Hiring a marketing professional is a pivotal step for any business looking to boost its presence, engage with customers, and drive growth. In today’s competitive landscape, a skilled marketer can craft targeted strategies that not only enhance brand awareness but also generate leads, increase sales, and establish long-term customer relationships.

However, with the wide range of marketing expertise available, choosing the right professional for your specific needs can be challenging. Whether you’re a startup looking to build a marketing foundation or an established business aiming to revamp your strategy, this guide will provide the essential tips and insights needed for hiring a marketing person who will contribute to your business’s success.

So, grab a cup of coffee and let’s get into it.

Who is a Marketing Person?

A marketing person, professional or a marketer is an expert in creating, executing, and managing strategies that promote a business, brand, product, or service. Their primary role is to understand the target audience and develop campaigns that resonate with them, driving brand awareness, engagement, and ultimately, business growth. Marketing professionals possess a diverse skill set that includes creativity, strategic thinking, data analysis, and communication.

That being said, the term “marketing professional” is somewhat generic, broadly referring to any individual working in the field of marketing. It encompasses a wide range of roles, from digital marketing specialists to content creators and market analysts, and can apply to professionals with various areas of expertise.

For instance, marketing professionals can be:

• Digital Marketing Specialists: Focus on online platforms like social media, search engines, and email to reach customers.

• SEO Specialists: Optimize websites to improve visibility in search engine results.

• Brand Managers: Ensure that a company’s messaging and image are consistent across all platforms and marketing efforts.

• Market Research Analysts: Conduct research to understand consumer behavior, market trends, and competitor activities.

• Social Media Managers: Oversee the company’s social media presence, creating content and engaging with followers.

In-House Marketer vs Marketing Agency

Regardless of whether a business is a small startup, a medium-sized company, or a large corporation, effective marketing plays a crucial role in building brand awareness, attracting and retaining customers, driving sales or growth and staying competitive.

This means that in every business, there should some entity that handles marketing, be that an in-house marketer or a marketing agency. Choosing between these two options require considering expertise versus cost-effectiveness, which could be a bit of a complex comparison.

In-house marketers offer the advantage of being fully dedicated to your brand, working directly within your company’s culture and aligning closely with your goals. They bring a deep understanding of your business and can quickly adapt to internal changes, allowing for more immediate and personalised responses to challenges. Additionally, having a marketer on your team can be beneficial for long-term strategy, as they can work on building consistent and sustainable campaigns over time.

However, in-house marketers often come with additional costs. For example, you’ll need to account for pension contributions, equipment, recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing training expenses. When you factor in all these costs, you’re likely to spend at least £30,000 annually on a skilled full-time marketer—around £2,500 per month.

The cost of hiring an in-house marketer may also increase if they have limited expertise in some areas of marketing. For example, a full-time marketer who excels in social media or content creation might lack the specialized knowledge needed for more technical aspects like SEO, paid media, or analytics. To cover these gaps, you may need to invest in additional training or hire freelancers, which could increase your overall costs.

Agencies, on the other hand, bring in a wealth of experience and specialised expertise with their broader team with diverse skills, meaning they can handle multiple aspects of marketing simultaneously—everything from strategy development to execution. Agencies also provide flexibility in terms of project-based work, allowing you to scale efforts up or down based on your business needs. This can be particularly useful for short-term campaigns or businesses that do not require constant marketing support.

That being said, they typically charge more on an hourly basis per project.

Ultimately, the decision depends on your business’s specific needs, budget, and long-term marketing goals.

Which Marketing Professional Do You Need?

Deciding which type of marketing professional to hire requires a clear understanding of your business goals, target audience, and the specific skills needed to achieve those goals. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make the right decision:

Define Your Marketing Objectives

Clear marketing objectives are essential when hiring the right professional. Your goals determine the expertise needed and guide your strategy.

If your goal is to build brand awareness, focus on increasing visibility and trust. Content marketers, social media managers, or PR specialists can help achieve objectives like growing your social media reach by 30% in six months. For lead generation, aim to attract and nurture potential customers. SEO experts, PPC specialists, and email marketers can drive efforts to generate qualified leads, such as 500 per month.

