By Lucy Marino, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative, Robert Half
The pace of digital transformation has marketing and creative teams sprinting to keep up. Shifting consumer behaviors, generative AI, complex tech tools and the need for data-driven decisions make hiring digitally skilled professionals a make-or-break factor for organizations.But it’s a race against the clock. Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report reveals a fierce battle, with almost half (48%) of leaders struggling to find skilled digital marketers. Marketing automation (36%) and digital and web design (26%) are also major pain points.
One reason it’s so hard to find top talent now is that countless companies are chasing the same skill sets to meet similar objectives. Robert Half’s survey spotlights the marketing and creative leaders’ top five priorities for 2024 and in-demand roles that can help them meet their goals:Digital marketing: This is an umbrella term for how companies reach customers online — think digital marketing managers, social media specialists, search engine marketing experts and everything in between.Marketing automation: Software can be designed to automate tasks at different stages of the customer journey. Marketing automation specialists work closely with digital marketing professionals to help create and execute campaigns and workflows across platforms.Content marketing: High-quality content fuels both digital and traditional marketing campaigns. Skilled content strategists and copywriters can help you attract and engage your audience.Customer experience: CX marketing managers and brand managers can strategize and prioritize every touchpoint your audience has with your brand — and make for loyal customers.Website and mobile application redesign: Maintaining a smooth, intuitive experience on your website and apps is key. Your team of front-end developers, web designers and UX designers keep everything flowing.
So, how do you land the digital talent you need to meet these strategic priorities? If your job boards are attracting the unserious or unqualified, or candidates are ghosting you before the final handshake, it’s time to shake up your hiring and recruitment tactics.Refine your employee value proposition. What will make top digital talent choose your company? Highlight your use of cutting-edge tools like the latest marketing automation platforms or design software. Demonstrate how your company encourages “out-of-the-box” thinking and supports the calculated risks necessary for staying ahead of the curve. Emphasize workplace flexibility with a clear remote or hybrid work policy, such as X days in-office, X days remote, or fully remote with quarterly team meetups, for example.Move faster. A sluggish hiring process means the best candidates may be off the market before they hear back from you. Indeed, 60% of marketing and creative managers in Robert Half’s survey cite their top recruiting challenge as hiring quickly enough to land the best talent. You can speed things up by embracing virtual interviews for faster and more convenient scheduling and giving candidate feedback promptly throughout the process. Even unsuccessful applicants deserve to be updated, which reflects well on your brand.Emphasize company culture in the interview. Skills can be taught, but some candidates will simply struggle to thrive in your work culture, raising the risk of a bad hire. Ask behavioral questions to delve into their problem-solving approach and communication style. For example, for a digital marketing manager, you could ask them to talk about a time they collaborated with a cross-functional team (like designers or data analysts) to improve a marketing campaign’s reach. What was their role in the process, and how did they smooth out challenges?Invest in upskilling. Digital trends change at lightning speed, so don’t let your team’s skills fall behind. Over half (53%) of marketing and creative managers say skill gaps in their existing workforce are a major reason they need to hire. Offering in-house training, sponsoring attendance at industry events and partnering with online course platforms can keep your team sharp. You could also pair experienced staff with those eager to learn, fostering a culture of mentorship. And by embracing calculated risk-taking and experimentation, you can create a space where marketing and creative professionals want to learn.Focus on retention. Losing great talent is a major — and expensive — headache. Robert Half found that over two-thirds (68%) of managers in marketing and creative departments plan to hire due to staff turnover.Here’s how to keep your digital stars engaged and loyal:
Compensate them appropriately. Stay on top of fast-moving salary trends to make sure you’re offering a competitive proposition to your employees.Don’t wait for exit interviews, when it’s too late. Regular “stay interviews” and brief check-ins show you value your staff’s input and may enable you to catch frustrations early.An open-door policy will encourage employees to feel safe voicing their concerns. It builds trust and can avert problems down the line.Map out potential career advancement paths to help digital talent see a clear future with your company.Unlock hidden talent with skill adjacencies. Instead of fixating on exact skill matches when hiring, consider skill adjacencies. Adjacent skills are closely related but not a direct match — think of web design skills as an adjacency to front-end development. Tapping into a candidate’s potential gives you a wider talent pool. This strategy combats skills gaps and boosts employee satisfaction — a significant win for retention down the road.Team up with the experts. Finding niche digital talent can be frustrating, expensive and time-consuming. Partnering with a talent solutions firm gives you access to a broader network and can speed up the hiring process.The race for digital talent is on, and you don’t have to finish second. By building a culture of innovation, flexibility and growth, you’ll create a workplace where creative and digital-savvy professionals thrive — boosting creativity, productivity and your bottom line.Learn more about marketing and creative hiring trends from Robert Half.
