The year 2020 was disastrous for companies that rely on print media advertising. Spending in this area fell 24% during 2020, reaching the lowest figure since 2014, according to the 12p report by Arce Media. The sector had not registered such a sharp decline. The situation caused a sea change and accelerated the rise of digital marketing.
Overnight, traditional marketers had to upgrade or lose relevance in today’s world, while digital marketers began to be in high demand. According to HR Digital, professionals specialized in e-commerce would get an increase in salary bands that could reach up to 10%. In Spain, 16% of digital marketing experts expected to receive a salary increase, while 19% expected a bonus.
Companies are looking for digital marketing specialists
The demand for specialists is a consequence of the increase in investment by brands in digital advertising. The social media marketing platform Socialbakers noted in the Social Media Trends report that there was a drastic increase in advertising on social media during Q4 2020. The maximum peak was during the Christmas season, where a 50.3% increase was reached in advertising spending, while Cost per Click (CPC) increased 35.6%. The same report highlighted an unusual increase in this area, reaching 39.6% in Western Europe, while in North America the increase reached 92.3%.
As might be expected, Latin America is no exception to this upward trend, although the trend was more moderate. According to the IPG Mediabrands analysis unit called «Magna», the increase in digital advertising in the region was 9%, a trend that will continue during 2021 with the possibility of reaching 12%. The consultancy believes that the resurgence of travel will help underpin this growth in advertising spending. However, it considers that the levels of 2019 cannot be recovered until 2022.
Companies must embrace technological innovation
In an interview for expansion, the founder of the Liebre Upgrade agency, Juan Carlos Guerrero, considered that brands should move towards technological innovation and seek paths in less traditional channels. According to the expert, there are many opportunities in the current scenario.
For companies that have not yet adopted digital marketing or lack the budget to hire experts in this subsector, online training of their staff is presented as the best option. On the Internet, there are many options for free courses and with recognized certificates on the fundamentals of digital marketing, as well as specialized courses for each of their areas.
Outsourcing digital marketing specialists
Instead of hiring digital marketing specialists or prepare their workforce in this area, companies can outsource digital marketing activities. In other words, to use a third party to create content or perform marketing services.
This route has several advantages: not suffering from staff problems, get a service with a team of experts, get outside insights, assured return on investment, attuning the latest industry updates, focus on the core of the business, among other ones.
Due to COVID-19, even companies with a traditionalist marketing approach must adopt digital marketing, which became in high demand during the pandemic. Now, companies are looking for digital marketing specialists. Companies have several options: acquired experienced talent, outsource digital marketing or develop their own talen.