One thing I can tell about you is that you are not so different from Lindsay Bayuk who posted this:
“When I had just started as a CMO. I searched high and low for examples of B2B SaaS Marketing org charts for larger teams (not startups). There were a couple decent pieces from a talk by Bill Macaitis, the CMO Club, Gartner and SiriusDecisions, but nothing that gave me what I needed.”
This blog post is for those who faced the same challenge as Lindsay Bayuk. You want real-world insights, practical examples of B2B SaaS marketing org charts, and strategies that work in both startup and established company settings.
Everything you need to know about structuring your B2B SaaS marketing team is here.
Table of Content:
Role of Marketing Teams in B2B SaaS Companies
As a B2B SaaS company, you are navigating the delicate balance between customer acquisition costs (CAC) and lifetime value (CLTV), crucial metrics determining your growth.
Understanding the importance of product-market fit is key. A structured B2B SaaS marketing team enables you to effectively balance customer acquisition costs with lifetime value, optimize subscription models, enhance product-market fit, and advise on scalable growth strategies.
Essential Teams for Building a High-Performing B2B SaaS Marketing Department
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Content Marketing Team
Role: Create and distribute valuable, relevant content to attract and engage your target audience.
Key Activities: Blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, eBooks, webinars, infographics.
Key Roles:
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Content Marketing Manager
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Content Writers/Editors
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SEO Specialist
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Social Media Manager
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Product Marketing Team
Role: Position and promote your product, ensuring it meets the needs of your target market.
Key Activities: Market research, competitor analysis, messaging and positioning, sales enablement, and product launches.
Key Roles:
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Product Marketing Manager
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Market Research Analyst
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Sales Enablement Specialist
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Customer Insights Specialist
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Demand Generation Team
Role: Drive awareness and generate high-quality leads for your sales team.
Key Activities: SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media marketing, content syndication, webinars and events.
Key Roles:
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Demand Generation Manager
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Marketing Campaign Manager
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Digital Marketing Specialist
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Paid Media Specialist
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SEO/SEM Specialist
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Growth Marketing Team
Role: Focus on scalable marketing strategies and experiments to drive growth.
Key Activities: A/B testing, conversion rate optimization, lifecycle marketing, referral programs.
Key Roles:
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Growth Marketer / Growth Hacker
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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Specialist
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Paid Acquisition Specialist
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Email Marketing Specialist
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Customer Marketing Team
Role: Engage and retain existing customers to drive upsells, cross-sells, and advocacy.
Key Activities: Customer onboarding, customer success stories, loyalty programs and customer feedback loops.
Key Roles:
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Customer Marketing Manager
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Customer Success Marketer
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Community Manager
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Advocacy Programs Specialist
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Brand Marketing Team
Role: Build and maintain a strong brand presence and reputation.
Key Activities: Brand strategy, public relations, thought leadership, social media presence, partnerships.
Key Roles:
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Brand Manager
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Creative Director
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Graphic Designers
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PR Specialist
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Analytics and Operations Team
Role: Measure and optimize marketing performance, ensuring alignment with business goals.
Key Activities: Data analysis, marketing automation, CRM management, reporting and dashboards.
Key Roles:
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Marketing Operations Manager
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Data Analyst
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CRM Specialist
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Marketing Automation Specialist
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Partnership Marketing Team
Role: Develop and manage partnerships to drive growth and expand reach.
Key Activities: Strategic alliances, co-marketing campaigns and partner programs.
Key Roles:
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Partner Marketing Manager
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Channel Marketing Manager
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Partner Program Coordinator
Depending on the size and stage of your company, you might combine some of these roles or have individuals wear multiple hats.
How do Successful B2B SaaS Companies Structure their Marketing Teams? (Based on Size)
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1-10 Employees
Building a marketing team for a small B2B SaaS company with a limited budget requires strategic prioritization of roles and activities that deliver the highest return on investment. Here are the crucial positions and the rationale behind each:
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Content Marketing Manager:
Role: This individual will be responsible for creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract and engage your target audience.
Why It’s Crucial?
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Content marketing generates 3 times more leads than outbound marketing and costs 62% less.
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Establishing thought leadership through valuable content can attract and nurture leads, essential for a B2B SaaS company.
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Demand Generation Specialist:
Role: Focus on driving awareness and generating high-quality leads for your sales team.
Why It’s Crucial:
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Effective demand generation can significantly reduce the cost per lead (CPL) and increase the quality of leads.
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Ensures a steady pipeline of leads for your sales team to convert.
