Marketing Recruitment
Finding and hiring marketing professionals is one of the most difficult challenges facing recruiters today. This is due in part to the constantly evolving best practices and emerging engagement platforms that candidates must stay informed on and increasing competition among top job seekers. More than that, though, is the fact that successful marketers need a unique, hard-to-find mix of creative, technical, and leadership skills, with an affinity for marketing for the digital world.
And information traditionally submitted on a resume – education, even past experience – are not always indicators of future success. Rapid changes in the field have increased the importance of leadership, creative thinking, and innovation over other skills. But these skills are difficult to determine through traditional recruiting methods such as resumes and non-behavioral interviews.
All of these elements can make the talent acquisition process overwhelming, so when comparing creative staffing agencies, companies should find a strategic partner that understands their industry’s unique needs.
Challenges For Marketing Recruitment
Job seekers applying for marketing jobs will have their own unique strengths and backgrounds that may make them a great fit for your organization. With a varied candidate pool, it can be challenging to determine which skills and experience speak to the most desirable hires. Here’s what you should keep in mind:
Lack Of Digital Skills
The marketing industry is experiencing a skills gap as agencies continue to shift from “traditional” marketing to a digital reality. The Economist Group and Digital Marketing surveyed over 500 marketing executives across the world to determine current recruitment and talent challenges. 74 percent indicated that there is a “critical talent shortage” because the industry’s workforce lacks the digital skills, marketing experience, and soft skills required to address ongoing customer needs.
Resume Evaluation
Hiring marketers based on the content of their resume can be tricky because industry trends and technologies are rapidly changing, which may make some aspects of educational background from a few years ago obsolete. While a degree is important, it speaks to the ability to learn marketing concepts and strategies, which isn’t the same as implementing those approaches in the real world. Instead, look at their industry experience, whether that be at an agency or as part of a side project.
Identifying Strong Candidates
Marketers are skilled in selling products and services to prospects, which means they likely have similar success promoting themselves and convincing hiring teams of their worth. This can make it difficult to separate candidates who are great self-promoters from those who have a stronger skill set and experienced background but may not vocalize it as effectively.
Tips For Hiring Top Marketing Talent
The hiring process isn’t solely dependent on what the talent pool has to offer; your organization needs to be sure it positions itself as desirable for top candidates, which will increase your ability to find your next skilled team member.
Staying Up-To-Date On Technology
Organizations looking for top marketing talent must stay up-to-date on emerging marketing software and processes. Skilled job seekers looking to succeed in their role and plan for long-term career goals require modern tools. Make sure to research what marketing platforms your organization should be using, and be sure to highlight this in interview conversations to pique candidate interest.
Offer Mentorship Opportunities
Potential employees may be aware of the skills gap and could be looking for an opportunity to hone and update their skills to stay successful and plan for their future growth. Make sure that you are upfront about the opportunity to shadow and work closely with experienced marketers to get these job seekers up to speed on new marketing software or processes to encourage their growth as a skilled professional.
Demonstrate Marketing Success
Marketers are attracted to working at organizations that have demonstrated they can develop and manage successful marketing campaigns. Be transparent about your organization’s wins, whether that is in the form of lead generation, lead conversion, click-through rate, or any other key performance metric, to encourage candidates to want to work with your team.
Find A Strategic Partner for Marketing Recruitment
By partnering with a staffing agency specialized in marketing recruitment, companies can expand their network of available candidates for full-time, contract to hire, temporary staffing, and consultant roles. Access to larger, more diverse talent pools empowers organizations with less limitations on candidate sourcing and higher chances of a successful match between candidate and company values, culture fit, and skill requirements.
Sparks Group’s digital marketing recruiters have long-standing relationships with top design firms, advertising agencies, corporations, and nonprofits. Our industry experience enables us to find enthusiastic and highly-skilled professionals with the technical and creative skills, along with leadership and vision required to drive results.
Marketing Recruitment With Sparks Group
Sparks Group is a leading staffing and recruitment firm committed to strategic partnerships that aim for quality and long-term success. We pride ourselves on our dedication to these key differentiators:
- Proven methodology to expedite the “candidate requisition-to-productivity” process;
- An extensive network of qualified marketing, creative, and digital design talent;
- Reputation for quality-driven solutions;
- Comprehensive staffing and recruiting services including temporary staffing, contract to hire, freelance gigs, and direct hire.
- Proven track record in placing creative talent with the top employers throughout MD, VA, DC, NC, and beyond;
Learn more about our creative and marketing recruitment division or contact Sparks Group using the form provided to start making smarter and faster hiring decisions while reducing company turnover.
