If you want to build a seven-figure marketing agency, hiring your marketing team at the right time is key to your success. At Seven Figure Agency, we have developed a hiring roadmap that over 170 of our agency owners have used to scale to $1 million and beyond. Here’s how your marketing agency can grow from 0 to 50+ employees, starting with your very first hire.
Hiring Based on Your Revenue Stage
Being strategic about hiring a marketing team requires you to first understand your agency’s structure and the roles that need to be filled. Every agency has four main functions:
- Operations and delivery
- Account management
- Administrative support
- Sales and marketing
Hiring randomly without understanding this structure is one of the biggest mistakes your agency can make. For example, maybe you need help with Facebook ads, so you decide to hire a “Facebook ads person.” This creates chaos and doesn’t actually solve your problem.
Instead, you need to hire based on revenue stage. Below are the typical stages and the marketing roles that you should fill in each one.
Stage 1: Startup ($0 to $10K per Month)
During this initial stage of your marketing agency, your team usually consists of you and a few freelancers or contractors. It’s best to focus on these roles:
- Freelance web developers
- Freelance writers
- Virtual assistants for administrative tasks
You’ll likely need to wear multiple hats. Use contractors and virtual assistants creatively, and don’t hire full-time employees just yet. Also, be sure to create SOPs for every process so that you already have comprehensive documentation as you scale.
Stage 2: Stability ($10K to $30K per Month)
Your agency’s stability stage is where your first real hires in your marketing team begin. Your starting point should always be operations. This person:
- Manages delivery and projects
- Protects quality standards
- Coordinates freelancers
We recommend using Kolbe assessments to evaluate candidates. This is a 36-question assessment that measures a person’s instinctive way of doing things. It can help you find candidates who have “high follow-through” and are loyal, consistent, and okay with repetitive work.
Once your agency has around 17 clients, your next hire is an account manager. Managing more than 17 clients on your own is a full-time job, and if you keep handling this yourself, growth will stall. Account managers should be consistent communicators with strong follow-up and who are comfortable with monthly client calls, organized, and detail-oriented.
For communication-heavy roles like account management, it’s a good idea to require video applications along with resumes. Ask candidates to explain who they are, why they want the role, their experience, and their salary expectations. This allows you to instantly filter for effort, communication skills, and professionalism.
Stage 3: Scale ($30K to $70K per Month)
When you reach the “scale” stage, you can begin building real infrastructure. Your team size in this stage may range between five and 10 employees. Your next hire in your marketing team is administrative support.
If you are still managing inboxes, booking travel, and handling logistics yourself, you’re wasting mental bandwidth. Hiring someone into this role who demonstrates high follow-through and is comfortable with routine tasks can help you take unnecessary items off your plate.
During this stage, you can also begin expanding operations team members into specialists. Instead of having one ops person, start adding SEO specialists, paid ads managers, and web developers so you no longer need to depend on one person.
To master hiring at this stage, consider using paid test projects and matching roles with personality profiles. Also, create a strong onboarding experience with clear expectations, a comprehensive training process, and even branded welcome kits. This sets the tone for long-term retention.
Stage 4: Significance ($70K per Month)
Once you’re at or approaching seven figures, your next step in our guide to hiring is to build a sales team. Only do this when you have between 15 and 20 qualified appointments consistently.
Start with one salesperson, then expand with setters and additional reps. Once you’re no longer responsible for sales, your business can become truly autonomous.
Finally, build a leadership team with a clear accountability chart. You can hire or train leaders in operations, account management, and sales. You manage the leaders, and the leaders manage their teams, allowing you to stop overseeing individual contributors.
Join Seven Figure Agency To Optimize Your Agency Growth
Hiring a marketing team the right way is crucial to building a sustainable, growth-oriented agency. Whether you need help building a sales team or scaling your agency, Seven Figure Agency can be your guide. Schedule your free coaching session today to get started.
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