To improve customer retention, prioritize keeping current customers engaged through CRM systems, loyalty programs, or re-engagement campaigns. A common target might be increasing repeat purchases by 20% annually. For companies looking to expand into new markets, market research analysts, digital marketing managers, or localization experts can craft strategies to capture new audiences and revenue streams.

Evaluate Your Current Marketing Effort

Before hiring a marketing professional, it’s important to assess your current strategy to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Understanding what’s working and what isn’t will help you hire the right expertise.

Start by evaluating your social media management. Are your platforms engaging your audience? If you’re seeing low interaction or stagnant follower growth, a social media manager can help improve your strategy and engagement.

Next, review your content creation. Is your content resonating with your audience and meeting its goals? If you’re seeing declining traffic or engagement, a skilled content creator can produce more effective, high-quality content.

Consider your SEO and website optimization. Are you ranking well on search engines, and is your website user-friendly? Poor rankings and high bounce rates may signal the need for an SEO specialist to improve visibility and user experience.

If you’re using paid advertising, are you getting a good return on investment? High costs or low conversions may indicate that you need an expert to optimise your ad campaigns.

Finally, assess your analytics and reporting. Are you using data to inform your decisions and measure success? If you’re lacking insights, hiring a data analyst can help you track key metrics and refine your strategy.

Understand Marketing Roles and Specialisations

When hiring a marketing professional, it’s important to understand the various roles and specializations in the field. Here are some common types of marketing professionals and their focus areas:

• Content Marketer: Creates written content like blog posts, whitepapers, and ebooks to engage and attract your target audience. Their goal is to drive traffic and educate customers, boosting brand authority and lead generation.

• SEO Specialist: Improves your website’s visibility on search engines by optimizing on-page content, conducting keyword research, and building backlinks to increase organic traffic and improve site rankings.

• Social Media Manager: Oversees your social media accounts, creating content, engaging with followers, and growing your online presence. They work to foster brand loyalty and increase audience engagement.

• Email Marketing Specialist: Designs and manages campaigns to nurture leads and retain customers. They focus on creating targeted messages, optimizing open and click-through rates, and keeping your brand top-of-mind.

• PPC Specialist: Manage paid ads on platforms like Google Ads and social media. They optimize ad campaigns to maximize ROI and drive traffic to your website or landing pages.

• Digital Marketing Manager: Oversees all online marketing efforts, coordinating strategies across different channels. They set long-term goals and ensure efforts align with business objectives, often managing a team of specialists.

• Generalist Marketer: Handles a range of tasks from content creation to social media and email marketing. They are ideal for small businesses with diverse but basic marketing needs.

Align Expertise with Your Business Size and Needs

When hiring a marketing professional, it’s important to align their expertise with your business’s size and specific needs. The type of marketing professional you need will vary depending on your company’s stage of growth and the scope of your marketing goals.

Small Businesses

For small businesses with limited budgets and resources, a generalist marketer is often the best fit. Generalists can handle a variety of tasks, from content creation to social media management and email campaigns.

Since small businesses typically don’t have the resources to hire multiple specialists, a generalist offers flexibility and cost-effectiveness. They can manage different marketing activities at once, helping to create a solid foundation for your marketing efforts without the need for a large team.

Growing Businesses

As your business grows and marketing needs become more complex, it might be time to hire specialists or build a small team of marketing professionals. For instance, a SEO specialist can focus on improving search engine visibility, while a PPC specialist can optimise paid ad campaigns.

A growing business often requires more focused attention in specific areas like social media management, email marketing, or content strategy to drive targeted growth. Specialists can help scale these areas efficiently and ensure that each aspect of your marketing strategy is executed well.

Established Companies

For established companies with well-defined marketing needs, strategic roles like a Digital Marketing Manager or Marketing Director may be necessary. These professionals oversee comprehensive marketing strategies and manage teams of specialists across various channels. They are responsible for long-term planning, setting goals, and aligning marketing efforts with the company’s overall business objectives.

In larger companies, these strategic roles provide leadership, ensure that campaigns stay on track, and ensure coordination between different marketing functions.

