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Marketers are everywhere. However, when it comes to finding one to join your team and show real results, it gets complicated. Many companies interview, and sometimes hire, candidate after candidate. And they only get disappointed.
Why is this happening? Bad luck?
Luck can play a role, but, usually, difficulties with marketers result from mistakes in the search process.
INDIGO Tech Recruiters explore the 5 most common mistakes and recommend how to avoid them.
Unclear responsibilities
What do you need a marketer for?
Marketing is a broad field, and it’s almost impossible to master all the flavors of it. The knowledge and skills required for social network marketing differ from the skills of an e-mail marketer. Should the specialist develop a new product? Provide offline marketing? Monitor your competitors? Vague expectations are the key to a long and fruitless search.
There is another problem with the list of responsibilities. Often, there are abstract requirements that don’t correspond to the real tasks of the marketer in a particular company. For example, in your job description, you don’t mention budget management, but include creativity.
The situation is complicated by the fact that companies tend to read other companies’ job postings and copy the description for their vacancy. As a result, young companies are looking not for the specialist they need, but rather for the perfect marketer for a successful large company.
How to deal with it
Unfortunately, you have to do your homework. Understand the specializations and skills of marketers, and formulate exactly what you expect. Before you start searching for a specialist, decide what your goals are. Then, create a list of requirements in accordance with the goals and specific tasks. And, if you really want to immediately engage in a dozen marketing channels and PR, think about hiring a team rather than a Jack of all trades.
Wrong job title
Are you sure it’s a marketer you need?
Often, people actually need a User Acquisition Manager, Traffic Manager, Affiliate Manager, PPC Specialist, Media Buyer, or even an App Store Optimization Manager.
This mistake is closely related to the first one. Only after you decide on responsibilities, you understand what you should call the position.
Discrepancies in the titles can hinder the search process. Often, businesses post a marketer vacancy, although they need a narrower and more focused specialty. On the other hand, they may search for candidates within a specialized field of expertise without taking into consideration related professions.
How to deal with it
Decide exactly who you need. Search for resumes with related job titles and post (on social networks, at least), addressing not just an abstract Marketer. Try all relevant keywords. For example, a PPC Specialist may respond to a Traffic Manager vacancy.
Doubtful value of the project (company)
How is your project better than all the others?
The labor market, especially in IT, is now applicant-centered. People choose their future jobs as carefully as a company chooses its potential employees. And, for many, salary is not the main factor when accepting a job offer.
Representatives of an employer (especially if the business owner himself is engaged in recruiting) tend to believe that the value and attractiveness of the project or company are obvious. In fact, you need to “sell” them to a candidate.
For professionals, it’s also important to see that the top management will be engaged in marketing too. The attitude of “Just do whatever is necessary and don’t disturb me” will not make the company look good in an applicant’s eyes. At the same time, excessive control and micro-management are not welcomed either. Ukrainian Marketing Directors surveyed by INDIGO Tech Recruiters named a lack of freedom in decision making and no bonuses for results as the main demotivation factors.
How to deal with it
Think about the presentation of your company/project in advance. Don’t use the standard “About us” speech; think of distinctive features that can attract the specialist. How does the proposed project stand out? What professional horizons will it open for the marketer? Thinking about this topic sometimes allows the owner to look at a long-familiar project or company from a new angle.
Tight deadlines
No time to explain, you need a marketer yesterday, don’t you?
Small companies often operate for a long time without a marketer. At some point, the lack of a dedicated person becomes palpable. An employee who was responsible for promotion and other related activities no longer has time, or can’t keep up as the business reaches a new level. Or, if no one was involved in marketing at all, it begins to significantly slow the growth of the company.
In this situation, there is little time to think about the requirements and carefully choose the best candidate. There’s a temptation to hire the first adequate person ready to get to work. But this is not always “the One” you need.
A belated decision to start searching causes one more problem. The marketer is expected to provide fast results, urgently. Then, in a couple of months, the management gets disappointed and fires them.
How to deal with it
Start searching in advance. When hiring a specialist, discuss the timeframes and KPIs. Don’t jump to conclusions about their effectiveness. After all, if you fire them and hire a new one, it’s still won’t set the wheels in motion immediately. The situation may repeat itself.
Sometimes, if you feel that marketing should have started yesterday, it’s better to contact a marketing agency in parallel with the search for your perfect team member.
Searching only on job boards
By the way, where are you looking for candidates?
Job search sites and posts on the company’s social media page are not a very effective combination. If you post vacancies in thematic groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as in specialized Telegram channels, the chances are higher. Referrals can also be useful.
The most effective way is to monitor the market and poach high-level specialists from companies similar to yours. It’s important that you can offer a really compelling project or product. Specialists can also be motivated by greater independence and freedom in decision making.
How to deal with it
Monitor the market. Know the marketing specialists in your field. Search for their profiles on social networks and get in touch with them. Or contact a recruitment agency that will do it for you. Professionals will be able to contact the right people, and it will take them less time.
Let’s sum up. Don’t look for a superhero who will, at a glance, define how to ensure the success of your project and immediately do it. Even if they exist, such clairvoyance is a rare gift, not to mention an almighty power. When employers are looking for a wizard, they usually find a storyteller. And one shudders to think of the salary expectations of a superhero.
To find a dream marketer, you’ve got to dig in first (just like in fairy tales). The main rule: think carefully, study the field, and decide exactly who you are looking for.
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