Marketing Specialist vs Generalist: How to Hire For Your Team

You’re bringing marketing in-house. You’ve made the decision, and now you’re asking the next set of questions.

Who should be our first marketing hire?

What marketing roles do we need to prioritize?

Are there any must-haves to build the right marketing team for us?

These are the questions business leaders ask when they move away from outsourcing and start building a team that can drive results from within. And if you’re committed to building a strong in-house team, as we recommend in Endless Customers, you need to make the right calls early.

Let’s break it down.

Editor’s Note: Endless Customers, available now on Amazon, walks you through exactly how to build your in-house content marketing team. If you’re ready to bring content, video, and strategy inside your business for the long haul, the book lays out the full philosophy to set your team up for lasting success.

What’s the Difference Between a Generalist and a Specialist?

A generalist is a utility player. They can handle a little bit of everything—content, social media, email, events, SEO. In theory, this gives you one person who can run your entire marketing engine.

However, generalists rarely go deep enough in any one area to produce work that builds real traction. You’ll likely end up with average blog posts, inconsistent video, or surface-level strategy. Not because the person isn’t talented. Because the role is unrealistic.

A specialist, on the other hand, owns one lane and goes deep. For example, a great content manager isn’t just writing articles, they’re researching buyer questions, collaborating with sales, optimizing for search, managing production timelines, and publishing consistently. Same goes for a videographer. They’re not just shooting footage. They’re telling stories that build trust and move buyers forward.

When you commit to the Endless Customers System™, depth matters. Which is why we recommend starting with two key specialists.

The Two Must-Have Specialists for Every In-House Team

1. The Content Manager: The Backbone of Your Strategy
This person is responsible for turning your company’s expertise into written content that drives traffic, leads, and sales. They’re not just writing blog posts. They’re meeting with subject matter experts. They’re planning content around sales conversations. They’re building a library of resources that your sales team can assign to prospects.

In Endless Customers, we say clearly: no content manager, no content strategy.

Before you worry about ads or flashy design, hire this person. They will help your company say what others aren’t willing to say. They’ll tackle The Big 5: cost, problems, comparisons, reviews, and best-in-class content. They’ll produce the articles that drive traffic and influence buying decisions.

2. The Videographer: Your Shortcut to Trust at Scale
Buyers don’t just want answers. They want to see the people behind the business. They want to watch how something works. They want transparency. And nothing builds trust faster than video.

That’s why the videographer is your second must-have hire.

This isn’t a freelance shooter who drops in once a quarter. You need someone in-house. Someone who’s immersed in your products, culture, and customer conversations. Someone who can create The Selling 7 videos that drive revenue: bio videos, product/service walkthroughs, “80% videos,” customer journey stories, and more​

Together, the content manager and videographer create the foundation of your in-house marketing team.

Why We Don’t Recommend Starting With a Generalist

The idea of hiring one person to “do it all” is appealing. But here’s what usually happens:

• They end up reacting instead of building.

• Strategy takes a back seat to execution.

• Content creation is inconsistent.

• Sales and marketing stay disconnected.

Generalists work best on teams that already have specialists. Or, once your foundation is strong, they can fill gaps. But as a starting point, you need focus. Depth beats breadth every time.

Why In-House Beats Outsourcing (Every Time)

We’ve seen this over and over. Companies outsource their marketing hoping for speed and expertise. But the agency model wasn’t built for what buyers expect today.

Buyers want transparency. Real answers. Real people. Fast.

Agencies can’t live inside your business. They don’t sit in on sales calls. They can’t walk across the office and ask your lead installer a question. They don’t hear the objections your team faces every day. That distance leads to content that feels disconnected. And disconnected content doesn’t build trust.

When you build your own team, you get:

• Control over quality and voice.

• Faster response to internal priorities.

• A team aligned with your sales goals.

• People who get better over time—because they live it every day.

That’s why Endless Customers is built on insourcing. 

How to Start Hiring the Right Way

If you’re just getting started, here’s the path we recommend:

Step 1: Hire a Content Manager.
This person is your strategist, writer, editor, and publisher. They’ll set your content cadence and start generating measurable results within the first 90 days.

Step 2: Hire a Videographer.
They’ll help your team get comfortable on camera, plan your Selling 7 video strategy, and launch your YouTube and social presence.

Step 3: Fill in gaps with freelancers or generalists.
As your program grows, you may want help with web design or paid ads. This is where generalists or part-time support can help. But don’t let them lead the strategy.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring

To make sure you’re hiring the right roles in the right order, ask yourself:

• Are we consistently producing content that answers buyer questions?

• Does our sales team assign content as part of their process?

• Do we have video content that helps prospects build trust before speaking with sales?

• Are we relying on an outside agency that doesn’t deeply understand our business?

• Are we trying to get one person to do everything?

If you’re answering “no” to the first three and “yes” to the last two, it’s time to restructure.

Final Thought

Building a great marketing team doesn’t start with a unicorn. It starts with two specialists—one for content, one for video.

These aren’t just hires. They’re investments in trust. They’re the foundation of everything in the Endless Customers System. Don’t outsource what your buyers expect to be real. Build it in-house.

And when you do, the results won’t just show up in your traffic or leads. They’ll show up in your sales pipeline. In your brand reputation. In your bottom line.