By 2025, it’s anticipated that 85% of business apps will be SaaS-based. With so many businesses turning to SaaS for their operations, competition is fiercer than ever. To secure your slice of the SaaS pie, you need a high-performing marketing team that can attract and retain your target audience effectively.
This guide will walk you through structuring a B2B SaaS marketing team that not only meets today’s challenges but sets you up for future growth.
Why Structure Matters for a B2B SaaS Marketing Team
In the competitive world of B2B SaaS, having a well-structured marketing team is critical for:
- Driving lead generation
- Managing the sales pipeline
- Ensuring scalability
A strong structure allows your team to align strategies, optimise workflows and adapt to the unique challenges of SaaS, such as longer sales cycles and complex buyer journeys.
The evolving nature of sales and marketing underscores this need. According to SuperOffice, 92% of buyers begin their journey with an online search, and 53% prefer researching independently rather than engaging with sales teams.
For SaaS buyers specifically, most avoid contacting vendors until they are 57% through the decision-making process. This shift places greater responsibility on SaaS marketing teams to engage prospects early, using content, data-driven strategies and automation tools.
Beyond alignment with sales, a well-structured team should focus on specialisation. Clear role definitions – from leadership positions like Growth Marketing Managers to creative roles like Graphic Designers – ensure every aspect of the buyer journey is addressed.
A deliberate team structure fosters better alignment and efficiency and positions your SaaS business to scale effectively in a competitive market.
Key Roles in a B2B SaaS Marketing Team Structure
To build a high-performing B2B SaaS marketing team, it’s essential to define clear roles that address every stage of the buyer journey.
A well-rounded team combines strategic leadership, functional expertise, and creative support.
Here are the key roles your team needs:
Leadership Roles
Marketing Leader (e.g., VP of Marketing)
- Oversees the overall marketing strategy, budget, and team performance.
- Collaborates with sales leadership to align marketing initiatives with revenue goals.
- Works with product teams to position new features effectively in the market.
- Drives cross-functional communication to ensure company-wide alignment.
Growth Marketing Manager
- Manages demand generation campaigns across paid and organic marketing channels.
- Works closely with sales to optimise the lead funnel and identify high-value opportunities.
- Partners with data analysts to track campaign performance and refine acquisition strategies.
Strategic and Functional Roles
Content Marketing Manager
- Produces blogs, whitepapers, and webinars to establish thought leadership.
- Collaborates with product teams to create educational content about features or solutions.
- Works with the SEO Specialist to ensure content ranks well for strategic keywords.
Demand Generation Manager
- Drives account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns and optimises the sales funnel to improve lead quality.
- Partners with the sales team to ensure messaging aligns with the buyer’s journey.
- Works with the Data Analyst to measure campaign success and adjust strategies.
Marketing Automation Specialist
- Implements and manages tools like HubSpot or Marketo to streamline email campaigns and lead scoring.
- Works closely with the sales team to ensure seamless handoff of qualified leads.
- Collaborates with the Data Analyst to identify opportunities for personalisation.
Social Media Manager (LinkedIn focus)
- Builds brand awareness by sharing content and engaging on platforms like LinkedIn.
- Coordinates with the Content Marketing Manager to promote thought leadership content.
- Partners with the sales team to amplify employer branding and professional outreach.
Creative and Supportive Roles
Graphic Designer
- Develops visual assets for campaigns, landing pages, and social media.
- Collaborates with the Content Marketing Manager and Social Media Manager to ensure brand consistency.
- Works with product teams to create visuals that highlight SaaS features.
Roles for Large & Growing SaaS Companies
Product Marketing Manager
- Develops go-to-market strategies for new SaaS features or products.
- Works with the Product Team to align campaigns with product updates and feature roadmaps.
- Collaborates with the Sales Team to refine messaging and address customer pain points.
- Partners with the Customer Success Team to gather user feedback for improving product positioning.
SEO Specialist (optional)
- Optimises content and technical SEO to improve organic rankings.
- Collaborates with the Content Marketing Manager to align keyword strategies with content production.
- Works with the Data Analyst to track traffic and refine strategies.
Data Analyst
- Tracks and interprets campaign performance metrics to provide actionable insights.
- Works with all team members to ensure data-driven decision-making.
- Collaborates with the Marketing Leader to set KPIs and evaluate ROI.
Customer Marketing Manager
- Focuses on customer retention and upselling through campaigns, case studies, and loyalty programs.
- Collaborates with the Customer Success Team to identify satisfied customers for testimonials and renewal efforts.
- Supports the Sales Team in cross-sell and upsell initiatives.
- Works with the Marketing Automation Specialist to execute targeted engagement campaigns.
Partner Marketing Manager
- Manages co-marketing initiatives with SaaS partners, including joint content and events.
- Works with the Product Team to ensure messaging aligns with partner integrations or offerings.
- Collaborates with the Sales Team to leverage partner relationships for lead generation.
- Aligns with the Marketing Leader to ensure partner marketing supports overall business strategy.
Video Marketing Specialist
- Produces videos such as product demos, explainer videos, and customer testimonials.
- Partners with the Content Marketing Manager to align video content with broader campaigns.
- Works with the Graphic Designer to maintain brand consistency in video visuals.
- Collaborates with the Product Team to create engaging feature highlights and demo videos.
Marketing Operations Manager
- Oversees marketing workflows, tools, and processes to ensure operational efficiency.
- Partner with the data analyst to maintain data accuracy and derive actionable insights.
- Works with the Marketing Automation Specialist to streamline campaign execution.
- Aligns with the Marketing Leader to support strategic goals and manage resources effectively.
Structuring the Team Based on Company Size
Here’s how to approach team structure depending on your company’s size:
Small Teams: Building the Foundation
When resources are limited, it’s essential to prioritise roles that deliver the greatest impact across the marketing funnel. The team should be lean and agile. Hire versatile, multi-skilled professionals and focus on high-impact areas like content, automation and overall strategy.
Key Roles to Prioritise:
These roles provide the flexibility to cover critical areas of marketing while allowing for incremental growth as resources become available.
- Marketing Leader: Sets the marketing strategy, manages the team, and often executes campaigns directly.
- Content Marketing Manager: Handles thought leadership content, email campaigns, blogs, and social media.
- Marketing Automation Specialist: Sets up and manages tools to streamline processes like email marketing, lead scoring and customer segmentation.
Medium Teams: Expanding Capabilities
As your SaaS business grows, marketing needs become more complex, requiring additional roles that focus on generating leads, building brand awareness, customer engagement and driving measurable growth.
Key Roles to Prioritise:
Hire for specialised roles that enable the team to scale marketing efforts, target high-value prospects and ensure a professional brand presence.
- Demand Generation Manager: Drives ABM campaigns and focuses on filling the sales pipeline with high-quality leads.
- Social Media Manager: Engages audiences on professional platforms like LinkedIn and builds the company’s online presence.
- Graphic Designer: Creates compelling visual content for campaigns, social media, and landing pages.
Large Teams: Scaling and Specialising
For established SaaS businesses, a larger team structure offers the ability to scale rapidly, expand globally, and experiment with advanced strategies. At this stage, roles can be both specialised and duplicated to cover different regions, product lines, or customer segments. A larger team can focus on scalable strategies to drive revenue and retention.
Key Roles to Prioritise:
Advanced roles focus on optimising strategies and addressing every stage of the buyer journey.
- SEO Specialist: Optimises content and technical SEO to ensure visibility for key SaaS keywords.
- Data Analyst: Tracks campaign performance and delivers insights to improve ROI.
- Product Marketing Manager: Develops go-to-market strategies and acts as a liaison between product, sales, and marketing.
- Customer Marketing Manager: Focuses on retention, upselling and leveraging customer success stories.
Structuring for Long-Term Scalability
Building a scalable B2B SaaS marketing team requires more than just filling roles. It’s about investing in people and processes that can grow alongside your business.
A marketing team built with scalability in mind can adapt to shifting priorities, whether it’s launching new products, entering new markets, or handling higher customer demand
Here’s how to ensure your team is prepared for future challenges:
Team Evolution Over Time
Start with adaptable, multi-skilled hires who can take on broad responsibilities and grow into specialised roles as your team scales. The goal is to build a team that evolves with your SaaS business needs.
For example:
A Content Marketing Manager in a small team may initially oversee blogs, email campaigns and social media. As the team grows, dedicated roles such as Social Media Manager and Email Marketing Specialist can take on these tasks.
Founder of SaaS SEO tool, Rankalyzer, Sean Begg Flint, advises
“When hiring, prioritise candidates with experience in SaaS growth stages. Early-stage hires should thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced environments, while later-stage hires should excel at scaling processes and managing larger teams.”
Hiring for Leadership Potential
Leaders in B2B SaaS marketing need more than general organisational skills. They must be skilled at navigating the complexities of cross-departmental collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and rapidly evolving technology.
Look for candidates with a proven track record in aligning marketing and sales.
You could do this by asking about their experience in implementing ABM strategies or integrating marketing automation tools like Marketo or Pardot to improve lead scoring and conversion rates. The ability to interpret metrics like CAC and LTV to prioritise high-impact campaigns is essential.
Investing in Scalable Technology
The right tools are foundational to long-term success. Scalable platforms help your team automate repetitive tasks, handle growing data volumes and improve collaboration as your business grows.
Choose tools that offer flexibility for growth. For example:
- Startups might use HubSpot for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.
- Larger teams may benefit from Salesforce’s robust CRM and enterprise integrations.
- Analytics tools like Tableau or Looker can provide advanced insights for scaling teams.
Global Expansion Considerations
As your SaaS business enters new markets, you’ll need to adapt your team structure to meet the demands of diverse customer segments and cultural nuances.
Hire regional marketing managers to oversee campaigns tailored to specific markets and consider localisation specialists who can adapt content to language, culture and buyer preferences.
For SEO, invest in specialists who understand country-specific search engines and user behaviour.
Best Practices for Structuring a Successful SaaS Marketing Team
A well-structured marketing team drives measurable results.
Here are the most impactful strategies to structure your team for success:
1. Align Marketing with Sales
SaaS marketing teams must work in lockstep with sales to ensure lead generation efforts translate into revenue. Shared goals, metrics, and workflows are key to breaking down silos.
Action: Set up regular joint meetings between marketing and sales teams to review pipeline health and lead quality. Use shared KPIs, such as SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) conversion rates, to measure success.
Tool to Use: Integrate a CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce with your marketing platform to streamline lead handoffs and track progress seamlessly.
2. Define Clear Roles and Responsibilities
Role clarity is crucial to avoid overlap and inefficiencies. Every team member should have well-defined responsibilities that align with your broader marketing objectives.
Action: Create a detailed responsibilities matrix that maps out who owns what, from content creation to campaign execution. For example, ensure your Demand Generation Manager owns ABM campaigns while your Content Marketing Manager leads thought leadership efforts.
3. Adopt Agile Workflows
SaaS marketing thrives on adaptability. Agile workflows allow your team to respond quickly to changes in customer behaviour, product updates or market trends.
Action: Implement sprint planning sessions where team members commit to deliverables within two-week cycles. Use tools like Trello or Asana to manage tasks and ensure transparency.
4. Prioritise Collaboration Across Departments
SaaS success relies on cross-functional collaboration, particularly with product and customer success teams. The marketing department needs to stay in sync with these departments to craft messaging that resonates and addresses customer pain points.
Action: Introduce a “voice of the customer” programme where insights from the customer success team are shared monthly with marketing. Use these insights to refine your messaging and marketing campaigns.
5. Invest in Continuous Learning
The SaaS industry evolves rapidly, and staying competitive means keeping your team’s skills current. Regular training and access to resources are essential for staying ahead.
Action: Provide team members with access to certifications like HubSpot Academy’s inbound marketing course or Marketo’s certification programme. Encourage them to attend SaaS-specific events like SaaStr Annual to stay informed about industry trends.
Hiring for the Future
As the B2B SaaS market evolves, so too must your approach to building and expanding your marketing team. Here’s how to future-proof your hiring strategy:
- Look for candidates with experience with AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, or Optimizely for content generation, A/B testing, and predictive analytics. Roles like AI Marketing Specialist will become critical as SaaS businesses scale.
- Hire marketers with a strong understanding of ABM platforms like Demandbase or Terminus and ensure they have experience building cross-departmental strategies that align marketing and sales.
- Seek out candidates with experience producing SaaS explainer videos, product demos, and customer success stories. Familiarity with platforms like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro is a must.
- Look for candidates who have implemented personalisation strategies using tools like Marketo, HubSpot, or Dynamic Yield. They should also demonstrate proficiency in segmentation and behavioural targeting.
- Candidates with experience in data visualisation tools like Tableau, Google Data Studio, or Looker will bring significant value to your team. Emphasise skills in analysing CAC, LTV and conversion rates during the hiring process.
- If your SaaS company targets international markets, focus on candidates with experience in multilingual campaigns, regional SEO and cultural adaptation. Tools like Smartling or Transifex can streamline this process.
Get Help Building Your SaaS Marketing Team
At Live Digital, we specialise in SaaS marketing recruitment, helping businesses like yours find top-tier talent for roles across leadership, strategy and execution. Whether you’re starting small or expanding a large team, we can match you with candidates who are not only qualified but also aligned with your company’s goals.
Don’t wait to secure the talent you need to stay ahead in the SaaS market. Contact Live Digital today and let us help you build the team that will take your business to the next level.
