Marketing is the unsung hero of the company!

Lyn White

​The landscapes of organisations have changed so much over the last 12 months. We have seen a huge amount of growth in marketing divisions. What was once seen as the fluffy side of the company has now become an integral part of a company’s overall strategy.

It’s interesting to think that even in recent years, marketing professionals were merely viewed as people who just threw out some press releases and organised a few events but didn’t really contribute to the overall picture.  Oh, how things have changed!.

The areas where we have seen major developments have largely been transformed by the digital effect which has occurred across all sectors.  Companies are now aware of the power that social media and digital campaigns can bring to the table.  More and more organizations have increased their activity in this area or even have started to really make an impact in this space and become real influences.  Back in 2014, the digital spread of a typical marketing budget would only account for an average of 15-17%. Heading into 2018, this has increased by 50%.  In reality, this means that companies are increasing their digital voice, whether it’s running Google Ads, PPC, Twitter or Facebook campaigns.  Video is another element where it’s becoming a go to favourite option for many professional services companies (including financial services) who are starting to take a step into the digital world.

The type of roles in the digital space have typically been digital marketing, content creation, PPC Specialist & CRM & social media.  The key skills being mentioned for these positions have included exposure to Google AdWords, Hubstop, Mailchimp & Google Analytics.

From the candidate’s perspective, it has become a highly competitive market. Finally marketing roles are appearing across all sectors not only on the contract side but for permanent roles as well.  Marketing professionals have used this time wisely to up skill themselves in terms of Masters programmes, digital marketing post grads or doing the Google AdWords certification, etc.  People are now coming to the market with not only solid experience but also the academic qualifications and the theory behind them as well.

What has been very interesting to see is the roles and the actual levels where candidates are now looking. There has been a significant movement over the past year at senior executive, assistant and management levels.  These typically would have affected those individuals who during the recession would not have moved as there were no roles to move to whereas now we have gone from a candidate shy market to a candidate rich and job shy market. This has made things very interesting in terms of advising candidates on benchmarking on salaries and opportunities available.

Over the past few years, the jobs market for marketing professionals has been relatively slow. This year, there has been a big drive from senior management level to develop and increase the head count in the marketing departments.  What are the reasons for this? Has the light bulb suddenly gone off and the powers that be are now seeing the influence and value that a Marketing team can successfully bring to the overall objective and strategy of the company?

I do feel that organisations now want to get more of the marketing functions than just the odd press release. Now marketing teams are really getting to demonstrate the power and skills which this pool of professionals can bring to the table.

The future is looking bright for 2018, companies are investing and will be expanding across all areas of marketing from digital to communications. Marketing has also gained a seat at the senior management table for the first time as they exercise their influence in terms of the bottom line and the overall company vision.  Without marketing, how do we expect to get there?  Marketing is now a force to be reckoned with.


Brightwater's Lyn White - Marketing Consultant
For information about current and future opportunities available within Marketing which may be of interest to you, contact me on 01 662 1000 or email [email protected].