🧠 Stop Wasting $$ on Bad Hires

Happy Tuesday,

Welcome back to the 23rd edition of the Nord Media newsletter.

Before we get started – Is there anything specific you’re wanting to learn about? Let me know, as always I appreciate all of you that reply each week and share feedback with me.

Let me be super honest with you—

I really pride myself on my ability to assemble a top-tier team of A+ players.

If you've been following me for a while (or even just recently), you know how serious I get about hiring.

As an agency owner - anything your team puts out for yourself or your clients is on you.

You hired and trained that team. Their work is your work.

So naturally, you would only want the best of the best to be on that team.

AKA 

The dream team

If I were to assemble a team of superheroes to run an agency,

Here’s what I would do: 

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My first plan of action 

Scrap roles that were straight money-guzzlers.

Yes, I’ll be honest with you, most of the roles that people tell you to hire are pretty futile.

I fought tooth and nail, literally trying out all these roles across dozens of DTC brands until I FINALLY came to the conclusion:

Roles like:

• Brand Manager

• Customer Marketing Manager

• Event Marketing Manager

• Influencer Marketing Manager

You don’t need ‘em 

By hiring truly capable people, they can effortlessly take on multiple responsibilities, including these roles. 

They’re efficient and intelligent enough to handle everything, so there's no need to waste money on extra hires.

And trust me, I learned this the hard way.

Let me show you the roles you ACTUALLY NEED to scale your DTC brand.

The Major Roles

When working from a blank slate, you need to hire a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Well, OBVIOUSLY, Kody….”

You’d be surprised by the number of people that still do NOT understand how to actually hire a CMO.

That being said, there are certain case scenarios where initially hiring a CMO isn’t necessary if it doesn’t align with your company’s goals. 

Recently, we worked with a brand that hired a CMO who drastically altered their existing strategies. 

Previously, they were experiencing 200% year-over-year growth, but the CMO shifted the focus towards brand building. 

This change created a gap between performance and goals in a not so good way. 

Introducing a C-suite role like a CMO, or any role that doesn't align with the current business trajectory, can sometimes hinder progress instead of helping.

So be mindful of this. 

If hiring a CMO works in favor of your current business goals,

Let me tell you about a fundamental principle I will ALWAYS stand my ground on:

“You can teach someone, but you can’t train somebody not to be a d*ckhead.”

Your CMO should NOT be giving you a hard time. They’re responsible for your brand’s marketing success. 

Rude and ignorant CMOs will burn your company down. 

A top tier CMO will handle the entire marketing strategy and execution—everything from branding and advertising to digital marketing and customer acquisition fall on their shoulders.

When I hire for the CMO position, I hire based on personality. 

Sure, their skill level plays a huge role, but the candidate needs charisma, confidence, and the ability to think outside the box.

They’re the backbone of your marketing strategy. 

They ensure all your marketing efforts align with your business goals and drive revenue growth.

Big stuff 

Plus, they need insanely good people skills to work closely with other departments, keep the messaging on point, and effectively engage customers.

I found the perfect candidate when this guy walked into the interview with total confidence and natural suave. 

He blew me away with his leadership of the conversation and his explanation of his vision and plans for the company's future. 

I was sold. 

I needed someone to run strategy, and he made it clear he was the one to steer the ship. 

Next, you need someone to run Head of Growth.

What’s the difference between this role and CMO, you may ask…

Head of Growth focuses more deeply on identifying user acquisition, retention, and monetization opportunities.

They have to be quick and intelligent, not doubting themselves when taking action or initiative. 

I found the perfect person by hearing about them through my industry network. 

This person had a solid system for testing campaigns and always hitting the nail on the head when it came to fixing what wasn’t working. 

Every campaign they run is 10 times better than the last. I had to have them on the dream team.

Big W when they accepted the offer. 

The last of the big 3 roles you need to hire for is a Content Strategist.

Your strategist is your thought leader. 

Not only should they be able to mimic your brand’s voice, they must encapsulate a personality that’ll be the face of your brand.

What does your brand believe in? Think? Say? Respond?

They need to portray this perfectly. 

Funny enough, I found a top-tier candidate when she reached out with new content ideas and pointed out gaps in the current plan.

You really gotta keep your ego in check here—

Some might take this as an attack. 

But I saw it as a golden opportunity. Having someone on your team who can think outside the box and fix mistakes?

Absolutely priceless.

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A Few Other Essential Roles

• Social Media Specialist

• Growth Marketing Manager

• Graphic Designer / Content Creator (Graphics & Video)

Your Social Media Specialist needs to be a Gen Z specialist.

Gen Z LIVES on social media. It’s their primary mode of consumerism - your SM specialist curates and plans content to connect and integrate your brand into this world. 

It’s not enough to hire someone with the simple capability of posting and managing media schedules. 

It requires a specific way of speaking, thinking, and acting authentically, relating to this generation. 

You should also HIGHLY consider hiring a Growth Marketing Manager to drive user acquisition, increase conversion rates, and ultimately increase revenue growth. 

The person you hire for this role must be immune to failure, pivot and adapt at a moment’s notice, and thrive on experimenting and learning from every challenge.

They’ll be responsible for performance marketing, email campaigns, A/B testing, and user acquisition strategies. 

Finally, the Graphic Designer/Content Creator of the team. 

You already know where I’m going with this one. 

The perfect candidate operates from creativity, innovation, style, and tinkering. They’re the ones who bring your ideas into the physical. 

I always look for someone who can blend artistic flair with a brand’s voice and message.

And this isn’t an easy thing to do, so choose well for this role. 

Last Takeaways

• Skills + Personality: Make sure the skills match the role and that the person resonates with your team’s culture. It’s the mix of both that really makes things click.

• Look for Potential, Not Perfection: Nobody’s perfect, but if someone has the right attitude and drive, they’re worth a shot. Passion and willingness to learn can be more important than ticking every box on a job description.

• Fire Faster Than You Hire: Don’t hesitate to cut your losses and move on if it's not working out. It’s better to act quickly and find the right fit than to drag things out.
  

• Keep Improving: Building an incredible team is a continuous journey. Keep tweaking your hiring process and learning from each experience to keep things running smoothly.

🧠 My Personal Product Recommendations for You
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Have a specific question or something I can help with? Shoot me a message on twitter and I’ll typically answer within 24 hours 👉 Twitter 

Want to learn from me or connect on other platforms? 👇
 LinkedIn • Instagram

Thank you for reading! I appreciate you.
Sincerely,
Kody