6 Hiring Trends Marketers Need To Know

The field of digital marketing is always changing. Instead of being intimidated, great marketers can use change to their advantage. In fact, one survey revealed that two-thirds of marketers expected a raise in the next year. (We hope you’re one of them!)

Learning the direction of your industry allows you to be well-positioned. Use job trends to determine where you are and where you’d like to be. Formstack released a new infographic that highlights the “7 Skills New Marketers Need to Succeed.” Compare those skills with current hiring trends, and you might just become an unstoppable marketing force.

Trend #1: Marketers will become strategic planners. 

Marketers are no longer seen only as creative types. Data and analytics will continue to be critical to successful marketing plans. As a result, digital marketers will make more business decisions that directly impact the bottom line. Currently, 42 percent of marketers report that they have a significant role in business-related strategic planning.

Trend #2: Data-related jobs will see the fastest growth.

Everyone is talking about, thinking about, and collecting data. The problem is that many companies don’t know what to do with it. The job outlook for market research analysts is expected to increase 32 percent by 2022, which is significantly faster than other jobs. To be in the hottest segment of marketing, you need to be able to use and analyze market data. It couldn’t come quickly enough: there will be a shortage of 1.5 million data-savvy managers by 2018.

Trend #3: More entry-level jobs are available than ever before. 

Digital marketing is a great industry for younger employees. Social media specialists, for example, have a 42 percent job growth. Liberal arts graduates who study business, marketing, graphic design or social media will have nearly twice as many jobs to choose from than graduates who studied other subjects.

Trend #4: Marketing departments will maintain or slightly increase their size.

Twelve percent of ad and marketing executives report that they plan to add new positions at the end of 2014, according to one study. In addition, 73 percent expect to maintain their current staff size. While this might not seem entirely optimistic, it should be noted that the number of hiring freezes reported has dropped significantly.

Trend #5: Content marketing teams will continue to grow. 

Content marketing will become easier to measure with an increase in analytics tools. As content marketers see ROI from their efforts, they will be able to hire more people. Fifty-four percent of marketing teams plan to add more content marketers over the next year. Most teams will grow by one to three people.

Trend #6: The use of freelancers and independent contractors will increase.

More and more marketers will rely on freelance or contract employees to meet their heavy demands. In one survey, 74 percent of marketers stated that the quality of independent employees has improved over the last five years. This increase in satisfaction will translate to more marketers who are willing to contract tasks or projects.

You can be confident that digital marketing is never going to stay the same. By combining industry knowledge with cutting-edge skills, you can become a valuable marketer.