Who Should Be the First Marketing Hire in a B2B Startup: Growth Marketer or Product Marketer?

By Anastasia Albert ???? , Managing Partner at B2B Practitioners

In a B2B tech startup, making the right first marketing hire is critical, as it can influence everything from initial market entry to positioning. For many startups, two primary candidates often emerge: the Growth Marketer and the Product Marketer. Both roles are essential but bring different strengths to the table. Knowing when to hire each one depends on understanding your startup’s specific needs, current stage, target audience and Go-To-Market approach.

In this article, we’ll break down the differences between these roles, discuss how each fits at different stages of a startup’s growth, and provide real-world examples to guide the decision-making process.

Defining the Roles: Growth Marketer vs. Product Marketer

Growth Marketer Profile

A Growth Marketer is a versatile generalist who can manage multiple channels, oversee campaigns, and experiment with acquisition tactics. This role is data-driven, results-oriented, and hands-on. Growth Marketers often work on:

• Setting up acquisition channels (e.g., digital ads, SEO, email marketing).
• Testing different strategies and campaigns to see what resonates with users.
• Managing external resources like freelancers or agencies to support campaign efforts.
• Analyzing performance metrics to make data-backed adjustments to drive growth.

This role is especially valuable in early-stage startups that are Product-Led Growth (PLG) oriented or targeting Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Growth Marketer’s agility and breadth allow your startup to rapidly test strategies, gather feedback, and iterate based on what works.

Product Marketer Profile?

On the other hand, a Product Marketer is more specialized, with a focus on understanding the market, customer segments, and the competitive landscape and bridging it with the product. Product Marketers are responsible for:

• Defining ideal customer profiles (ICP) and personas.
• Understanding the buyer decision process.?
• Crafting the positioning and messaging.
• Aligning the product’s narrative with customer needs and competitive differentiators.
• Supporting sales enablement and guiding marketing strategies that resonate with target segments.

Product Marketers bring value to any B2B startup, but specifically those with more complex products or a sales-led high-touch motion. Their work ensures that the product’s value proposition is clearly defined and resonates with the target audience.

Product Marketing can be divided into two areas:

Strategic Product Marketing:

Strategic work includes defining ICP, crafting detailed personas, understanding the buyer decision process, and creating foundational positioning and messaging. These high-level tasks provide the foundation for how the product is communicated in the market. While strategic product marketing can sometimes be outsourced, it’s critical for companies to have a clear, cohesive strategy before focusing on tactical execution.

Day-to-Day Product Marketing:

Day-to-day tasks include launching products and driving their adoption through webinars, sales and marketing collateral such as product sheets, sales enablement materials or battlecards. This operational side is often best kept in-house to ensure alignment with sales and product teams and to respond quickly to customer needs and market changes.

Key Factors to Consider in Hiring Decision

Startup Stage

If Product Market Fit (PMF) is still unconfirmed, we often encounter another type of Product Marketer - one that is a hybrid of above two descriptions, slightly more leaning towards Product Marketing: they have the customer and product intuition of the product marketer, experiment with messaging, acquisition and communication channels to to test different hypotheses.?

They excel at identifying which channels and strategies generate traction, helping the startup iteratively refine its target market. Once PMF is achieved, a Product Marketer’s strategic work in refining positioning and defining customer segments becomes essential. Their expertise in crafting customer personas and aligning messaging with validated market demand helps the startup deepen its market presence and connect with a broader audience.

But be warned: talent that really matches this profile is extremely hard to find.

Go-To-Market Motion (PLG vs. Sales-Led)

The startup’s go-to-market (GTM) motion, whether Product-Led Growth (PLG) or Sales-Led, also influences the first marketing hire. In PLG models, a Growth Marketer’s focus on optimizing self-service channels and driving adoption is particularly effective, as they can build on customer acquisition momentum. In a Sales-Led model, where sales cycles are longer and customer interactions more complex, a Product Marketer can support the sales team with tailored messaging, a coherent narrative and sales enablement materials (e.g. presentations, product sheets, and webinars).

Target Customer (SME vs. Mid-Market vs. Enterprise)

The target customer type—whether SMEs or Enterprises—determines whether a broad or highly focused marketing approach is needed. For SME-focused startups, broad marketing strategies that attract large volumes of customers are usually effective, making a Growth Marketer the better choice. They can optimize various acquisition channels to reach and engage a high volume of potential users. In contrast, enterprise-focused startups likely benefit more from the strategic depth of a Product Marketer who can tailor messaging to meet complex buyer needs, support account-based sales, and develop a positioning and content that resonates with high-value clients.?

