The Race to Recruit Digital Marketing Talent at Ad Agencies
Digital Marketing has allowed companies to grow faster than ever. With the opportunity to target the right customer in the right moment across any device, the increases in revenue major brands are experiencing have forced agencies to keep up with building up Paid Search, Display, Influencer, Social & Email / CRM Marketing teams.
Ad Agencies are using both internal and external recruiters to achieve success with building up their teams, but that is not enough to guarantee success. Strong HR Leaders in Digital have decided to pursue innovative processes to ensure that they compete in the marketplace. Every HR Leader wants to hire the best talent, and by the time there are interviews, candidates already have a multitude of options. This has created a huge impact on the interview process itself. If a candidate is interviewing with your agency, it is more than likely they are interviewing at 2-3 other companies as well. It is crucial for HR to take the interview process and cut it down to 2 interviews or else you will not be able to get the offer out before competing offers. A phone interview and an in-person interview where all the leaders can meet with the potential candidate is ideal. Get your leaders to meet and give feedback within 24 hours of an interview to make sure if the candidate is a solid potential, the candidate knows and is engaged with your hiring process. When the candidate is a great find, you really need to pull the trigger and give them an offer, and it has to be competitive for the market. If you are a hiring manager, you have hired and interviewed many times over, so when you see top talent you should know what they look like and move quickly.
If your on the fence with a candidate, of course it makes sense to compare to others, but individuals you like, do not wait.
In the market of competing offers and counteroffers, we need to focus in on how to bring on board talent and keep them happy. A lot of that has to do with not just culture, but the compensation package. If your company is below market, there is a big chance that within 6 months, another recruiter will contact your new hire and offer them $10K-$15K more in a base with even more promises for growth. Do your research in the industry and always make a competitive offer that gives candidates a bump in pay. Typically you will see candidates requesting a $10-$15K pay increase to consider leaving their role when it comes to the marketing industry.
The goal is to hire the best and keep them happy. So when interviewing digital marketing candidates, make decisions quickly and offer competitive packages.