Woohoo!!! I think this is a wise move as we move into the golden age of digital marketing. Until now I believe the many companies viewed this area as media buying and website analytics. Digital marketing is the force that will bring the customer experience to fruition by combining online and offline behavior. Creating consistent content and messaging from one channel to the next will be key in the coming years.
"One challenge that has been very prominent for digital marketers is the hiring of great talent, and companies are finally getting the budget to do that," said Laura McGarrity, VP-digital marketing strategy at Mondo, a technology and digital-marketing resource provider.
According to the study, the top hiring barriers are finding skilled talent (cited by 65% of respondents); the cost of quality staff (30%); attracting top talent (21%); retaining top talent (16%); and culture fit (26%).
Talent is in high demand and I think what companies have to realize is the talent they are looking for do not necessarily have many years experience in the field. In fact, there is very little experience in the new age of digital. Finding talent will be harder than looking at a resume and seeing if the applicant has X number of years and X degree. These are not the metrics companies should be aspiring to hire. The metrics should include applicants that have expressed their thoughts about digital marketing and whether their thought leadership is the direction the company is trying to go.
"Turnover has been a really big issue," Ms. Garrity said, noting that the average tenure for digital marketing professionals is 12 months to 18 months. By comparison, average CMO tenure is 45 months, according to executive recruiting firm Spencer Stuart in a March 2014 report.
"There is such high demand and it's such a new space -- people are hopping around to find the best jobs," she added. "It is a candidate's market, particularly in digital marketing."
The top skill sets companies are hiring for this year are digital/social (54%), content creation (44%), big data/analytics (33%) and mobile strategy (30%), Mondo found.
There should also be a questioning of why there is so much turnover. Even though it is a talent market, there should be less turnover if the work is rewarding and CMO's are really bought into the innovation. Too many times CMO's tend to be brand focused and the digital marketer will get frustrated in that environment.
The study also asked marketers which digital platforms will drive customer engagement in the future. It found that today, mobile is seen as a key driver of customer engagement by only 24% of respondents, but in the next three to five years, that will increase to 70%.
The 24% number is too low for mobile as a key driver. Today is the age of mobile and if companies aren't focusing on mobile, they will be behind in three to five years. Mobile strategy takes time to implement and companies need to start now.
The next 12 - 18 months will be very interesting in the digital space as technology vendors are building platforms that can support the wants and needs of marketers. Upcoming technology will push the boundaries of what is possible. Many companies will want to leapfrog steps to get to the end goal quicker, but it is important to realize to take advantage of the next low hanging fruit before jumping too fast. That is why it is imperative to start now on the digital strategy.