marketing hires
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Report: Marketing Hires Are on the Rise

A new McKinley Marketing Partners report shows that digital marketing hires are on the rise. It also reveals that a majority of job seekers are open to the idea of working for nonprofits but are concerned about lower salaries.

The evolution of digital marketing tools hasn’t eliminated the need for marketers. It’s actually heightened the demand for talented marketers, according to McKinley Marketing Partners’ 2017 Marketing Hiring Trends Report.

For instance, the report—based on a survey of 314 marketing professionals—shows that there was a 19 percent increase in hiring between 2015 and 2016.

“The more that companies utilize these digital tools for their marketing programs across the company, the need for people who know how to operate them and can leverage them to their fullest extent grows,” said Sasha Cabell, digital marketing manager at McKinley Marketing Partners.

Marketing professionals in highest demand were those with concentrations in digital marketing, including digital advertising, content creation and curation, and content strategy, as well as creative services, including graphic and web design.

“These digital marketing skills are necessary for today’s high-tech environment,” according to the report. “Marketers must be able to create engaging and educational content that can cut through the noise to reach stakeholders. Design also plays a key role in customer engagement. Clean, organized web design, for example, will go a long way in making sure a message gets received.”

In addition, hiring managers surveyed anticipate that these hiring trends will only intensify. In 2015, 28 percent of respondents expected to hire more marketers in 2016, but this year that number jumped to 44 percent. Plus, the demand for digital marketers is more than double the active supply, according to the report.

“This upsurge reflects the growing importance of marketing to the company’s bottom line,” according to the report. “In this age of quantifiable marketing, the evolution of marketing tools has helped businesses use big data more effectively and tie results directly to their ROI.”

The report also queried respondents on their job-search statuses and found that three-out-of-four marketers are at least passively looking for a new job.  The desire for a higher salary is the main reason respondents would switch jobs.

There’s good news for nonprofits in the report as well. Seventy-six percent of job seekers are open to the idea of working for a nonprofit, especially since 55 percent believe that working for one would be more fulfilling.

When it comes to associations, the biggest roadblock they face in attracting talented marketers is the perception that they pay less than their for-profit counterparts. Offering benefits that go beyond health insurance and PTO, such as telecommuting and summer hours, might be one way to lure marketers to the association. Another way is to help marketers see how their passions and interests align with the group’s mission.

“You have to be able to entice them or you have to be able to offer them something that they’re not already receiving in their current job to catch their attention,” said Marty Hendershot, senior director of client services at McKinley Marketing Partners.

 

(Tsyhun/Thinkstock)

Emily Bratcher

By Emily Bratcher

Emily Bratcher is a Contributing Editor for Associations Now. MORE

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