Storetasker is the leading freelance marketplace for top Shopify developers and e-commerce experts, used by successful brands like Samsonite, Dermalogica, and Alo Yoga.
We sat down with Tim Masek, Storetasker's Director of Growth and Founder of 1-800-D2C, to deep dive into tactics for hiring great growth marketers. We cover topics like:
- How to hire a high-performing DTC growth marketer
- What to look for when kicking off recruitment
- How to orchestrate brand partnerships
"Your Head of Growth has got to love your brand. Don't even talk to somebody, no matter how good they are, if they don't love your product."
How to Hire a High-Performing Growth Marketer
Tim hired many heads of growth at the D2C businesses he worked for before Storetasker and 1-800-D2C, so he knows what traits to look for:
- Love for the Brand– This is the number one item Tim wants. If a head of growth isn't all in on the brand's mission and industry, they're not going to come up with non-traditional ideas or spend extra hours pushing the business forward.
- A Broad Growth Skillset– A growth marketer needs to understand analytics tracking, acquisition, conversion rate optimization, and retention.
- The Ability to Act and Implement– When a head of growth is first hired, they're the go-to executioner and implementer of tactics.
- Leadership Qualities– They will be in charge of recruiting people to work on their team and collaborating with others.
In terms of what separates a good Head of Growth from an All-Star Head of Growth: That comes down to having a good understanding of business strategy.
If heads of growth can't influence business strategy, they're working all alone. That means if the business fails, they fail with it.
Don’t be fooled however when recruiting Heads of Growth with a successful track record. Many “successful” heads of growth caught a break within a winning team or brand. Be careful if the person you’re interviewing is attributing all the positive results back to them, or is self-aware enough to note that other forces may have played a part. In your next interview with a promising recruit, ask yourself which bucket they fall into:
- The growth function looked good because the product was already destined for success
- The head of growth supercharged the company.
Realizing this distinction complicates the recruitment process slightly.
"You want to hire a growth marketer who's brilliant at the basics and can take your business to another level by adding their own spice to the mix. Their work should bring that missing X factor."