What No One Tells You about Scaling a Marketing Team – with Marija Hammon

Growing a marketing team isn’t as simple as hiring more people and hoping for the best. Without the right structure, you’ll end up with chaos, inefficiencies, and unclear ownership.

That’s why I sat down with Marija Hammon, Marketing Director at Relax Gaming, who grew her team across multiple countries – without all the chaos that can come with it.

In this episode of Marketing Mondays with Maria, we broke down the biggest hiring mistakes, leadership lessons, and strategies for structuring a marketing team that scales.

Let’s dive in:

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The Hardest Part of Leading a Marketing Team

What’s the toughest part of being a marketing director? To Marija, it's not budgets. It’s not even managing people. It’s navigating constant change.

"I think anybody that's worked in marketing knows that it's very, very dynamic as a role. There are constantly a lot of moving parts. I also work in a very fast-paced industry as well and a complex business model too."

To her, the key to leadership isn’t avoiding change – it’s learning to manage it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, she focuses on adapting quickly while keeping her team aligned and motivated.

How Marija Scaled the Team

When Marija joined the company, the marketing team was tiny and had a flat hierarchy. Everyone wore multiple hats, and there was no structured hierarchy – which worked at first but wouldn’t scale. So, she made three key changes:

1. Introduced Clear Team Pillars

She divided the team into three core functions:

- Creative (Design & Branding) – Led by a Creative Director, with senior & junior designers underneath.
- Product Marketing & General Marketing – Combined into one team to align messaging & execution.
- Communications & PR – A separate function to manage external visibility.

2. Promoted From Within Instead of Only Hiring Externally

Instead of hiring leadership externally, she prioritized growing talent from within. People who have stayed in the company for a while of course would like to experience growth. That can be a big motivator, too!

3. Reduced Overlap & Streamlined Meetings

More people often means more meetings. Here's how Marija approached this challenge:

"As the team structure grows, you can't continue to have team-wide calls nonstop. You have to start having smaller, more focused calls as well. So it's important to just have those clear remits and as little unnecessary overlap as possible."

How to Balance Leadership & Strategy Without Burnout

If you’re leading a marketing team, you probably feel stretched thin between:

📅 Back-to-back meetings
📩 Endless feedback loops
🎯 Strategic planning

How do you actually get things done? For Marija, the answer is time blocking.

"What I started doing recently is actually time blocking. And I found that extremely helpful. I block out time in my calendar even for the tasks that I need to do myself rather than just seeing my calendar as a place where people can book my time."

This approach changed everything for her and helped reclaim her time:

- Morning – Strategic thinking before meetings start
- Midday – Team check-ins & approvals
- Afternoon – Deep work on high-impact projects

Instead of reacting all day, she took control of her time.

The Biggest Hiring Red Flags to Watch For 🚩

Hiring the wrong person can slow down a team faster than anything else.

So what red flags should marketing leaders watch out for?

🚩 Negative Attitude
🚩 Vague Answers
🚩 Frequent Job Hopping

‍"It can be a red flag. It doesn't have to be. I think that sometimes those moves can be justified. Things don't work out and it's totally fine. But I think that if there is very frequent job hopping with no justification, then perhaps that could be a red flag for some."

‍🚩 Overfocus on Salary in Early Conversations

💡 Pro Tip: A strong LinkedIn presence isn’t required, but it helps.

Advice for Marketers Who Want to Step Up

If you’re looking to grow into leadership, Marija’s biggest takeaway is simple: Trust your gut. And she empowers her team to do the same:

✅ Own your area of expertise
✅ Push back when needed
✅ Learn to make & stand by decisions

How to Build & Lead a Successful Marketing Team

Scaling a marketing team isn’t just about hiring more people – it’s about creating a structure that supports growth, promotes ownership, and minimizes confusion. If you’re in marketing leadership (or aspiring to be), take these lessons from Marija:

💡 Define clear team structures from the start
💡 Promote from within when possible to keep talent engaged
💡 Set clear ownership & avoid unnecessary meetings
💡 Watch for hiring red flags (attitude matters most!)
💡 Take control of your schedule with time blocking
💡 Trust your gut & own your expertise

Want to Level Up as a Marketing Leader?

If you’re serious about growing as a marketing leader, hiring smarter, and more, Marija is someone you need in your network. As a Marketing Director & award-winning industry leader, she regularly shares:

✅ Hiring & team-building tips
✅ Marketing leadership lessons
✅ Personal Branding advice

Follow her here 👉 Marija Hammon on LinkedIn