Key takeaways

• At B2B companies without a marketing hire, marketing usually lands on the BD lead, an office manager, or a communications person, on top of their actual job.

• When marketing is everyone's side task, people prioritize whatever's due next, and nobody plans past the next deadline.

• The people doing it rarely have the time or the authority to hold vendors to one standard.

• A fractional marketing partner can take over the planning and vendor management without adding a full-time salary.

When I ask who handles marketing at a company, I usually get a pause, and then something like, "Well, our BD lead does the LinkedIn posts, our office manager deals with the printer, and our comms person sends the newsletter when she can."

That's what people mean when they tell me marketing gets done off the side of the desk.

What does it mean when marketing gets done off the side of someone's desk?

It means nobody at your company has marketing as their main job.

Your BD lead fits it in between client calls.

Your office manager handles it between payroll and ordering supplies.

Your comms person squeezes it in after the internal announcements go out.

The work does get done, usually the night before it's due.

If you're the person who got handed this job, here's how to find B2B leads on LinkedIn without a big team behind you.

Why does this keep happening at growing B2B companies?

Because you've grown past the point where the founder can look at everything, but you're not big enough to justify a full marketing department. Somebody has to do the work in the middle, and it usually goes to whoever has the most open time that month. That's rarely the person with the most marketing experience.

What does it cost your organization over time?

More than it looks like on paper. When marketing is a side task, here's what usually happens:

• The work that gets prioritized is whatever's due next, like the conference booth or the deck sales needs by Friday

• Nobody plans six months out, so you're always reacting

• Vendors don't get a consistent brief, so your assets start to drift (This is usually how your marketing materials start to look like three different companies)

• Your BD lead spends hours on a one-pager when they could be on the phone with prospects

None of this is anyone's fault. You hired these people to do other jobs, and they're doing their best with marketing piled on top.

If you need a place to start, here are ten ways to get your name out there that don't need a big team.

What's the alternative if we're not ready to hire?

Bring in someone whose actual job is marketing, even part-time. As your fractional partner, I take over planning, vendor briefs, and review before anything goes out. Your BD lead gets back to selling, your office manager gets back to running the office, and your marketing finally has a plan behind it.

FAQ

Isn't it cheaper to keep marketing as a shared task?

It looks cheaper on a budget. You pay for it in other ways, like plans that never get made, assets that don't match, and senior people spending hours on work outside their job.

Who usually ends up doing marketing when there's no marketing hire?

Most often the business development lead, an office manager or admin, or a communications person, on top of their regular job.

Do we need a full-time marketer to fix this?

Not necessarily. A fractional partner can own the planning and vendor management part time, alongside the people already handling day-to-day tasks.

Get in touch

If you're deciding who should own it, here's how a fractional marketing partner compares to an in-house hire. I'll help you figure out what should come off their plates first.