Whether hiring in-house or outsourcing to an offshore partner, almost every business is working with a marketing professional with digital skills. Information is everything these days thereby making digital marketing a must-have in every industry.

You might be wondering how to proceed after carefully weighing the pros and cons of working with an agency and deciding to hire someone full-time. Never assume that all of your applicants possess the same skill sets or are a good fit for the position.

Your company has its unique needs so you require different skills and strengths from your digital marketer. Make sure to compare all of your candidates by the same standards then rank them based on your specific requirements and preferences.

Understand what they do

Make it easier to filter candidates by knowing what the role entails. A digital marketer is the one responsible for boosting your online presence through free and paid channels. Their main objective is about getting you in front of your target audience.

They help you with customer engagement, lead generation, and brand awareness through tactics like content creation, email marketing, search engine optimisation, and social media marketing. They set KPIs and track the performance of your campaigns.

Assess your specific needs

Now that you know what is expected from a digital marketer, determine what you need them for. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How valuable or essential is digital marketing for your business?
• What is your main objective for arranging digital marketing services?
• What will their primary tasks be when they become part of your team?
• What is the problem you’re hoping they will solve for your company?
• Do you have any experience or ideas on how they must solve problems?
• What kind of results are you expecting them to bring for your brand?
• Do they have a solid understanding of your industry, niche, or brand?
• Would you prefer that they manage, advise, or execute the strategies?
• Do you want them to run the ads themselves or through another agency?
• Will they do the writing or only the approval of the content?

Compute the costs involved

Consider how much you’ll be paying the full-time marketer you are hiring. Let’s look at the average salaries for the role in different countries according to Indeed.com so you’ll have a better idea where to hire from. Here are some examples of average digital marketer salaries to give you an idea:

United States – USD 61,464

United Kingdom – GBP 26,180

Australia – AUD 79,117

India – RUP 19,506

Philippines – PHP 30,643

You also have to determine if you want to pay for their equipment, workplace, and software. In that case, you need to research how much laptops, tools, and the like cost in their area too. That will increase your expenses but it assures you that their resources are up to par.

Know where to look

Generally speaking, marketers are good at building their online reputations so they are easy to find on the web. Don’t limit your search to job boards and try searching for them in these places too:

Events

Even in the midst of a pandemic, there are plenty of gatherings for marketers online. Whether you’re interested in the latest trends or looking for the right marketer to hire, it’s a good idea to participate in these types of events.

Forums

Professionals tend to socialise in places away from traditional social media networks, including forums. If you want to find the best people to talk about marketing techniques and tools, check out websites like WarriorForum, WickedFire, or Digital Point.

LinkedIn

Here’s the best platform when searching for B2B marketers. It’s easy to find people who know how to create content that tells stories and provides value to readers. There are also a number of groups where you’ll be able to connect with industry peers.

Facebook

This is another great place to find B2C marketers organically or through joining groups. There are a lot of groups for you to choose from, and you may pick who to further your connection with. Take this chance to see how they market themselves on social media too.

Contently

Its greatest strength lies in providing a vetted network of marketers, be it traditional or online. Though it does ask for a free where other options are free, it is the ideal place when you want someone for branding and content marketing in particular.

Look for these skills

There is no shortage of companies on the hunt for a digital marketing specialist, but there is an abundance of candidates vying for the positions too. Set yourself apart from the other applicants by ensuring you possess the following skills:

• Data analysis – good at finding data, interpreting them, and creating strategies to improve KPIs
• Copy Writing – have a talent for producing quality copy even if their primary job isn’t to write
• SEO and SEM – knows the basics of keyword research, on-page ranking, road-mapping, and more
• Communication – comfortable with using different mediums when interacting
• CRM – monitors customer experiences to understand their growing needs
• Social media – familiar with the algorithms of different social media platforms
• Graphic design – makes visual content that appeals to various target audiences

Have the basic knowledge for each of these skills and choose one or two to specialise in. Technical knowledge may be earned and skills may be learned. Balance learning hard skills with soft skills too.

Find the right digital marketer here

A digital marketer does wonders to grow your company but it may be difficult to find the right one for your team. Hiring the wrong person only wastes your resources and time. Not to mention that it turns into a lost opportunity for hitting your goals.

Increase the chances of getting the best person for the job with our help at Remote Workmate. After discussing what your specific needs are regarding digital marketing, we’ll filter our talent pool for candidates who fit. When we can’t find any, we’ll screen some more.