Your Marketing Team Can Only Carry So Much

A little reminder for leaders: check in with your marketing team before the cracks start to show.

I had a conversation with a Marketing Manager last week that stayed with me.

They joined a brand they genuinely believed in. Eighteen months in, they’re still invested in the business, still excited about what it could become and still very good at what they do.

But they’re burning out.

Not because they don’t want to work hard. They absolutely do.

The problem is that they’ve been waiting for additional support for the past eight months.

They were told more resources were coming. Additional team members. Direct reports. Some extra hands to take things off their plate.

Eight months later, those hires still aren’t in the pipeline.

And in the meantime, they’re doing an awful lot.

Paid media. Community engagement. Email marketing. Strategy. Planning. Execution. Probably a few things that aren’t technically in their job description too.

All while working in a highly reactive environment where priorities can change quickly.

They’re on a $170K package, so they’re certainly not expecting to sit back and watch someone else do the work.

They’re happy to roll up their sleeves.

But there is only so much one person can carry.

The issue isn’t always the workload

This is something I see quite regularly in marketing recruitment.

People can handle a lot when they understand why they’re doing it and, importantly, when they can see an endpoint.

A Marketing Manager might happily take on additional responsibility for a few months while a team is being built.

They might be completely comfortable being hands-on while a new product launches, a business goes through a period of change or a new strategy is being implemented.

What becomes difficult is when the temporary situation quietly becomes the permanent one.

Or when they keep being told that help is coming, but nobody can tell them when.

That’s when frustration starts to creep in.

And I think this is where a simple conversation with your team can make a huge difference.

If the plan has changed, say so

If you’re a leader and you have someone carrying a significant amount of your marketing function, check in with them.

Ask how they’re going.

Not just whether everything is getting done.

Ask what’s taking up most of their time. What they’re struggling to get to. What they would delegate if they had another pair of hands.

And, perhaps most importantly, be honest about what you can realistically deliver.

If a planned hire has been delayed, tell them.

If the budget has changed, explain what that means.

If the structure you originally talked about six months ago is no longer happening, don’t leave someone guessing.

People can generally deal with difficult news a lot better than they deal with being left in the dark.

There’s nothing more frustrating than continuing to work towards a plan that no longer exists.

Recruitment delays have a real impact

I know there are plenty of reasons a hire can take longer than expected.

Budgets change. Priorities shift. Businesses restructure. Approval processes take longer than anyone anticipated.

That’s recruitment. I see it every week.

But there is a person on the other side of that decision.

And when that person has already been absorbing additional responsibilities for months, the impact of delaying a hire can be significant.

It can affect their workload, their motivation and ultimately how they feel about the business they joined.

This is particularly relevant in marketing because the role can expand very quickly.

A Marketing Manager might start with a clear remit and suddenly find themselves across digital, content, CRM, events, social, paid media, internal communications and strategy.

Before you know it, you’ve effectively got one person trying to operate an entire marketing department.

They might be brilliant at it.

That doesn’t mean it’s sustainable.

And please, appreciate them

This part really isn’t rocket science.

If someone is doing a great job under difficult circumstances, tell them.

Thank them.

Acknowledge the extra effort.

It doesn’t cost anything to recognise when someone is carrying more than they originally signed up for, and it can go a surprisingly long way.

I speak to plenty of exceptional marketing people who aren’t looking to leave their employer at all.

They’re looking for their employer to recognise what they’re contributing.

Sometimes that recognition is additional resource.

Sometimes it’s a change in priorities.

Sometimes it’s simply an honest conversation about what’s realistic.

And sometimes, unfortunately, the conversation comes too late.

The cost of losing a good Marketing Manager

The Marketing Manager I spoke to is now looking for their next role.

I have no doubt they’ll be snapped up. They’re exceptional at what they do.

But it’s a shame.

Because this isn’t someone who joined a business with one foot out the door. They believed in the brand. They wanted to grow it. They had stayed for eighteen months and continued to give a lot to the business.

The issue wasn’t a lack of commitment.

It was that the support they had been promised never arrived, and the communication around it had fallen away.

That’s a very different thing.

At New Chapter Talent, I spend a lot of time talking to both sides of these conversations.

With clients, I help them think through what they actually need from a marketing hire, how their team should be structured and where an additional person could genuinely take pressure off.

With candidates, I hear what is happening once they’re inside a business – what’s working, what isn’t and what they need from their next chapter.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve always believed recruitment should be about more than matching a CV to a job description.

It’s about understanding the people, the team and the reality of the role.

So, a little reminder for leaders this week

If you have someone in your marketing team who is holding a lot together, check in with them.

Ask what support they need.

Ask what’s working and what isn’t.

And if you can’t deliver something you previously promised, be upfront about it.

Good people will usually give you a lot.

Just make sure they know they’re valued, and make sure the workload you’re asking them to carry is actually sustainable.

And if you’re reviewing your marketing structure and wondering where an additional hire could make the biggest difference, I’m always happy to have a chat.

Sometimes you need another person.

Sometimes you need a different person.

And sometimes you need to take a good, hard look at what the team is already being asked to do.

Either way, it’s worth talking it through.