What can employers do to attract and retain top marketing talent? How can you make your organisation stand out and hire the right talent for your marketing jobs?

Here are five areas to consider for those looking to bolster their marketing teams. 

Have a plan

To make the best hiring decision for your marketing talent, organisations need to be honest about what they’re going through as a business and what they’re looking for in terms of skill sets.

Although the business landscape has changed and organisations have had to adapt, thinking about where that talent sits in terms of the company’s vision and business strategy is key. This will help you decide for example whether you need a temp, permanent or interim resource.

Top takeaway: understand if you require a short, medium or long term solution.

Be specific

Once you’ve ascertained the skills needed, it is important to highlight and articulate these points in your job description.

Especially during difficult times, if not enough attention has gone into skills gap analysis, then this can lead to generic job descriptions. You will have to sift through even more applications, which will take up more time (and associated costs) with no guarantees of finding the right person.

Top takeaway:  a thorough job description will help to attract a higher calibre of applicant.

Honesty pays

The new world of work requires employers to be more flexible. With many having been forced into that situation since March, as a nation we’ve survived on Zoom calls. The remote working model does work and moving forward candidates will expect more flexibility.

The important point is just that - remain flexible. And that also means looking outside your sector to widen your talent pool, as often skills can be transferred over.

Top takeaway: there is no ‘one size fits all’ situation – it depends on the role and sector.

Be creative (money isn’t everything)

In times like these when budgets are stretched, as much you want to offer the market rate, you might just might not be in a position financially to do that. 

But your overall package can still remain competitive and you can still attract the best talent. Consider taking someone on to work four days a week on a pro rata salary. Other benefits around wellbeing or upskilling training are highly sought after.

Top takeaway: capture the attention of candidate by offering a variety of perks.

Look at your employer brand

Your reputation and employee value proposition (EVP) are key cornerstones of your talent attraction strategy. From the work environment to work-life balance, candidates are looking for evidence that they will be joining a company who really cares about its people.

Organisations that cannot demonstrate their efforts in areas such as gender equality pay, Diversity & Inclusion and corporate social responsibility (CSR) will be at a significant disadvantage. 

Top takeaway: your employer brand will help you compete for the best talent.

If you’re looking to hire your next marketing specialist or want to know more about salary benchmarking, contact Romana Begum at romana.begum@fyte.com.