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Growth Marketer:
Role: Implement scalable marketing strategies and experiments to drive growth.
Why It’s Crucial?
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Growth marketing focuses on data-driven decisions to optimize marketing efforts, crucial for maximizing ROI on a limited budget.
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Helps in quickly identifying what works and scaling successful strategies.
Budget-Friendly Tips:
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Flexibility: Given the limited budget, look for candidates who can wear multiple hats. For instance, a Digital Marketing Specialist with content skills or a Content Marketing Manager with SEO expertise can provide more value. Preferably, hire a T-marketer.
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Hire Freelancers: For specific tasks like graphic design or PR, consider hiring freelancers or agencies on a project basis to keep costs down.
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Focus on High-ROI Channels: Initially, concentrate on marketing channels that offer the highest return on investment.
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Build Partnerships: Partner with complementary businesses to co-market. This can expand your reach without significant additional cost.
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Focus on Retention: Once you have a steady stream of leads and customers, add a Customer Marketing Manager to focus on retention and advocacy.
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10-50 Employees
When your team expands to 10-50 employees and you have laid the groundwork, you can focus on scaling. This stage involves filling more specific roles to refine your marketing strategies. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the key roles and why they are essential:
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Content Marketing Team:
Expansion: Increase the number of Content Writers/Editors, SEO Specialists, and Social Media Managers.
Prioritize hiring a B2B Marketing Manager and a Video Content Creator:
Why: As per Cisco, video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2022, making video content creation vital for engagement.
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Product Marketing Team:
Role: Plan and execute product launches, ensuring alignment across marketing, sales, and product teams. Examples of the most crucial at this stage.
Key roles:
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Product Marketing Manager
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Market Research Analyst
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Sales Enablement Specialist
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Growth Marketing Team:
Expansion: Add a Lifecycle Marketing Manager whose duty is to focus on customer retention and lifecycle marketing strategies.
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Marketing Ops Manager:
Role: Essential for creating a structured, efficient, and data-driven marketing function that aligns with your business goals and drives sustainable growth.
Implementation Strategy:
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As your budget and needs grow, gradually add these roles to avoid overwhelming the team and resources.
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Encourage cross-training to ensure team members can cover multiple areas if needed.
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50-249 Employees
In a B2B SaaS company with 50-249 employees, having dedicated leadership roles is important. Expanding teams under these leaders with specialized roles helps in executing comprehensive marketing strategies, driving growth, and establishing a strong brand presence.
Key Leadership Roles:
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Director of Marketing:
As the marketing team grows, it becomes essential to have a senior leader who can oversee all marketing functions, ensuring strategic alignment with company goals.
Responsibilities:
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Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies.
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Allocate resources effectively.
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Monitor and analyze performance metrics.
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Report directly to the executive team.
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Head of Growth:
Focuses on driving scalable growth through innovative and data-driven strategies and Leads growth marketing initiatives.
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Head of Product Marketing:
Ensures the product is well-positioned in the market, meets customer needs, and supports the sales team. Also manages product launches and go-to-market strategies.
New Teams and Key Roles
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Brand Marketing Team:
Builds and maintains a strong brand presence, essential for differentiation and long-term success.
Key Roles:
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Head of Brand
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Brand Manager
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Creative Director
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Brand Strategist
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Customer Marketing Team:
This department focuses on engaging and retaining existing customers, driving upsells, cross-sells, and turning customers into advocates. This role ensures that marketing efforts do not just stop at acquisition but extend throughout the customer lifecycle.
According to research by Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Moreover, acquiring a new customer is 6 to 7 times more expensive than keeping an existing one. (HubSpot)
Key roles:
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Customer Marketing Manager
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Customer Success Marketers
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Community Manager
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250-999 Employees
As your company grows to 249-999 employees, your marketing strategy addresses customer acquisition, retention, brand development and market insights to support sustained expansion.
New Roles and Teams
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Chief Customer Officer (CCO):
Role: Ensures a customer-centric approach across the organization, driving customer loyalty and retention.
Deloitte research shows that companies with a CCO report 2.3 times higher customer satisfaction.
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Partnerships and Alliances Team:
Role: They develop strategic alliances to drive growth and expand market reach. According to a study by BPI Network, strategic partnerships can increase business growth by up to 50%.
Key Roles:
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Partnership Manager
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Channel Marketing Manager
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1,000+ Employees
At this stage, your company is well-funded, has secured significant budgets, and is experiencing rapid growth. The focus is on scaling operations, penetrating new markets, and establishing a dominant brand presence.
