> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Marketing org **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-03 · **Reading edit:** 2026-09-06 Choose marketing roles around the work the company needs now. A first hire may need to research, write, and run a channel; a larger team can specialise. Make ownership clear and add people when there is enough important work for them to own. Content and positioning; Channels and campaigns; Operations and measurement *Reading guide: content and positioning · channels and campaigns · operations and measurement.* ## Use this when * The first marketing hire is “a growth person” because pipeline is the only story the board hears. * The Head of Marketing has never executed at this stage, motion, or company size—too many firsts at once. * Fuel, engine, and PMM sit in silos; content never reaches a channel; paid has nothing worth clicking. * You are past a handful of marketers and still have no one whose job is to connect campaigns across the three. ## Do not use this when * There is no ICP and no motion. Stay in [first ten](../01-strategy-and-buyers/first-ten-customers.md) and [channel strategy](../04-channels-and-distribution/channel-strategy.md). * You need next year’s demand vs capacity math. That is [GTM planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/gtm-planning). Headcount dollars are [budget and planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/budget-and-planning). * You need the weekly sales clock. That is [sales operating cadence](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/sales-operating-cadence). * The request is a JD, a hiring scorecard, or a copy of someone else’s org chart. ## A few useful terms | Word | Meaning here | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Too many firsts** | First time at stage, motion, B2B model, strategy ownership, people-management, *and* the sub-function you need most—stacked | | **π-shape** | Deep in one of PMM / content / growth; proficient in a second. Not a T who dabbles | | **Fuel** | Content, creative, brand—the thing the engine burns | | **Engine** | Channels, segmentation, routing, tests—the thing that distributes fuel | | **Foundation** | Product marketing: audience, market, positioning, launches, enablement | | **Producer** | Glue: campaigns, programs, mileage across the three—not a fourth silo | ## Keep this in mind **Hire generalists who cover two of the three, then fill gaps; do not staff only the engine.** A Head of Marketing remains an IC until the team is large. If fuel and engine are misaligned, add a producer who reports to the Head—not another demand-gen seat that never talks to content. ## How to do it ### Step 1: Match early hires to the work The first marketer should be on their first *or second* of these—not five: scrappy execution; owning strategy; early-stage company; **your** buying motion (self-serve vs sales-assist vs outbound); managing people; the sub-function you need most. Default first hire is often **PMM + growth**. Sometimes **content + PMM**. Content + growth as the first hire is rare. Match [channel strategy](../04-channels-and-distribution/channel-strategy.md): a self-serve motion that hires only enterprise PMM, or an outbound motion that hires only brand, is a firsts problem wearing a title. ### Step 2: Cover content, distribution, and operations Until you have specialists, people wear two hats. As you add seats: | Sub-function | Owns | Starves the company when missing | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Content & brand (fuel) | Words, design, narrative that fit the audience and the engine | An engine with nothing worth distributing | | Growth (engine) | Full-funnel distribution, tooling, tests | Beautiful content nobody sees | | Product marketing (foundation) | Research, positioning, launches, enablement | Fuel and engine aimed at the wrong job | Do not hire three growth people and a contractor for “some blogs.” Do not hire a very senior Head who only sets strategy. Alternate fuel and engine as you scale; keep enough PMM to aim both. Contractors without an internal owner who knows the business are decoration. ### Step 3: Keep leadership close to execution The Head of Marketing still produces until the team is well past a small squad (Kramer’s 2024 guide: still an IC until the team is well over \~20). Around a handful of people, a **producer**—campaigns, program management, mileage, feedback into the three crafts—reports to the Head, not into one silo. That is how fuel and engine stay married. [Company cadence](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/company-cadence) and [content strategy](../03-brand-story-and-content/content-strategy.md) still set the calendar; producers run it. Past \~15, put leads on sub-functions so the Head is not twenty directs. Past \~20, process and handoffs matter more than another specialist; re-org if events, ecosystem, or lifecycle no longer fit the original three boxes. Do not copy a 25-person chart at headcount four. ### Step 4: Explain marketing priorities to the rest of the company Share **strategy and priorities**, not a research dump. Teach fuel vs engine so sales and product stop asking marketing to be a pipeline vending machine. Random