Hire a marketing firm instead
- Get strategy + full execution
- No recruiting, training, or management
- Results-focused (we have to deliver or you fire us)
- Often costs less than a realistic internal hire
Option 3: Do the Marketing Diagnosis first
- Find out what’s actually broken
- Get a realistic picture of what you need
- Make an informed decision about hiring vs. outsourcing
Whatever you do, stop asking one person to do five jobs for half the pay.
It’s not fair to them. And it’s not going to work for you.
Want to talk about alternatives to hiring?
Marketing Diagnosis: $1,000 – Find out what you actually need
Growth Partnership: $6,000/month – We become your marketing department
Email: info@paisleymarketing.com
Phone: 614.893.7310
Web: paisleymarketing.com
