Aquent partnered with Monster to uncover the key to "attracting, keeping and developing Web talent in an uncertain economy" and we presented our findings in an AMA webcast today (I've embedded the slides below for your viewing convenience).
It would seem that, while others in the creative class may be struggling, the web folk are feeling fairly confident. 72% of our respondents said they would rate their current position as moderately to highly secure. 52% feel that they would have a good or excellent chance of finding another web position were they to look (a belief that is semi-bolstered by the fact that 37% of our client respondents said they plan on hiring web talent in 2009). And 51% saw their compensation increase over the last twelve months.
This level of confidence amongst the web-enabled is understandable. From the standpoint of companies looking for web talent, it also makes these folks "available." Indeed, 43% percent of the people we asked said that they will actively seek another position within the next 12 months, while an additional 35% said they would make a move if the right opportunity presented itself. In other words, 78% of working web talent are "out there."
I'm not a math guy, but all signs point to this being a good time to be looking for web talent (and a good time to actually be a talented web professional). If you are in the hiring game, you might want to consider the following to lure the interactive moths to your particular flame: web folk are looking for stable positions, flexible schedules, and access to professional development. If you've got that on offer, then get busy offering!
As mentioned, the slides:
I wrote a post here advocating greater transparency in the staffing business and someone left the following comment:
"Graphic design is a tough business. That being said, seeing positions posted for a web designer that knows Flash, web design, and print design for the jaw-dropping salary of 35K isn't going to cut it. That is senior-level design knowledge."
I couldn't help but agree with this individual, and not just because recent salary data published by Robert Half puts starting salaries for graphic designers at $36K, with motion graphics specialists commanding salaries starting in the mid-$50Ks.
I thought that we had put the days of kitchen-sink web positions well behind us. Overlooking the significant and long-acknowledged differences between print and web design, a position description like the one above indicates a failure to recognize that certain sub-specialties of web design, as one might consider Flash, for example, have actually become viable career options in their own right.
Interactive design has always been a team sport precisely because it is interactive. The web is undeniably a visual medium, hence the importance of visual design in the creation of websites. But a web site must function in addition to looking pretty and the technical complexity of its functioning demands skills and expertise that are more math than Matisse, if you know what I mean.
The classic division of labor on web projects has always been design AND development. Although most designers will have some technical chops, and developers, on the front-end anyway, will understand design basics, this just means they can communicate and collaborate with each other, not that they are interchangeable. Indeed, they are less interchangeable than ever as the "classic" division of yesteryear has been replaced by today's "baroque" arrangement of sundry strategists and marketing mavens corralling a shifting constellation of user experience specialists, designers, copywriters, Actionscripters, programmers, and analysts, and more.
I know that money is tight and that the web is critical to everyone's efforts. Nevertheless, you don't do yourself or your business any favors by trying to cut costs by hiring one person to do the work of four (or more). Instead, you will be better served by starting with a comprehensive plan for your web efforts, which may in the end be "owned" by one person, and then hiring talented specialists on a project or contract basis to bring the plan to life. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it ALWAYS takes a team to create good web stuff.
Image Courtesy of elvissa.
A recent survey we conducted with the American Marketing Association showed that, even though most marketers are turning to online marketing for salvation in these dark times, they are finding themselves in a bind because they don't want to outsource these efforts but they don't necessarily have the in-house expertise required to get it done. Turns out that, although online marketing was a stated priority for many in 2008, few were able to actually make the online marketing hires they'd planned earlier in the year.
Lesson 1: Unfettered demand for online marketing translates into unflagging demand for interactive designers and developers.
The cultural revolution unleashed by web technology is ongoing and has produced an increasingly refined level of specialization. Whereas ten years ago we primarily distinguished between creative, front-end designers on the one hand and technically-oriented back-end coder/programmers on the other, today we see a proliferation of web-specific roles ranging from Flash gurus to user experience managers to web analytics wizards and beyond.
In addition to this morphing, expansion, and multiplication of web roles, we've witnessed an intense transformation of the way web work happens. The nature of the technology allows for teams to function without regard to geographical location and the fact that the web is always "on" means that web projects know no temporal limitations; they can and sometimes must be executed at any time, day or night.
Lesson 2: Innovation on the web isn't just about what people do, it's about where and when they do it.
The demand for interactive talent obviously means a wealth of opportunities for web professionals whether their focus is design, development, or marketing. The innovations brought about by the web mean that companies who hire web professionals have an amazing variety of options when it comes to engaging the people they need. The fact that the web and what people do with it continues to grow and change means that no one can predict exactly what new opportunities it will create in the future. However, it is undeniable that understanding these opportunities and their implications will mean the difference between success and failure for businesses and professionals alike.
Lesson 3: To take advantage of new opportunities, you need to have a grasp of the possibilities engendered by technical innovation as well as the limitations imposed by the demands of the marketplace.
On that note, if you want to get a better handle on the opportunities offered or precluded by the current interactive talent market, you ought to tune in to this webcast that Aquent is putting on in conjunction with Monster: Hiring Interactive Talent in the New World of Work .
Tell 'em, Matt sent you.
As the scope of the current economic downturn expands and evolves, marketers are responding with pragmatism rather than panic. The pragmatic view, as revealed by research conducted by The Dihedral Group (TDG) on behalf of Aquent and the American Marketing Association, is driven by three factors: new technologies; the availability of highly-skilled contractors; and the understanding that organizations must plan for the recession's inevitable end.