acts of marketing from other teams die when the [strategy inputs](../../templates/marketing-strategy-inputs.md) and a short KPO list are visible. This is not a brand campaign about the marketing team. ## Worked example (illustrative) Sales-assist. Two marketers today. Primary engine: outbound + one event motion. | Field | Fill | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Firsts we refuse | First B2B, first sales-assist, first people-manager, first PMM—stacked | | π-shape to hire next | PMM depth, growth proficient (enablement + a channel they have run) | | Will not hire next | Third “demand gen” with no writer | | Head | Still writes the brief and one flagship asset per quarter | | Producer | Not yet—at 5 people, campaigns report to Head | | Internal | Monthly: ranked ICPs, one perception, what we will not do | ## Copy: org card (fill) * Primary motion ([channel strategy](../04-channels-and-distribution/channel-strategy.md)): * Firsts we will not stack on the next hire: * π-shape we need (depth / proficient): * Fuel coverage today / gap: * Engine coverage today / gap: * Foundation (PMM) coverage today / gap: * Head still ICs? until headcount \~: * Producer: not yet / reports to Head / buried in a silo (fix): * Next two hires (alternate fuel and engine): * What we will tell the rest of the company this month (priorities, not a recap): Working file: [marketing-org.md](../../templates/marketing-org.md). ## Before you start * [ ] Motion is written; the hire matches it. * [ ] Next hire is not stacked with too many firsts. * [ ] π-shape names depth and a second proficiency. * [ ] We are not hiring only engine. * [ ] Head still has IC work, or the team is actually large enough. * [ ] If fuel and engine already miss each other, a producer reports to the Head. * [ ] Contractors have an internal owner. * [ ] Internal update shares priorities, not a folder of research. ## Metrics | Metric | Diagnostic use | | --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | Fuel vs engine seats | Whether distribution outruns content or the reverse | | Head IC time | Whether the leader still ships | | Campaigns with a producer or named glue | Whether silos own the calendar | | Random requests killed | Whether strategy is visible internally | Do not count org-chart revisions, open reqs, or agency retainers as an operating system. ## Common mistakes * Too many firsts on the first marketer. * Hiring only growth / demand gen. * Senior Head who will not execute. * Specialists before generalists. * Contractors with no internal strategy owner. * Fuel, engine, and PMM as three companies. * Glue buried inside one sub-function. * Treating marketing as this quarter’s pipeline desk. ## What to read next What they will spend is [budget and planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/budget-and-planning). Whether the year is possible is [GTM planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/gtm-planning). What they will ship is [content strategy](../03-brand-story-and-content/content-strategy.md) and [channel strategy](../04-channels-and-distribution/channel-strategy.md). Launches they must own are [product launch](../02-product-marketing/product-launch.md). The quarterly calendar is [company cadence](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/company-cadence). ## Sources and evidence boundary This is an owner-maintained operating synthesis. It is not a compensation band, not a visa or labor-law guide, and not a copy of any company’s chart. “Too many firsts,” evaluating stage / motion / sub-function fit, and π-shape (depth in one of PMM, content, or growth plus proficiency in another; first hire often PMM+growth) draw on Emily Kramer and Kathleen Estreich ([MKT1, 2021-01-28](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/how-to-hire-your-first-marketer?ref=b2b-playbook)), restated in the MKT1 Method ([2023-12-13](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/mkt1-method?ref=b2b-playbook)) and hiring episode ([2025-03-26](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/dear-marketers-hiring-episode3?ref=b2b-playbook)). Three sub-functions as fuel / engine / foundation, generalists first, do not hire only engine, Head still ICs until a large team, producers as glue reporting to the Head, and the 1→10 / 10→20 / 20+ failure modes draw on Kramer ([MKT1, 2024-08-19](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/marketing-org-charts?ref=b2b-playbook)). Fuel and engine as the teaching metaphor: [2021-11-17](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/fuel-engine?ref=b2b-playbook). Teaching the rest of the company with strategy rather than a research dump: [2024-02-21](https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/how-to-market-marketing-internally?ref=b2b-playbook). Headcount bands and dates in those essays are **her** scale sketches for VC-backed B2B teams on those dates—not this library’s SLA. Paid FigJam org charts, JD packs, and interview scorecards are not reproduced here. *** Copyright © 2026 Ivan Xu. All rights reserved. See the [copyright and reuse terms](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook/blob/main/LICENSE). Canonical source: [github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook)