The marketing industry has been disrupted. Traditional marketing methods are being left behind for new, innovative strategies and ideas. And the formula for an effective marketing team is changing fast.
Hiring managers need to know what the latest hiring trends and top skill sets are within the industry if they hope to keep their organization relevant.
In order for a marketing program to be relevant in today’s consumer environment, it must be equipped with the right team structure, technologies, and skill sets.
It’s no surprise that all three of these components are codependent. Businesses need marketing that can nimbly navigate new digital platforms and can understand how these technologies affect customer engagement. Hiring managers need to know what the latest hiring trends and top skill sets are within the industry if they hope to keep their organization relevant.
The digital marketing landscape is continually growing and marketing departments of all shapes and sizes are adding more depth. But new talent alone won’t ensure success. In order to be effective, companies need to gather the right recipe of tech, organization and talent.
The Composition of the Cutting Edge
The pace of marketing’s evolution over the past few years is staggering. Most marketing jobs are completely different now from what they were just five years ago, let alone ten (TWEET THIS).
Most marketing has evolved beyond the PR, print, broadcast, and push marketing efforts to a new, innovative, customer-centric strategies with pull marketing efforts enabled by a deluge of digital tools. Marketers themselves have had to dramatically adjust their skills or get left behind. Your digital marketing recruiter, internal or otherwise, has their work cut out for them.
The new marketing team is comprised of talent that is both technical and creative. It’s key now to have a team who can develop Web and mobile platforms, scale business initiatives with speed, and gather and process data to dictate strategy. Digital fluency and the ability to execute at least basic technical tasks are becoming more and more essential, even for roles that don’t necessarily spend a lot of time “under the hood.”
Simultaneously, this same team needs people who generate original content and brand awareness, people who are leveraging social channels to engage with online communities, and designers that build attractive and user-friendly Web and mobile designs.
The bottom line: If your current marketing team doesn’t include these key skill sets and competencies, the time for a team makeover is now. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to acquire that talent, and the further behind the competition you’ll be.
Catching Customers’ Eyes
Consumer experience and engagement is at the heart of digital marketing. While there are numerous ways to reach the customer, various channels each serve a unique and different purpose. Finding the best ways to reach your customer base and properly leveraging them is essential.
There are already innumerable, mobile, video, and social channels to choose from. That number is set to increase even more dramatically over the next three to five years. These channels allow marketers to create a personal conversation with their messages and stories, all of which someone can digest quickly and share easily. Successful marketers will have to find ways to make themselves part of those messages.
In-Demand Talent
Needing a team that’s drastically different than the look and feel of traditional marketing, and with customer engagement top of mind for digital marketers, your hiring strategy has never been more important. The people you hire for your team or department will need to be on-point with your needs and strategy.
Companies are scrambling to get their hands on proven digital talent, especially in content generation and marketing, big data/analytics, mobile strategy, social media management. Roles like social media marketing managers, content strategists, marketing operations managers, web designers, and mobile and Web developers are hot. It’s not an easy search; demand is high but the supply of experienced digital talent simply hasn’t caught up.
The longer you wait, the harder it will be to acquire that talent, and the further behind the competition you’ll be.
It’s not whether or not your company needs to consider adding these roles to its strategy. Rather, it’s key to look internally at your digital marketing needs and see how these positions fit within your projects, budgets, and team size.
Another rising trend is increasing reliance on flexible marketing staffing and execution from a mix of freelance work, short term marketing staffing and long term marketing contracting. Digital marketing needs come and go, and sometimes it’s more cost effective to rely on alternative sources of marketing capacity besides full-time hires.
Is marketing staffing right for you? Use this flowchart to help you decide!
What does that mean for your digital marketing team? Now is the time to evaluate where your digital marketing team stands with a digital marketing recruiter.
If you’re a small company with little bandwidth, it’s often best to look to these hot positions and bring them on as needed per project and budget allowance. If you’ve tested the digital marketing waters and you’re ready to build your team internally, these roles and skill sets will be key.
A flexible and adaptable team is necessary to stay ahead of the curve, to embrace new technologies, and to innovate and create new ways to engage with customers. In order to succeed and break through the digital marketing noise, your team needs to include a mix of creative and technical skills.
Your customer engagement strategies need to involve responsive, meaningful, and shareable messages through mobile, video, and social platforms. And with the right talent, whether it be permanent or contracted, you’ll find yourself on the side of growth.
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