Last spring, Aquent and the AMA enlisted TDG to conduct a survey asking marketers about salaries, hiring plans, and their outlook on the future. We turned the results of that survey into a marketing salaries calculator. Since the initial survey asked a lot about plans for 2008, we sponsored a follow up survey to find out what had happened in the intervening six months. Of course, we found that some plans had changed (only about a third of anticipated interactive marketing hires had been completed, for example), but we also found that, despite the severity of the current economic crisis, marketers seem to responding with a forward-looking level-headedness.
1. Guess what? Technology has changed marketing!
Everybody knows that email, the web, and the rise of social media have changed and are continuing to change the practice of marketing, so naturally these are changing the way marketers respond to a downturn in the economy. Specifically, whether companies are faring well or are struggling right now, online marketing plays a key role in their plans to weather the current storm.
They are, however, using the technology for different reasons and to different ends. On the one hand, those companies that experienced growth in 2008 are concentrating on using online capabilities to deepen customer insight, analyze their behavior, and continually improve the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts. On the other hand, the strugglers are increasing their reliance on interactive marketing for increased efficiency and cost-savings.
Great digital marketing managers have several things in common: they are passionate users of technology; they exhibit a fanatical attention to detail; they know how to connect the dots in very complex, dynamic systems; and they are skilled at translating business needs into technological reality.
At least that's what I gleaned from conversations with two Aquent talent: Terry Kong, a digital marketing manager represented by Aquent's New York office; and Becky Huber, a marketing manager with strong online experience represented by our Richmond office.
Terry currently oversees direct digital marketing (email campaigns, newsletters, etc.) and intranet management for a major financial company's corporate and institutional business. Becky has worked through Aquent at a well-known credit card company where, among other things, she was involved in their first online marketing campaign. Here's some of what they told me when I asked, "What separates the great from the good, digital marketing-wise?"
1. Passion for Technology
"Subject matter expertise is good," Terry told me, "but you really need to know the technology. Actually, it goes beyond knowledge and understanding. You have to be into technology."
"I'm looking for internet junkies and email junkies," adds Becky. "People who are not just interested in or familiar with technology, but actively engaged with it." Terry, who builds websites and explores the world of gadgets in his spare time, explains it this way, "I want the folks on my team to understand the limitations and the power of technology because they've actually used it." On that score Becky points out, "There is a lot you can learn and pick up in the execution space, but you have to start with genuine enthusiasm for the tools."
2. Attention to Detail
"Effective online marketing, whether we're talking about banner ads or SEM, requires that you compress everything you want to say into 6 to 10 words. You have to drill down to the core, the heart of what you do," says Becky, "then you have to get your hands on all the research you can and find out what it is about what you do that really engages the audience. And THEN, you have to test continually."
The ability to test continually was something that Terry really liked about e-retailing specifically. "In contrast to B-2-B online marketing," Terry points out, "with retail stuff you can see results day to day and you can tweak on the fly to get closer and closer to the pot of gold."
On January 27, Aquent and the American Marketing Association will host a webcast entitled, "Digital Marketing Staffing Trends." The featured presenter will be Eric Waldinger, who recently joined Aquent as our Online Marketing Practice Leader.
Eric cut his digital marketing teeth at CareerBuilder where he served as vice president of Interactive Marketing and Affiliate Partnerships. His message in this webcast is simple: Companies can save a lot of money by bringing their search engine marketing (SEM) efforts in-house.
Many realize that by outsourcing SEM to agencies they are incurring unnecessary costs, but they don't know exactly how to create an in-house team. What should the team look like? What tools will they need? Moreover, how should you measure their success?
These are exactly the questions that Eric will answer in this webcast, so, if you're asking them, you should tune in. Again, you can register here.
If you happen to miss this webcast, it will be along with past ones here.
I'm pleased to announce that Aquent is sponsoring an AMA Webcast on Multichannel Marketing on October 30, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. EST. The webcast will feature Akin Arikan, senior segment manager for internet marketing at Unica and author of the recently published, Multichannel Marketing, a book aimed at providing marketers "practical methods for integrating marketing metrics and actions across online and offline channels." We will be offering registrants a free copy of this timely and detailed study following the 'cast.
In addition to being timely, Akin's book has been very well received, especially in the web analytics community. A particularly succinct reviewer, Gary Angel, founder of Semphonic, writes that Akin's book "...delivers a worthy blend of sound technical overview, comprehensive coverage of multichannel options, and a long overdue look at the way offline and online measurement techniques can and should converge." He adds, "It is sound, clear of judgment, clean in style and admirably free of bloat."
Marketing nowadays will be multichannel or not at all. Tune in to the webcast if you want to hear an informed and pragmatic expert's advice on how to get the most from your multichannel efforts.
Also, let it be herewith known that I want my epitaph to read, "Admirably free of bloat."
On the "giving it away as a business strategy"-front, check out this WSJ article on Google offering a free tool to measure web hits. I quote, "Existing ad-serving systems don't currently provide detailed Web-audience data about the sites where they place ads. By giving away the new tool, Google could presumably attract more ad business."
You charge companies to serve their ads, but at the same time, you provide them with free intelligence about where those ads will best perform, which encourages them to use your ad-serving service. Etc.
I think they call that a "virtuous circle," though Google's competitors may call that a "death spiral."
The slides from Aquent's recent webcast featuring Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus were "featured" on slideshare.net last week and have already been viewed over 8000 times. Indeed, we had over 2000 people sign up for the webcast in the first place.
Why is this topic so hot?
Could it be that, fourteen or so years into a business world increasingly dominated by the web, people are still trying to figure out how to make the web work for them?
Are marketers getting more pressure to demonstrate the value of web properties and tactics due to the economic situation?
Is it just that the web has required a lot of "I" without providing a lot of "RO"?
Why did YOU check it out?
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