Some tech trivia to get the brain juices flowing.

In the last edition of #EnteringTech, we spoke to different marketers and got their perspectives about how marketing talents take on multiple roles in tech startups, and are often under-compensated. While the marketers suggested workarounds to budgetary constraints in hiring marketing talents, several others advocated that marketers should be compensated duly for their efforts. 

In today’s edition, startup founders are pitching in. All of the CEOs we spoke to all agree that marketing talents are an integral part of their startup’s growth, however, several limitations remain. 

Olamide Olayinka, CEO of Kashbase, believes that it is nearly unavoidable for a marketing talent to take up multiple roles in a startup setting. Olayinka cited a startup’s lean structure and tight budget as a cause. 

Babatunde Akin-Moses, CEO of Sycamore sides with Olayinka on this view. “For most growing companies and startups, it will be hard to have one person simply dedicated to content building. Usually, the person will handle social media, and a bit of digital marketing too.”

Anthony Itaigbe of Izesan believes that it is important for content marketers to wear multiple hats due to the importance of their job in painting a picture of what a startup represents to the public. Itaigbe is of the opinion that content marketers should take on whatever form that helps drive home a startup’s message to the public.

Olamide Olayinka, Babatunde Akin-Moses, and Anthony Itaigbe

Several founders agreed that budget is indeed a limiting factor when hiring marketing talents. However, according to the founders, having a workaround is important. For Akin-Moses of Sycamore, his workaround involves taking a chance on someone with less experience, or employing a marketing talent that fits within his budget. 

For Olamide, it’s freelancers to the rescue. According to him, while budget might be a restriction, Kashbase does not compromise on marketing strengths. To navigate work that requires a marketing expert, the startup hires freelancers or marketing experts on a part-time basis.

Having a marketing talent handle multiple operations has both advantages and disadvantages. According to Akin-Moses, some of the advantages include cost savings, better alignment and speed. Olayinka believes that one benefit this offers is that if a startup hires a great marketing talent they could help establish a framework. “If your initial hire is a great fit, they can help establish a solid foundation for the team. For instance, when we had to define our brand’s personality, tone of voice, go-to-market strategy, and overall brand essence, it was more manageable because we were a small team; one person led the conversation and everyone had something to contribute and the alignment was quick. When new intakes come on board, they could seamlessly fit in, into the existing framework.”

On the flip side, marketers who spoke to us in the previous edition attest to the fact that having one marketing talent take on multiple roles could easily wear out the person and affect their level of output.” Akin-Moses agrees, “The challenges are the possibility of burnout and not having specialised output since one person is doing many things.”

All of the founders we spoke to all agree that having marketing talents wear multiple hats in startups is inevitable. While this may wear out the marketing talent, some founders suggested some workarounds to help alleviate the stress off the marketing talents while helping them manage their tasks effectively.

Olayinka believes to curb the fatigue that arises from one person handling multiple tasks is to have a clear plan for expanding the team. “If you start with one person handling everything, it’s important to plan for expanding the team to enhance the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and ease the workload.”

For Otaigbe, the workaround involves striking a delicate balance. “There should be some dynamism, you don’t have to wear multiple hats all the time, it could be a temporary thing. But there is value and dedication, so it’s important for marketing talents to find a delicate balance,” he said.

From the various conversations we’ve had with both founders and marketers, having marketing talents take on multiple roles in startups is inevitable. Due to a startup lean structure, founders have resulted in hiring generalists within their budget who have a grasp of multiple marketing skills. However, a careful line needs to be drawn between burdening marketers with too many tasks and undercompensating them. 

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