Assess Your Budget

Your budget plays a crucial role in determining the type of marketing professional you can hire and the marketing activities you can pursue.

• Limited Budget: If your budget is tight, hire freelancers or agencies for specific projects. Freelancers offer specialized skills at a lower cost, while agencies provide a full team for short-term campaigns. Alternatively, hire versatile generalist marketers to handle multiple tasks and keep costs down.

• Larger Budget: With a larger budget, you can hire specialists for areas like SEO, content, or social media, or build a full in-house team for a more coordinated strategy. Though more costly, an in-house team offers dedicated professionals aligned with your business goals.

Hiring a Marketing Person

Hiring the right marketing professional is a multifaceted process that requires careful planning and assessment to ensure you find someone who not only has the technical skills but also fits well within your team and understands your company’s strategic goals. Here’s how you can approach the hiring process effectively:

Crafting a Comprehensive Job Description

A well-written job description serves as the foundation of your hiring process. It provides clarity on the expectations and responsibilities of the role, which helps attract the right candidates. When crafting your job description, consider the following:

• Role and Responsibilities: Clearly outline tasks (e.g., content creation, SEO, social media).
• Skills and Qualifications: List necessary skills (e.g., proficiency in SEO tools, content strategy).
• Company Culture: Briefly describe the work environment and values.
• Expectations and KPIs: Define measurable goals like increasing traffic or conversion rates.
• Growth Opportunities: Highlight career development potential.

Interview Questions

Once you start interviewing candidates, you’ll need to ask questions that not only assess their skills but also determine how they think strategically and how they would fit into your company culture. Here are some key questions to consider:

• Skills: “Can you share a successful marketing campaign you’ve led?” “What tools do you use in your marketing efforts?” “How do you prioritize your tasks when working on multiple marketing channels?”

• Strategic Thinking: “How do you develop a marketing strategy?” “How do you adjust campaigns based on data?” “How would you handle launching a new product in a competitive market?”

• Cultural Fit: “What kind of work environment helps you succeed?” “How do you collaborate with cross-functional teams?” “Describe a time when you had to adapt to a company’s culture and work style. How did you ensure a smooth transition?”

• Problem-Solving: “Can you tell us about a marketing project that didn’t go as planned and how you handled it?” “How do you approach managing a marketing budget and making the most of limited resources?”

Testing Their Skills

To ensure candidates can apply their skills in real-world scenarios, consider assigning a practical task or project. This allows you to assess their hands-on abilities and problem-solving skills in a controlled, yet realistic setting. Here are some effective ways to test their skills:

• Campaign Strategy: Ask them to create a digital marketing plan to increase engagement by a specific percentage over a set period. This shows strategic thinking and creativity.

• Content Creation: Have them draft a blog post, design a social media ad, or create an email campaign to gauge writing style and content marketing understanding.

• SEO Audit: Request an SEO audit of your website with improvement suggestions to assess their technical SEO expertise.

• Data Analysis: Ask for insights from marketing data (e.g., traffic, social media performance) to evaluate their analytical skills and ability to adapt strategies.

• Paid Media Ad Creation: If the role involves paid ads, ask them to design an ad campaign with targeting and messaging to test their creative and executional abilities.

These tasks provide insight into how candidates can apply their knowledge to real-world marketing challenges.

Onboarding and Integration

A well-structured onboarding process is essential for setting your new marketing hire up for success. It ensures they quickly integrate into your company culture, understand their role, and have the necessary tools and resources to perform effectively.

The onboarding process should begin with clear role expectations, where you outline the responsibilities of the new hire and how these responsibilities align with the company’s overall goals. This helps them understand what is expected of them and the impact they will have on the organisation. It’s also important to introduce them to key teams and stakeholders, ensuring they understand how their role fits into the broader company. This fosters collaboration and smooth communication.

Providing access to tools and resources is another crucial aspect. Ensure they have all the software, training materials, and tools required to do their job efficiently. Familiarising them with your company’s systems early on helps them get up to speed quickly. Additionally, introducing them to your company culture and values is essential. Helping them understand your organisation’s values, mission, and vision enables them to represent the brand effectively and make decisions that align with company culture.

