Good news! There is no single right way to build a marketing team inside an accounting firm. The structure that works for a solo marketer at a regional firm may look very different from the model needed to support a multi-office, multi-service-line organization. But across firm sizes, the same questions tend to surface: What should marketing own? When does it make sense to specialize? What can be outsourced? And how do teams stay focused on work that actually moves the business forward?

The short answer? You decide what works for you, learn from your friends at AAM and experiment along the way!

The long answer? We checked in with three different-sized firms and marketing teams to bring you varied perspectives and ideas.

Small Firm Perspective:
Building Capacity as a Department of One

Marci Suazo, Director of Marketing and Communications, JCCS
Small firm | Approximately 100 professionals

Tell us about your firm’s footprint, people and services.

JCCS, formally Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C., is Montana’s largest locally owned public accounting firm. We have 110 employees across seven offices in Whitefish, Kalispell, Missoula, Hamilton, Bozeman, Helena, and Great Falls. Our professionals serve individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and government entities through four primary service lines: Tax, Audit, Client Advisory Services (CAS), and Retirement Plans.

When you are the only marketer, how do you decide what gets your attention and what has to wait?

While I’m the only dedicated marketer at JCCS, I’m fortunate that I don’t truly have to do everything alone. We work with an outsourced digital agency, and over time, I’ve identified people within the firm who have the interest, capacity and willingness to pitch in. I’ve also formed committees around areas like event planning and internal communications, and my peers in the AAM community have been incredibly generous with their ideas, advice and support. So even as a department of one, I rarely feel like I’m completely on my own.

That said, the days are full, and prioritization is essential. I keep a running list of active projects in Microsoft Planner and Monday.com, and at the beginning of each week, I take stock of what’s ahead. I generally think about my work in a few buckets: what absolutely needs to happen now, what’s waiting for review or approval, what needs a quick follow-up and what requires deeper, uninterrupted thinking.

Those little follow-ups can be the easiest to lose track of, so I make a point of identifying them early and keeping them moving forward.

For larger projects, I’ve learned to block time on my calendar. Protecting a couple of hours for focused work makes a significant difference and gives me the space to think strategically rather than constantly reacting to whatever lands in my inbox.

What functions consume most of your time?

Internal communications is a major focus of my role, so writing messages on behalf of leadership and producing our employee newsletter, which I’m especially proud of, takes a fair amount of time.

Strategic and collaborative projects also tend to take a big bite out of my day, but those are often the projects I find most satisfying. Even though I’m a department of one, I thrive most when working with other people. I’ll initiate the collaboration when it’s clear that a project will be stronger with other perspectives around the table.

Collaboration can make a project take longer, but it also improves the end result.

How do you balance strategic work with day-to-day requests?

Honestly, it can be challenging because the day-to-day work never really stops.

I’ve found that I need to create structure around strategic projects, or they can easily get pushed aside by more immediate requests. I block time on my calendar, schedule working sessions with colleagues and, whenever possible, give myself a deadline. Even if there isn’t a defined deadline, having a target date helps keep a project moving.

When something pops up during time I’ve blocked for strategic work, I try to pause and ask: Does this actually need to happen right now? If the answer is no, I make a note of it and return to the work I’ve set aside time to accomplish.

My background is in journalism, so deadlines are deeply ingrained in me. I’ve learned to use that to my advantage. Whether it’s a strategic initiative or a day-to-day task, having a finish line helps me focus and get it done.

What do you wish larger firms understood about solo marketing teams?

Surprisingly, many of the marketers I’ve met at larger firms started as solo marketers themselves, so there’s often more understanding than you might expect.

And the reality is that everyone is busy. Someone on a larger marketing team might not personally be responsible for social media, website updates, leadership communications, newsletters, events and strategic initiatives all at once. Still, I have no doubt their time is just as full.

Where I feel the difference most is in not having other marketing professionals nearby to bounce ideas off of. I tend to do my best work when I can talk through an idea, kick it around a bit and hear someone else’s perspective.

Since I don’t have another marketer down the hall, I’ve learned to be intentional about creating those opportunities. Sometimes that means stopping by a colleague’s office or chatting with my supervisor to get their thoughts. Often, I’ll reach out to a peer in the industry or connect with our marketing agency for feedback. Those conversations help shape an idea into something stronger.

Being a solo marketer doesn’t have to mean working in isolation. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to build your own network of collaborators and use it.

Mid-Sized Firm Perspective:
Defining Specialization Without Losing Flexibility

Taylor Bartosiewicz, Marketing Associate Level 3, Yeo & Yeo
Mid-sized firm | Approximately 275+ professionals

Tell us about your firm’s footprint, people and services.

Yeo & Yeo has nine office locations throughout Michigan, with its headquarters in Saginaw. The firm includes five companies and approximately 275 employees, roughly 230 of whom are part of the accounting practice, along with 33 principals, including the CEO. Our primary service lines are Assurance and Tax & Consulting.

What responsibilities have become specialized, and which are still shared?

Our marketing team consists of seven individuals: two marketing associates, a marketing coordinator, a digital marketing specialist, a marketing intern, a marketing director, and a practice growth senior manager who serves in a business development role and is closely integrated with our team.

As we’ve grown, we’ve added specialized expertise in two key areas: digital marketing and business development. The remainder of the team operates primarily as generalists, which gives us the flexibility to support multiple companies and service lines. While each team member has areas of ownership, such as content strategy, graphic design, event coordination or sponsorship management, we’re all accustomed to stepping outside our primary responsibilities when needed.