Expanding the senior leadership team is crucial for a B2B SaaS company with 1000+ employees.
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VP of Marketing:
Provides strategic oversight for the entire marketing department, ensuring alignment with company-wide goals.
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Director of Growth Marketing:
Responsible for driving scalable growth through data-driven strategies such as A/B testing and user acquisition tactics, which can significantly increase customer acquisition rates and overall revenue.
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Director of Product Marketing:
Focuses on ensuring the product meets market needs through effective positioning, competitive analysis, and go-to-market strategies.
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Director of Brand Marketing:
Leads brand strategy, public relations, and thought leadership initiatives to enhance brand visibility and loyalty, directly impacting market share and customer perception.
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Director of Marketing Operations:
Manages marketing automation, CRM systems, and analytics to optimize campaign performance and operational efficiency, leading to improved ROI and strategic alignment with business goals.
Specialized Marketing Roles for Scaling an Enterprise B2B SaaS
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Head of ABM (Account-Based Marketing): Focuses on targeting and engaging high-value enterprise accounts. ABM strategies can deliver a 171% increase in average contract value for strategic accounts. In addition, 97% of marketers surveyed said that ABM had a higher ROI than other marketing activities.
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Head of PR & Social Media: Enhances brand visibility and reputation through strategic public relations and social media engagement. Companies that effectively use PR and social media can see a 30% increase in brand awareness.
How Much Should a B2B SaaS Company Spend on Hiring a Marketing Team?
Determining the budget for hiring your SaaS marketing team depends on your company’s growth stage, market size and revenue goals.
A common benchmark for SaaS companies is to allocate 10-40% of annual revenue to marketing, with a portion of that dedicated to hiring and salaries.
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Early-Stage SaaS (Up to $10M ARR):
Allocate around 10-20% of revenue to marketing. Focus on building a small, agile team that can cover essential marketing functions. As a result-driven recruiting agency placing talent at early-stage SaaS companies, we ensure they possess operational agility to accelerate market entry, maximize resource utilization, and achieve rapid growth milestones.
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Growth-Stage SaaS ($10M-$50M ARR):
Increase to 20-30% of revenue. This stage requires a more robust team with specialized roles to scale operations and drive growth. Leading firms like Moniepoint, RemotePass and Andela partner with us to hire marketing roles, as this growth stage determines if you can effectively capture market share and sustain competitive advantage.
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Mature SaaS (Over $50M ARR):
Allocate 30-40% or more. At this stage, your marketing efforts should be comprehensive, targeting both growth and brand building. When your SaaS company matures and scales over $50M ARR, CareerBuddy helps you build the next world-class marketing organization.
How to Hire Your B2B SaaS Marketing Team
The structure of your marketing team will vary depending on your company’s needs, but here are the 5 key steps:
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Identify key roles based on company size and goals.
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Start with roles that can generate the most immediate value.
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Work hand-in-hand with an embedded recruiter from CareerBuddy.
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Solely focus on hiring talent who have first-hand experience in scaling companies with marketing efforts.
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While interviewing, evaluate their problem-solving abilities and track record in driving measurable results in marketing.
What to Look for in Your B2B SaaS Marketing Employees
When hiring for your SaaS marketing team, focus on candidates who possess the following qualities and skills:
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Ability to develop and execute comprehensive marketing strategies that align with business goals.
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Proficiency in using analytics tools to track performance and optimize campaigns.
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Familiarity with marketing automation platforms, CRM systems, and digital marketing tools.
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Willingness to pivot strategies based on market feedback and changing conditions.
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Ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively to both internal teams and external audiences.
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Capacity to develop unique and engaging marketing campaigns that stand out in the market.
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Focus on understanding and addressing customer needs and pain points.
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Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including sales, product, and customer success.
Check out how CareerBuddy connected an exceptional talent with a fast-growing organization. (Head of Operations at Uncover).
Need Help Hiring the Best B2B Saas Marketing Team?
We have a 90% candidate retention rate, the fastest profile turnaround times (24-72hrs) and the highest hiring ROI for fast-growing companies. You deserve the best employees on your journey to becoming a market leader in the SaaS industry. Book a call.
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Final Words
Investing in a well-structured and skilled marketing team is essential for your B2B SaaS company’s growth and success. Therefore prioritize pivotal roles that directly align with your strategic objectives. As you expand, strategically invest in specialized positions that can amplify your impact. This approach not only drives sustainable growth but also elevates brand visibility and reinforces your market dominance.