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Product Marketing: The Good News and…the Not so Good News
One thing is for sure: the market for product marketing talent is more than hot right now. This is welcome news–if you’re a product marketer. But if you’re a marketing leader looking to staff up or reinforce your product marketing team, not so much.
You’ve got the primary job of managing all the demands and pressures that come with doing business day-to-day: meeting quarterly goals, putting on programs and events, managing social media, new business initiatives… all of it. Then, finally, you get the go-ahead to bring on new hires! Yay!
You are immediately relieved, thankful, and optimistic. You start dreaming of a competitive, happy, smooth-running team–and just maybe, your long-overdue, pandemic-postponed vacation.
Then reality sets in, and you make the heartbreaking decision to hold off on packing your sunscreen just yet.
Hiring in product marketing
These days, hiring in product marketing is not an easy task, even once you get the green light. It is much harder than the average hire–and for the average hire, there are 566 applicants. AND add to that the recent stat that 72% of companies are having a hard time finding skilled candidates.
What gives?
The great news – product marketing is on fire right now 🔥🔥
Companies in every industry and at every stage of maturity are realizing that product marketers really are the fuel for growth. Since 55% of B2B enterprise marketers name building/strengthening customer relationships in today’s digital world as one of their top challenges, excellent product marketing is a key way to stand out from the competition. With product marketing you have a much better chance of getting to market with personalized, tailored customer experiences and turning customers into brand ambassadors.
The not so great news
Because product marketing is such a crucial role, the competition for hiring is fierce. Finding the right talent–a beautiful blend of strategy, execution, communication, and humility–is especially difficult right now. When asked what they look for in a new hire, seventy-four percent (74%) of product marketing leaders say that GTM strategy and execution is their top priority, with writing skills and content creation coming in second at sixty-six percent (66%)–and ninety percent (90%) agreeing that strong communication skills are the most important soft skill for potential employees to have.
With everyone looking for the same skill set in a candidate, no wonder it can take as long as 55 days to hire a mid-level marketer! And a lot can happen in 55 days, as the recent global lockdown showed us in no debatable detail.
Of course, you can’t just put all of your other daily demands on hold for those 55 days while you find the right candidate–don’t you wish? Seems like a sadly real Catch-22 of the worst kind: my company can’t grow successfully without product marketers on board, but hiring the same slows us down while we try to grow!
Pro tip: There is another way
Jumpstart key priorities with external resources
OK, so hiring the right candidates can be stressful, slow, and frustrating. But there is a way to ensure you can still meet business priorities during this process: utilize outside resources.
External resources are just the ticket to give you a jumpstart on key priorities while your hiring search continues. Bringing in experienced agency talent gives you the flexibility to drive your most urgent initiatives while scaling up your team. You get focussed and dedicated resources that get your projects moving forward and the freedom to take the time you need to find the right professionals for your organization. Like the sound of that? You should, because it can be a huge win-win!
Generate more output with fewer resources
Best part is: you won’t be alone. According to the 2020 CMO Survey, 30+% of B2B marketing executives are increasing their outsourced marketing spend to generate more output with fewer resources. Experienced agencies provide consultants that will fit right into your organization, learning the culture and ramping up on company capabilities right away–and bringing order, structure, and drive to your key product marketing initiatives.
Reach out for a free discovery call and see how we are helping organizations of all sizes get a jump on pricing, naming, product launch, content creation, social media, and more. We have a proven track record of providing expertise, speed, and delivering results. Who knows–we just might be able to get you out the door on your well-earned, post-pandemic, beach-heavy vacation in no time!