A strong onboarding process ensures your new hire feels welcomed, prepared, and ready to contribute from day one.

Ongoing Support

Ongoing support is vital to ensuring your new marketing hire continues to grow and succeed in their role. While onboarding is crucial, sustained support ensures they stay aligned with business goals and feel valued within the company.

Regular feedback and check-ins are key to providing ongoing support. Schedule one-on-one meetings to offer constructive feedback, discuss any challenges, and set new goals. This helps the new hire stay on track, refine their skills, and remain motivated. Additionally, providing access to professional development opportunities such as training, workshops, or conferences helps them stay up to date on industry trends and expand their expertise.

It’s also important to ensure they have resources for success. This may include access to analytics tools, a marketing budget, or opportunities for collaboration with other departments. Ensuring they have the right resources and support will enable them to excel in their role. Finally, aligning their efforts with business goals is essential. Regularly revisit company objectives and ensure their work is contributing to these goals, reinforcing the purpose of their role and keeping them motivated.

Ongoing support is about more than just ensuring they perform well in the short term—it fosters long-term growth and keeps them engaged, ensuring their continued success and contribution to the business.

Innovation as a Minimum

Hiring a marketing professional ensures your business stays ahead of emerging trends like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), voice search, and more. While occasional outside expertise may be necessary, the long-term investment in a dedicated marketing expert will prove invaluable.

As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, so do their expectations of how they interact with businesses online. From the devices they use to search, to the type of content they engage with, staying updated with these shifts is key. By closely collaborating with your new marketer, you’ll be in a position to anticipate these changes, not just react to them, allowing you to exceed customer expectations and maintain a competitive edge.

Moreover, the right marketer will help your business stay ahead of technological advancements and trends, ensuring that your marketing strategy is always aligned with the latest innovations. While your competitors may be scrambling to adapt to changes after they happen, your proactive approach will position you as a forward-thinking leader in your industry, gaining significant market share and customer loyalty in the process.

By fostering a culture of adaptability and foresight, you’ll continually drive growth and success, setting your brand apart as a true industry innovator.

Latest Data on Marketing Salaries and Job Growth

In general, marketing can be a high-paying field. However, salaries can vary widely depending on the role, experience, location, and industry. Specialised roles like SEO experts and digital marketers often command higher salaries due to their technical and strategic skills. Experience plays a significant role, with senior positions like Marketing Directors or CMOs earning six-figure salaries. Industries like technology, finance, and healthcare typically offer higher pay compared to non-profits or education.

Salaries also tend to be higher in cities with a high cost of living.

Let’s look into some important marketing statistics:

Marketing Salaries

• Median annual wage for marketing managers: $135,960 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023)
• Salary range for digital marketing professionals: $42,000 – $165,000 (Payscale, 2023)
• The average salary for growth marketers: $112,258 (Indeed, 2023)
• The salary range for content marketing specialists: $40,000 – $100,000 (Glassdoor, 2023)
• Salary range for social media managers: $50,000 – $120,000 (ZipRecruiter, 2023)

Marketing Job Growth

• Overall employment for marketing managers is expected to grow 8% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023)
• Job growth for digital marketing specialists is expected to be much higher than average, at 21% from 2022 to 2032. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023)
• The demand for content marketing specialists is expected to grow 16% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023)
• The job market for social media managers is expected to grow 10% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023)

Additional Data Points

• The demand for marketing professionals with specialized skills, such as data analysis and marketing automation, is growing rapidly. (Indeed, 2023)
• Remote work opportunities are becoming increasingly common in the marketing field. (FlexJobs, 2023)
• The marketing industry is becoming increasingly diverse and inclusive. (LinkedIn Talent Solutions, 2023)

It’s important to note that these are national averages, and salaries and job growth may vary depending on location, industry, and experience.

Conclusion

Hiring the right marketing professional can have a significant impact on your business success. By following the steps outlined in this article and considering the factors discussed, you can increase your chances of finding a talented and qualified candidate who will contribute to your team’s long-term growth.

Remember, the key is to be thorough, strategic, and focused on finding the best fit for your unique needs and company culture.

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