5 foundations before you hire or upskill a marketer in 2025

Hiring or upskilling a marketer can transform your business. However, success begins when your goals, systems and support are ready. This updated 2025 guide outlines the five key steps SMEs should take before hiring or training a marketer through 95% funded apprenticeship training.

Define clear marketing goals

Every business needs clear direction before investing in marketing. To begin with, identify what you want to achieve, such as increasing leads, growing awareness or improving engagement.

Next, set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound). For example:

“Increase website enquiries by 20% within six months.”

As a result, your marketer or apprentice will have a measurable target to focus on from day one.

Tip: Clear goals provide structure and make it easier to measure the impact of your new marketer or apprentice.

Identify the right skills for your business

Modern marketing works across many platforms. Therefore, it is important to review which areas matter most to your business and decide if you need to hire new talent or train your current team.

The Multi-Channel Marketer (Level 3) apprenticeship is ideal for SMEs. It develops skills in content creation, campaign management, analytics and communication.

In addition it allows employees to apply what they learn directly in the workplace, which leads to faster business impact.

Tip: Create a simple skills checklist that includes content, SEO, analytics and email marketing. This helps you match the right training to your business goals.

Get your marketing essentials ready

Even the best marketer needs the right tools. Therefore, before hiring, make sure you have:

• A clear brand identity and tone of voice
• Updated website and social media pages
• Google Analytics 4 and Search Console set up correctly
• Clear customer profiles

As a result, your marketer or apprentice will be able to deliver faster results and align activity with your business objectives.

Tip: NTG helps employers assess what is already working and where small changes can make a big difference.

For more guidance on setting up marketing tools, visit Google Analytics Help or speak to your NTG tutor for advice.

Plan for mentoring and communication

Regular support and communication are key to a successful apprenticeship. For this reason, set short weekly check-ins to review tasks and progress.

NTG’s tutors provide expert support for both the apprentice and the employer. Consequently, they ensure learning is applied directly to your real projects.

Tip: A short meeting each week keeps momentum strong and helps your apprentice deliver results within 8 to 12 weeks.

You can also read more about how mentoring supports marketing apprenticeships through the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Understanding how funding works

Apprenticeship funding makes professional training affordable for almost every SME. If your business has a wage bill under £3 million, you will only pay 5% of the training cost. The government funds the remaining 95%. For example, NTG’s Multi-Channel Marketer (L3) programme costs around £11,000 in total. Consequently, your business contribution is only £550 and NTG manages all funding and paperwork for you.

There is no hidden costs, minimal admin and clear proof of business impact.

Build the right foundations for growth

Strong foundations lead to stronger results. Once your systems and goals are in place, you are ready to hire or upskill a marketer who can help your business grow.

📞Book a 15-minute eligibility call – find out what funding your SME could access.

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