How to find a good marketer?

Now on the Russian market, we can note a trend towards popularizing the marketing specialty: marketing has ceased to be a department that was first cut during a crisis, companies began to understand the value of marketing and try to look for good specialists (in the plural, and not one of all masters, who cannot not happy). The resume market has become similar to the blue ocean, in the open spaces of which mixed marketers “live”. How not to make a mistake with the choice and find a good specialist?

Vacancy description

Finding a good marketer to start correctly with expectations. The employer needs to understand for himself what tasks the specialist should solve, what goals he should achieve and what type of person is needed for these tasks: an analyst-researcher, a creative enthusiast or something in between.

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• For a vacancy, it is necessary to clearly formulate the terms of reference - the clearer the job description is, the higher the chance that the candidate will, in principle, consider a job offer.
• If there is not enough knowledge to form an accurate description of responsibilities, then it is worthwhile to formulate a vacancy with a focus on the goals to be achieved (preferably in numbers).
• Remember that marketers are often creative and freedom-loving people, so try to “sell” the company as a place where people can realize their potential.

Summary

Acquaintance with the candidate begins with a resume, which can tell a lot, and it does not take much time. How to understand that before you a good marketer?

• In addition to the text, the summary contains figures : ROI, marketing campaign performance indicators, CTR, revenue growth indicators as a result of marketing activities, etc. The ability to digitize their results in understandable language suggests that a person knows how to set clear goals and achieve them. The more detailed the indicators are - the more competent the specialist is in front of you.
• The experience of interaction with the sales department is an important criterion. In many companies, marketing is difficult to build relationships with the sales department, and sometimes it competes with it (which contradicts the very essence of marketing, but this is a fact). Therefore, the experience of marketing interaction with the sales department, and even better - productive interaction, will be a big plus for your potential employee.
• Education : Contrary to established opinion, an important, though not critical, factor is your marketer's specialized education in marketing or PR. On the one hand, there are many excellent specialists in the market without a profile education, on the other hand , understanding the fundamentals of the theory will only play into your hands, and acquaintance of your specialist with the university can be a good help for cheaper “marketing services”.
• Marketer's specialization : if the candidate “is abandoned” from place to place: from SMM to competitive intelligence, from organizing and conducting events in the development of landing pages, then it is worth wondering how deeply knowledge of such a marketer is in the plane of the functions you need. Try first to see people with the specialty you need.
• Industry specialization : if a specialist has experience in your industry, this is a plus, then it will be faster to dive, and you will also see results faster. Also, if you have a B2C field, and you consider a person from B2B and vice versa, then you can safely assume that the effect of your marketing work will have to wait: the person will need to get used to and adapt his knowledge and tools to other market laws.
• Duration of work in one place : there must be a balance. Look at the scope and duration of transactions in this area. If this is a B2B sphere and the life cycle of a deal is 9–12 months there, and the candidate left it earlier - then he was probably able to evaluate the performance of his work in short-term indicators (views, transitions, leads), but whether this results in a deal. hardly. On the other hand, if you see that a candidate has worked for a specific company for a dozen years, be prepared for the fact that the person’s horizons and tools could narrow down and bring you the experience and achievements of a specific company.

Test

In order to test the candidate’s competencies in practice, you can safely send him a test task for further evaluation.

• Make the task as close as possible to the essence of further work. For example, if you are looking for an internet marketer, you can ask for a list of words for SEO promotion or conduct an IT audit of a couple of pages on your corporate website. If you want to find an SMM specialist, ask for the most effective social network to promote your offer and write a selling text, etc.
• A potential candidate cannot always quickly understand the specifics of your product, but at least you can understand exactly how well a person understands the toolkit, understand its speed, look at the details and just understand how far along the way.

The exception is if you hunt a specialist, in this scenario it is already you who are hunting him. In this scenario, you already know who and why you want to get yourself, and these tips are no good.

Interview

• Ask questions in detail about the duties, what tools and approaches used, why exactly those that are called.
• Issues related to the results of work . Did not see the performance indicators in the candidate's resume? You can always ask all your questions during a personal conversation. At the same time you will be able to look at the person’s reaction to the question and assess the degree of his professionalism in terms of evaluating the results of his own actions.
• Ask about your company . A good marketer will always study the company he is interviewing for. He will look at the site, the product portfolio, will form an understanding of the competitive environment, and may even come up with a couple of ideas on business reconstruction and is ready to share pro bono with you.
• Non-standard questions . Do not be afraid to ask the candidate things that are not entirely related to the workflow: his favorite books and films, that a person doesn’t accept most of all in life, and that, on the contrary, puts him in a state of flow, does he like pets, how does he spend his free time, where he would like to go the most. Answers to all these questions will help to understand the candidate’s personal qualities, and you will be able to understand how well he will fit into the team.
• Literature and events on specialization . Find out what professional literature, articles or portals the candidate is reading. Specify which events, master classes, trainings or webinars the candidate attended and how long ago it was, specify which tools were implemented after the trainings.

What does the candidate ask?

An important fact is the questions that the candidate will ask you. Checklist of questions that characterize a good marketer:

• What is the structure of the marketing department? How many people are there? How is the functionality shared?
• Does the company have a marketing strategy? How often is it reviewed? Who forms the strategy?
• What tools did you use / use in your work? Which of them worked and what did not?
• What are the responsibilities of the candidate? A clear question that requires the most clear answer. If the marketer is ready to take on everything, it is worth considering.

We warn you right away: finding a good marketer is a whole quest that you will complete with the candidate. Remember that marketing chips from marketing gurus are just chips and do not carry value without understanding the basics of marketing.



By following the above tips, you can most quickly and effectively take to your team a real professional who will perfectly fit into the team and will delight you with the achievement of marketing goals for more than one year.