B2B is often seen as the poor relation when it comes to attracting high quality marketers. Some B2B marketers don’t see themselves as anything else but many look to move to B2C. Anita Baglee, director of Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment, explains, Many marketers perceive B2C as the more glamorous side of marketing, and as having more scope than B2B. There is also a perception that B2B focuses more on below-the-line activities and is more compartmentalised in other words, that it’s rarer to move between sectors.
Over the first quarter of this year, there has been an increase in the number of roles clients are looking to fill, particularly on the B2B side, says Baglee. Clients are not cutting back on recruitment at the moment. The increase may not be entirely unconnected with the economic downturn as Lucy Hayward, associate manager of marketing at Profiles Creative, explains. Within our PR division, B2B recruitment is starting to see a slight boom in companies preparing for damage limitation and wanting communication professionals in place if and when it happens.
While not necessarily refusing to move, the current climate means that some B2B candidates particularly in junior roles are actively job-seeking if their current employer is not able to offer security. Freelove comments, We’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of middle-management marketing vacancies over the past three months but a slowdown in the movement of junior positions. This could be attributed to employers cutting back training costs and to businesses recruiting more experienced marketers to make their brands work harder in tough times.
Very senior candidates are however excited at the challenges a difficult market can provide as many of them survived through the last downturn. Many are staying put to help re-evaluate their organisation’s marketing spend, but some are seeing the pending recession as a career stepping stone. Hayward says, Our clients are requiring senior marketers to demonstrate the tools they used in previous market downturns and discuss fresh and innovative marketing ideas.
The market is seeing a slight decrease in the number of contract roles and a corresponding increase in the number of career freelancers seeking permanent positions. Contrary to popular opinion, businesses do not necessarily employ more freelancers and take on fewer permanent staff when there is a recession. Many businesses are also reluctant to employ former freelancers on a permanent basis, partly because they are unsure of the relevancy of their experience whether they have been managing projects rather than doing strategic work and partly because of doubts about commitment to long-term permanent posts.
Increasingly businesses are recruiting staff from marketing agencies, whilst many good candidates are recruited from abroad.
Businesses looking to recruit should market the vacancy the way they would anything else. Some marketers are unwilling to move into B2B because they don’t have an in-depth knowledge of the sector. There is a lot of digital work going on in B2B at the moment, for example, so candidates who are interested or skilled in digital marketing but who yet consider themselves as primarily interested in B2C could be persuaded to move if they know a little more about the opportunities of B2B.
Many recruiters over-emphasise salaries, believing it to be the most important factor in an applicant’s choice. When asked, however, marketers typically say that they are motivated just as much by the creative opportunities, the future training and whether the opportunity is appealing. Many recruiters also consider the interview merely as a vehicle for applicants to sell themselves, rather than as an opportunity to show the applicant what is on offer. As Baglee says, Candidates say that often their choice boils down to how the post was ‘sold’ at interview.
To help them find the best marketers, businesses should talk to recruitment experts who have a good feel for who’s available. Networking is also very useful for finding good staff as existing staff may be able to recommend colleagues. There are also professional networking sites and specialist B2B sites for advertising.
It has been difficult to find B2B marketers and will continue to be so, but historically the B2B market weathers an economic downturn much better than B2C. As Hayward says, Confidence remains very strong among our B2B client base whilst we are seeing signs of hesitancy and uncertainty among our B2C clients. B2B is second in line to feel the impact and therefore has more time to prepare internally for any change.
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