Complexity of Product

Product complexity also guides the choice of marketing hire. For simple, transactional products, a Growth Marketer’s emphasis on acquisition aligns well, allowing the startup to focus on scaling customer acquisition through clear and direct campaigns. However, for complex or highly technical products, a Product Marketer’s expertise in positioning and messaging becomes critical. Their ability to clearly articulate the product’s benefits helps educate the market, enabling potential customers to fully understand the product’s value and make informed purchasing decisions.

Understanding Startup Stages and Their Marketing Needs

To determine which role to hire first, it’s important to understand how marketing needs shift through different startup stages:

Pre-Product Market Fit (Pre-PMF)

At this stage, your startup is focused on validating the product idea and finding its place in the market. Here, customer acquisition efforts are experimental, aiming to gather initial user feedback. Typically you don’t need a marketer just yet, because the founders will choose a beachhead segment and reach out to their potential customers directly in order to validate their hypotheses. However, PMF is not always a state to arrive at, but a matter of traveling: better PMF means more product value means more willingness to pay. Hence you should hire for the hybrid Product Marketer, who can also drive some of the early Growth Marketing initiatives. They will support you with getting in front of potential customers, test hypotheses through different landing pages or communities.?

Product Market Fit (PMF)

Once PMF is achieved, the startup shifts focus to growth, expanding customer acquisition efforts based on the proven demand for its product. At this stage, a Growth Marketer becomes essential for setting up the first (typically lower funnel channel), driving customer acquisition, and accelerating revenue. Their expertise in executing and analyzing multi-channel strategies allows the company to build on its market foothold and capture larger audience segments.

Go-To-Market Fit (GTM Fit)

GTM Fit is about aligning sales and marketing strategies with the way the product is sold, ensuring that the go-to-market motion resonates with target customers. In this phase, a Product Marketer is crucial for defining the ideal customer profile (ICP), crafting precise positioning, and tailoring messaging to match customer needs. The Product Marketer will also support you with packaging and pricing, which is typically experimental at each startup journey. According to the GTM Alliance :?

“Go-to-market fit is about ensuring your product is being sold and marketed in the right way for your prospects. A strong GTM fit ensures you’ll acquire and retain customers consistently and can scale up your organization with ease. Essentially go-to-market fit is the next step in your company’s journey towards becoming a category leader.”?

Scaling

When scaling, both roles often work in tandem: the Growth Marketer focuses on scaling acquisition channels, while the Product Marketer supports the sales team with sales materials, but also more in-depth research into new customer segments.?

Examples to Illustrate the Choice

Example 1: E-Commerce Startup

An e-commerce startup first hired a Growth Marketer to establish and optimize digital channels, setting up foundational acquisition strategies on paid social and paid search. This initial focus allowed them to reach early customers quickly and gather valuable insights on user preferences. After a successful Series A round and as the team expanded, the startup brought in a Product Marketer to conduct deeper research into customer segments. This Product Marketer refined the positioning and developed tailored messaging for each key persona, new packaging and pricing ensuring that the scaleup went beyond early adopters.?

Example 2: Automotive Client - Customer Lifecycle Management

A B2B client in customer lifecycle management for the automotive industry initially focused on outbound marketing strategies, targeting specific clients without a structured positioning framework. Recognizing the need for clearer messaging and better-defined personas, they got external help from B2BP for strategic product marketing. B2BP refined their ICP, created detailed personas, and developed a cohesive positioning strategy that shaped the brand’s new website and overall go-to-market approach. The shift allowed the sales team to engage prospects more effectively, resulting in improved customer acquisition.

Pros and Cons of Each Role as a First Hire

Growth Marketer

Pros:

• Highly adaptable and able to manage multiple channels.
• Effective at driving rapid customer acquisition through experimentation.
• Provides data-driven insights to inform product development.

Cons:

• May lack the depth needed for nuanced product positioning.
• Can struggle with alignment in sales-led organizations that require strategic, buyer-focused messaging.

Product Marketer

Pros:

• Expert in understanding customer and product, describing ICPs and personas, deriving product positioning, creating cohesive narratives, and compelling messaging.
• Supports sales enablement and ensures a consistent message across touchpoints.
• Beneficial for enterprise-focused or complex products requiring a tailored approach.

Cons:

• May be less effective at rapid customer acquisition, especially in b2c or SOHO context.
• Can slow down growth if acquisition channels and tactics aren’t established.

The Evolution Of The Two Roles?

Below you see the evolution for product marketing and growth marketing in terms of a company’s revenue.?

Conclusion: The Right Role for the Right Stage

Choosing the right marketing hire is a critical early decision for startups. If the startup is still validating its product or working within a PLG model, a Growth Marketer’s adaptability and experimentation can generate rapid results and insights. Once a startup achieves GTM or Product-Market Fit and focuses on positioning and competitive differentiation, a Product Marketer becomes essential.

By aligning the first hire with the company’s stage, goals, and go-to-market needs, startups can set themselves up for success, building a strong foundation for sustainable growth.