Digital and Direct Marketing Hiring Plans Show Strong Rebound
On the agency side, Bernhart said 37% of survey respondents plan to add to headcount this quarter.
Bernhart said results showed that business-to-consumer (B-to-C) marketers are stepping up hiring plans slightly more than their business-to-business (B-to-B) counterparts as B-to-C recovers from deeper job cuts last year.
"Among B-to-C marketers, 50% said they'll have positions to fill compared with 46% for B-to-B, and more B-to-B'ers still have hiring freezes compared with B-to-C," Bernhart added. "B-to-B jobs were less impacted by the recession, so B-to-C hiring is now staging a sharper rebound."
As to what specific positions will be in greatest demand during the current quarter, Bernhart said analytics dominated the list, both online and offline. Second on the list was Internet marketing, which was followed by sales, creative, technology, and campaign management.
"We're seeing some newer job categories emerge," Bernhart added. "A couple of companies will be looking for senior-level social media strategists and online video experts."
Participants also weighed in on the challenges they face finding, compensating, and keeping their best digital and direct marketing talent. Comments and observations were received from more than 200 hiring managers at all levels across the digital and direct marketing employment spectrum, including marketers, agencies, and service providers.
Here is a summary of comments received:
On Hiring:
·Quality of applicants: Many are unemployed. The quality and skill level tends to be low with digital, healthcare, and mobile. The good ones are hunkering down where they are. Some employers said they're challenged trying to match candidate skills with organizational needs.
·Uncertainty: Many employers are waiting for a consistent flow of new business before pulling the trigger on new hires.
·Creativity and execution: This remains a difficult combination to find.
·Temporary hires: Mixed results-some found high- quality temps, others did not.
·Rising cost of benefits: This is posing challenges for smaller digital and direct marketing employers to add to headcount.
- People:
- Jerry Bernhart
- Jim Gilbert
- Places:
- US
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
