4 things you need to know before hiring a digital marketer
Introduction
It can be challenging for an entrepreneur or even a recruiter to hire a qualified digital marketer as they might not have deep expertise in that field, and it is a complex function to hire for. A Digital Marketing role could entail many different skills to increase an organisation's visibility and digital presence, and figuring out what you need is critical to the hiring process.
And if there is an urgency to fill the position, the process could be rushed more often than not, resulting in the wrong person becoming a part of your team.
This can not just be time-consuming, but an expensive exercise too.
To help you think through and be prepared, we are going to outline some of the things you need to know before hiring a Digital Marketer.
Here are the 4 things you need to know:
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Define the Outcome:
Digital marketing is complex. A digital marketer can provide many different services. So, as an organization or an employer, you need to first identify your need -
What are you hiring a digital marketer for?
What is the output you are expecting?
The answers to these questions will give you a clear picture of who you are looking for.
Try to articulate this as clearly as possible - almost like SMART goals. Adding specific numbers and timelines makes it easier to track and monitor your progress.
For example,
Want to increase website traffic /visits by 50% in the next 6 months
- Want to double your followership on a certain platform by posting at least twice a week - in the next 3 months
- Increase followers on a specific platform using paid advertising in the next quarter
Defining these objectives will also help the digital marketer post-hiring; in identifying the metrics of success and coming up with a clear plan of action to achieve your business goal.
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The Cost of Hiring
According to Webfx, the average cost for digital marketing services in 2022 ranges from $2500 to $12,000 per month, $50 to $500+ per hour, and $1000 to $7500 per project for small-to-midsize businesses.
And getting it wrong can cost you time and money.
Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the cost of a bad hire can equal 30 percent of the employee’s potential first-year earnings.
Recruiter Jörgen Sundberg, CEO of Link Humans, puts the average cost as high as $240,000 in expenses. The costs broken down relate to hiring, retention, and pay.
According to CareerBuilder, almost three-quarters of companies who made a bad hire reported an average of $14,900 in wasted money.
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Know the Relevant Digital Marketing Channels
While a lot is possible with digital marketing, once you have clear objectives, the next step is to figure out the relevant channels and platforms that work for you. And while hiring, it becomes imperative that you check if the potential digital marketer is well-versed with the platforms you want to engage with.
If you are clear on the plan and strategy, you need a digital marketer who can execute your vision by choosing the right channels. During the hiring process, this communication becomes critical, so that the candidate knows what the expectations are.
What digital marketing channels are they experienced in?
On the other hand, if you are a start-up or in the early stages of your business, or if digital marketing has not worked for you in the past, you might expect the digital marketer to help you figure this out.
In this case, you might need to hire a digital marketer who can help strategize a digital marketing plan and has had experience with this. The candidate should be able to share how they worked with specific platforms including setup, campaign design, management and execution, optimization, tracking, and reporting. They might even share the results you can achieve with each specific channel and quote examples of how similar brands use them.
While figuring out which channels the candidate is adept at using, it is important to also evaluate if they can learn and explore new platforms and channels down the road.
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Past experience
While past experiences can reveal a lot about the potential candidate that you are looking to hire, be sure to understand their contribution to a particular project or campaign. They may or may not have had a critical role or a hands-on experience with it. Therefore, it is important to figure out how big a role they really played in the campaign’s success.
What role did they play? What were their exact tasks?
What were they responsible for? Did they have other support or a team to lean on? Or did they work on it from start to finish? Did they strategise it or only execute it? What was the outcome they wanted to achieve? How did that pan out?
While some candidates can provide candid answers, some of these questions can be answered portraying the candidate’s solo effort, even if there was a team/support available. While talking about past experience, ask them about a business scenario and listen carefully to their approach. Are they attempting to find the best solution, with the limited information they have? Or are they willing to collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to arrive at it? This kind of interviewing checks both the attitude and skill of the candidate and will give you a clear picture of their calibre.
Conclusion:
Having Digital Marketing Expertise in your team is no longer an option, it could be the difference between growing exponentially and stagnating.
While the 4 pointers described above can help you screen and shortlist candidates, you can additionally give them an assignment (similar to the output you would expect on hiring) as the final evaluation before hiring.
It can help you identify what fits best for your business and the outcomes you have in mind and map them exactly to the strengths and experiences of the candidate.
This is a time-consuming process that often evolves based on your need and experience. Over the years, we have placed hundreds of professionals across different industries and sectors and know what works. If you find this overwhelming, you could reach out to us. We can help you find the right candidate based on your business needs via our deep vetting process.
Click here to drop us a line.