I do want to note that although a seven-person team sounds like a lot, we are a centralized team for all of Yeo & Yeo’s companies, so we stay very busy!

What do you keep in-house, and where do you use contractors or agencies?

We handle the majority of our marketing efforts in-house, including content creation, graphic design, video production, communications, events and brand management.

We primarily leverage outside support in highly technical or specialized areas. We partner with an agency for paid advertising on platforms such as LinkedIn, Meta and Google, and they also provide support with certain aspects of website management and HubSpot administration. We’ve also engaged external partners for larger one-time initiatives that require specialized expertise, such as a recent SharePoint redesign project. Our approach is to keep strategic and day-to-day marketing functions in-house while bringing in outside resources when they can provide efficiencies or expertise we don’t need full-time.

How do you prioritize initiatives?

Great question, it can be challenging with five different companies!

One thing we are trying to get better at is categorizing each company and niche by growth. Those that are high-growth and have engaged teams receive priority over those that are considered low-growth.

What organizational changes have helped your team scale effectively?

It probably sounds redundant at this point, but AI has been a huge help for our team when it comes to content creation. We’ve also implemented new tools, like Riverside, to help with video. This tool alone has saved us hours of editing time.

Having the support of firm leadership has been instrumental, too. Our CEO and leadership team recognize that, to grow, we need to continue investing in marketing and ensure our team has the capacity to support the firm’s goals.

Large Firm Perspective

Kristen Lollar, Chief Marketing Officer, Whitley Penn
Large firm | 900 professionals

Tell us about your firm’s footprint, people and services.

Whitley Penn is one of the largest Southwest-based public accounting firms, with over 100 partners, nine offices and approximately 900 professionals. For more than 40 years, the firm has been committed to helping clients succeed through audit, tax and advisory services tailored to their goals. As an independent member of HLB International, a global network of independent advisory and accounting firms, Whitley Penn is strategically positioned to support client growth locally, nationally and globally.

What specialized roles have delivered the greatest value to the firm? Where do all team members still need to remain generalized?

The roles that have created the most value are those with deep expertise in key disciplines, including growth strategy, brand and operations, communications, digital marketing, events, proposals, and go-to-market support. By having specialists in these areas, we can deliver a higher level of quality, efficiency and strategic impact than a purely generalist team.

At the same time, everyone on our team must remain generalized in understanding the business, our industries, client experience and the needs of our internal stakeholders. Marketing in a professional services firm requires team members to think beyond their specialty and understand how their work contributes to growth, talent, reputation and client service. The combination of specialty depth and business breadth is what makes the team effective.

How do you ensure alignment across a larger marketing organization?

Alignment starts with organizational transparency. We have clearly defined ownership across functional areas, regular team updates, project management processes and leadership touchpoints that help maintain visibility across the organization.

I rely heavily on recurring team meetings, manager-level weekly huddles, shared planning tools (HubSpot Dashboards, Monday.com boards), and a culture of communication. Just as importantly, I empower team leaders to own their areas while ensuring priorities ladder up to the firm’s strategic objectives. My role is less about managing every task and more about creating clarity around goals, removing obstacles and helping the team stay connected to firm priorities.

What skills do you look for when hiring into a specialized marketing team?

Technical expertise is important, but it is rarely enough on its own. I look for professionals who bring depth in their specialty, the ability to collaborate across functions and a strong work ethic.

The qualities I value most include:

• Curiosity and a growth mindset
• Strong communication skills
• Adaptability and willingness to learn
• Experiential attitude toward new technology and processes
• A service-oriented mindset focused on internal clients and firm growth

In professional services marketing, the ability to build relationships and influence outcomes is often just as important as technical marketing knowledge.

What tips do you have for leaders at smaller firms?

Don’t feel pressured to build a large team immediately. Start by identifying the capabilities that will have the greatest impact on your firm’s growth strategy and invest there first.

I would also recommend:

• Prioritizing clear roles and accountability over headcount.
• Leveraging technology, automation and AI to extend team capacity.
• Hiring adaptable people who can operate across multiple disciplines to scale.
• Focusing on business outcomes rather than marketing activities.
• Creating strong partnerships with firm leadership and practitioners.
• Lean on talent from other departments such as Office Management, First-impression roles, Committees, and Ambassadors to scale.
• Try pulling on global talent or 1099 support.
• Consider hiring college students as interns. They provide a fresh perspective, need the hands-on experience and provide a great trial run on whether or not they would be a good fit for your team.

Smaller firms can often move faster than larger organizations. The key is building a team that balances specialization where it matters most with enough flexibility to support a wide range of business needs. Today, that also means thoughtfully combining human talent, global support resources and AI-enabled capabilities to scale impact without scaling headcount at the same pace.

Conclusion: What Beginners Should Take Away

Across all three firms, one theme is clear: firm size changes the structure, but it does not eliminate the need for flexibility. Smaller firms need marketers who can prioritize, build internal support systems and know when to pull in outside resources. Mid-sized firms may begin to formalize specialized roles while still relying on generalists who can flex across content, design, events and operations. Larger firms benefit from deeper specialization, but only when those specialists understand the business and stay connected to firmwide strategy.

For marketers early in their careers or leaders beginning to rethink their team structure, the best starting point is not headcount. It is clarity. Know the firm’s growth goals, understand where marketing can create the most value and build the structure around the work that matters most.