Here’s a crazy idea: when you need to hire marketing talent, use a marketing staffing agency.
That might seem like an obvious course of action, but many organizations find their marketing candidates through a firm with a different specialization (or none at all).A surprising portion of companies are turning to IT staffing agencies to fill not only their information technology needs, but many of their other digitally-intensive positions as well. Challenge is what does an IT expert really know about marketing and how can they possibly vet top talent? If you want maximum ROI for your marketing programs you need the best talent, to get top talent you need a staffing firm who core competency is marketing. Better yet, find a marketing staffing firm where the recruiters doing the screening are former marketers themselves.
The Wrong Specialization
You sought out your IT recruiter because you needed highly skilled talent in a specific area. No one will be able to find you better IT specialists than someone who has experience and focus in that field.So why, when you need expert marketers working for you, would you not turn to a firm that specializes in marketing?
You Need a Marketing Staffing Agency for the Jobs that Really Matter
An IT staffing firm could probably do a passable job of getting you an intern for your account service team. But they are no replacement for a dedicated marketing staffing expert when it comes to marketing positions that requires an experienced and talented touch.Only someone who has experience in the marketing industry and a thorough understanding of marketing jobs and trends can reliably get you top talent that matches your company’s needs and culture.
Why IT Staffing?
What’s causing this trend of filling marketing positions with IT recruiters? The use of an IT staffing firm for marketing staffing might seem superficially counterintuitive. However, it’s easy to understand why some organizations would think it’s a good idea.Marketing and the digital world have become irreversibly entwined. Every company that competitively markets—even those that rely heavily on traditional media—is now dependent on digital tools and media in some way. They rely on software engineers, web developers, and IT assistance to create and manage tools to help them optimize their marketing.
It’s vitally important that companies have people who can bridge the gap between developers and marketers.
Many IT professionals have experience in marketing organizations and may have picked up some level of marketing strategy and competence. So when an IT recruiter offers a company marketing talent as well, it’s not unbelievable that the company would consider it. It certainly makes more sense than getting marketers from a legal recruiter or acting talent agency.The convenience factor is also a major player in this trend. The prospect of having to research and work with an entirely different staffing firm is daunting to some people. Finding a good agency that you like and trust is difficult. If you’re already working with a great organization that’s producing consistent results, it’s hard to turn to someone else. But if you want to get the top marketing talent you need to stay ahead of the competition, it’s an effort you have to make.
Keep up with the Speed of Marketing
Image sourceMarketing is evolving at such a terrific pace now, it takes someone with an insider’s perspective who is actively keeping up with the latest trends to be able to identify who’s hot and who’s not. A marketer who was on top of their game two years ago may now be in the middle of the pack.Without the discerning eye of a full-time marketing staffing expert, you have no way of knowing if you’re getting a top-tier candidate or a “good enough” B player. And mediocre talent can be surprisingly costly when it’s influencing the success of your marketing program. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you can’t trust an IT staffing firm to recommend the A-level marketers you need.No matter how good the web developers and system administrators your IT staffer is providing you are, that quality and consistency won’t translate over to dedicated marketing talent.
Use IT Staffers for Their Expertise: Use Us for Ours
You may find it productive to work with IT staffing firms to find digital professionals that have some marketing experience. Technically minded people that can work well alongside marketers are incredibly valuable. But that shouldn’t take the place of actual top marketing talent hand-picked by an experienced marketing staffing agency.
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