Growth hackers, full stack marketers, and ninja-rockstars – oh my! Full stack marketers are on the rise and in high demand, especially in the startup space. So, whether you’re a marketing pro or a startup in search of one, you definitely want to know what it means to be a full stack marketer.
Let’s start with the basics, shall we?
What is a “full-stack marketer”?
You’ve likely heard the term “full stack engineer” thrown around. It’s used to describe engineers who can complete a project from start to finish… all by themselves. They have a background in everything, but they’re an expert of nothing. Somewhere along the way, we applied that same concept to marketing and ended up with full stack marketers.
Full stack marketers have a working knowledge of all of the modern marketing tactics, from PPC and email marketing to social media and PR. They use that knowledge to create integrated growth strategies that they are capable of executing with limited external resources.
Why Startups Need Full Stack Marketers
Full stack marketers are die-hard generalists. And while the generalist vs. specialist debate is tired, most entrepreneurs would agree that startups should hire generalists in the early days and then focus their attention on specialists. Why? In the beginning, startups need people who can wear many hats.
If a PR pro is your first marketing hire, they’ll likely also have a working knowledge of content marketing and social media. But you’ll need to outsource PPC, landing page optimization and analytics. If a PPC pro is your first marketing hire, they’ll likely also have a working knowledge of landing page optimization and analytics. But you’ll need to outsource PR, content marketing and social media.
Full stack marketers are ideal first non-technical startup hires. They’ll take you from 0 to 90, building the framework, establishing early traction, and allowing you to grow rapidly for the first year or so. But full stack marketers are rarely the ones who can take you from 90 to 100.
Why? In the later days, startups need specialists to grow the framework they built their early success on.
Seems like you’d have to have a difficult conversation, right? “Thanks for everything you’ve done, but… we don’t need you anymore!” Fortunately, by the time a startup is ready to hire marketing specialists, most full stack marketers already have their eye on a younger startup or a VP of Marketing / CMO role.
That’s just the natural progression. Either they love the early, rapid growth stage (and they’re leaving) or they love the way different marketing tactics come together (and they’re advancing). Why VP of Marketing / CMO? Because they understand the moving parts… all of them. They won’t favor one tactic over the other because they’re more familiar with it, they’ll design strategies for rapid growth and hire specialists (who are smarter than them) to make it happen.
What goes into the full marketing stack?
Here’s a list of what’s commonly considered part of the full marketing stack (and some resources to get you started).
SEO
https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
https://www.quicksprout.com/seo/
https://drop-desk.com/online-marketing-course
Copywriting
https://www.quicksprout.com/the-definitive-guide-to-copywriting/
https://copyhackers.com/
PPC
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/profitable-google-adwords-campaign/
https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-complete-guide-to-getting-started-with-facebook-ads
Email Marketing
https://www.marketo.com/definitive-guides/engaging-email-marketing/
http://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-field-guide/
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/beginners-guide-email-marketing/
Social Media
https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/master-social-customer-acquisition/
https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
Content Marketing
https://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-content-marketing/
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/blog/
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/guide-to-content-marketing/
Public Relations
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/guide-to-public-relations/
https://drop-desk.com/how-to-write-a-press-release
https://drop-desk.com/how-to-write-a-media-pitch
Storytelling
https://www.fastcompany.com/3031419/why-our-brains-crave-storytelling-in-marketing
App Store Marketing
https://moz.com/blog/app-store-seo-the-inbound-marketers-guide-to-mobile
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/app-store-optimization/
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/marketing/guidelines
Pitching
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33822/How-to-Craft-the-Perfect-Marketing-Elevator-Pitch.aspx
https://hbr.org/2003/09/how-to-pitch-a-brilliant-idea
Analytics
https://www.fastcompany.com/3024786/the-ultimate-guide-to-google-analytics
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/startup-analytics/
https://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-pirates-long-version
Landing Page Optimization
https://unbounce.com/101-landing-page-optimization-tips/
https://cxl.com/blog/landing-page-optimization/
https://www.quicksprout.com/landing-page-optimization/
Full Stack Marketing Infographic
The 3 Golden Rules of Full Stack Marketing
Originally, this golden rule was going to be “never stop learning”, but then I remembered Hiten’s tweet. It’s not enough to read blog posts and eBooks about something, you have to put pen to paper and actually do.
Full stack marketing is all about having a working knowledge of many different tactics. Those tactics are always changing and evolving. So, if you don’t change and evolve with them, you’ll fall behind.
2. If it doesn’t scale, it doesn’t work.
Full stack marketers are agile and scrappy (they have to be). They have to use the limited time and resources they’re given to make big things happen. The key is developing scalable, repeatable strategies.
If it doesn’t scale, it doesn’t work. Most full stack marketers just don’t have the luxury of working with strategies and systems that don’t facilitate exponential growth.
3. Conversions or it didn’t happen.
You’re familiar with the phrase, “Pictures or it didn’t happen”, right? Similarly, if you didn’t get the conversion, it didn’t happen. All of the visits, page load times and average visit durations in the world won’t change the fact that you didn’t get the conversion.
Full stack marketers can’t get stuck focusing exclusively on the top of the funnel. They need to be able to see the entire picture and ensure that leads can progress from one step to the next with ease.
Results are everything. No full stack marketer is being measured by her input.
Conclusion
That’s it, that’s all. Now you know what skills to develop if you want to call yourself a full stack marketer and what skills to look for if you want to hire one. For more information about full-stack marketing.
Did we miss any killer resources for marketers and entrepreneurs? Let us know.
Looking for more? Check out our other comprehensive guides below:
