ScaleLounge › Before you hire
Before you make the marketing hireBefore you hire one marketer
to do six jobs
See what the same problem looks like with one strategic lead and a managed marketing team already behind her.
You have already decided marketing needs an owner. The question is whether one employee is the best way to build the capability you are actually looking for.
Why the job description got so long
Most marketing roles at established companies are written by adding up everything that is not getting done. Strategy, content, social, search, email, campaigns, analytics, the website, the CRM. Each line is reasonable on its own. Together they describe a department.
So the hire arrives, and within a month they are doing the thing the job description could not admit: choosing what to drop, and quietly hiring freelancers for the rest. You end up managing an employee and the specialists behind them.
You were not looking to hire a marketer because you wanted another employee. You were looking for someone to finally own marketing. That is what ScaleLounge is built to do: work directly with Katie for strategy and direction, while the ScaleLounge team handles the execution behind her.
Paste the role you are hiring for
Your role coverage map
Paste the job description. You will see which responsibilities ScaleLounge covers, which are project work, and which should stay with an employee. We do not store the description; it is only passed on if you ask Katie to review it.
Covered by ScaleLounge
Project or add-on
Should stay internal
Katie will look at the full description herself and tell you plainly whether this is a hire or an engagement.
Sent. Katie will come back to you personally.
What ScaleLounge actually is
A managed marketing department for established businesses. You work with Katie Lendel, who owns your strategy, sets the priorities and stays your point of contact. Behind her, the ScaleLounge delivery team executes across the disciplines your plan includes: content and copy, creative, search and AI visibility, email and nurture, campaigns, marketing operations, automation and reporting.
You keep one relationship, and the marketing gets done.
What you have to manage
Almost nothing beyond priorities, feedback and approvals. You are never briefing specialists, chasing deliverables or coordinating vendors. Everything that needs your review waits in one private workspace, and nothing is published without your yes.
What it costs against a hire
A marketing manager at an established company is a salary, plus employment overhead, plus the recruiting cycle before any work starts, and often plus the freelancers hired to cover what one person cannot. ScaleLounge is a fixed monthly engagement with the capabilities already assembled.
We are not going to pretend this is always cheaper than a junior hire. It is a different shape: no recruiting, no onboarding, no single point of dependency, and no team for your leadership to manage.
How fast it starts
Your strategy is built within 24 to 48 hours of your completed intake, and execution follows from there. There is no notice period and no ramp.
When an internal hire is the better answer
Some roles genuinely belong in-house. If the position needs substantial internal leadership, employee management, on-site events, daily cross-functional meetings or physical presence, an employee will serve you better than we will. If your description reads that way, we will tell you rather than take the engagement.
Pricing
Growth Partner, $2,500/month. Your core managed marketing team: strategy and content direction, organic social and short-form, search and AI visibility, publishing and approvals, and performance optimization. 90-day initial partnership, then month to month.
Scale Partner, $5,500/month. Your expanded managed marketing department: everything in Growth plus email lifecycle and nurture, campaign strategy, lead follow-up automation, and conversion and executive reporting. 90-day initial partnership.
Executive Partner, custom. For organizations that need deeper marketing leadership, broader cross-channel ownership and a custom execution scope.
Marketing Pilot, $750 one time. If you would rather see the thinking before committing to a partnership: a paid strategy sprint with a 90-day direction and the first 30 days built out. The full fee is credited to month one if you continue within 30 days.
Compare it properly before you make the hire
Paste the role above for an instant map, or have Katie read the full description and tell you which way she would go.
Questions
Is Katie doing all of the marketing herself?
No. Katie is your strategic marketing lead and your point of contact. She owns the strategy, sets priorities, coordinates delivery and reviews the work before it reaches you. The ScaleLounge delivery team handles execution across the capabilities in your engagement.
Can ScaleLounge replace the marketing manager we are about to hire?
Often, particularly when the role is mainly multichannel digital strategy and execution. If it needs substantial internal leadership, employee management, events or on-site responsibilities, an internal hire may still make more sense.
What if we already have a marketing manager?
Then ScaleLounge becomes the execution bench behind them. Your marketing lead keeps ownership internally and gets specialist capacity without you hiring several more roles.
Will we have to manage your team?
No. You never brief or coordinate specialists. That is Katie's job, and it is the main thing you are buying.
What does ScaleLounge not do?
We are not your sales team, we do not manage your employees, and we do not run on-site events. Paid media, website builds and complex funnel work are handled as projects rather than bundled into a monthly plan.
Also worth reading: ScaleLounge vs hiring a marketing manager · vs a traditional agency · vs a fractional CMO