If there’s anything the global workforce has learned over the past year, it’s to “expect the unexpected.” Even more so in the advertising, media and marketing industries, there has been a natural call for the need to be flexible, intentional, and original.
While many of us have been binge watching our favorite content across streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube and Instagram, creatives alike have been producing the content we so desperately need to feed our souls. Though much of this new content has not been produced traditionally — aka sans a professional production set, it has proved that quality content doesn’t need to cost millions of dollars to be enjoyable.
The stay-at-home orders brought upon by the global pandemic merely accelerated what would have developed in years to come: a birth of opportunity to build upon our skills and tap into new careers, start our own business or move existing ones into online shops and ecommerce sites, connect with networks, and curate creative content unlike ever before.
Thanks to the internet and the many ways to connect online and exercise our skills, there has also been a more recent demand for the newer wave of jobs we can’t continue to ignore: independent marketers. These freelancers, contractors and consultants across the media, advertising and marketing landscapes typically know how to leverage the spike in content we’ve seen. Those who specialize in hyper-niche areas of marketing, tend to lend themselves to the needs of agencies, small and large businesses and brands.
Historically, there has been reservation for hiring independent marketers because of a misconception that they’re unreliable, expensive, and hard to reach. But as a largely remote-workforce continues to operate, more and more HR departments are implementing PEO (Professional Employment Organization) resources, as there seems to be no sign of a decrease in available independent marketers.
Flexible talent suppliers like We Are Rosie are operating at full force to recruit the best candidates across freelancer and contractor gigs. They recognize we’ve entered a new era of marketing, powered by people. With over 6,000 independent and innovative experts, they support marketing efforts by matching initiatives with the appropriate talent — based on project goals and needs.
The surge of independent marketers and rise of platforms like We Are Rosie prove that you don’t have to sacrifice talent or quality work for affordability.
Traditionally, organizations have hired full-time graphic designers, copywriters, planners and strategists. Now, because of the information readily available, there’s an expectation that marketers must know most — if not all — of these areas, to stay in demand. These qualities make them ideal candidates who know how to adapt and thrive in flexible workspaces, continue to hone their multi-skilled abilities, have experience working with different clients and needs on short-term and long-term objectives, and can be bold and innovative in their decision making and project suggestions.
This newer, independent community of creative strategists, content creators and brand marketers may all seem to bear similarly ambiguous titles on the surface, but truth be told, many of these roles coming to stardom require similar skills — but at different levels.
Recently, for example, you may have heard the buzzword, “storytelling,” floating around the content development world and how everyone needs to “create great stories” and “be authentic” while “inspiring creativity.” While true, a year ago today, MarTech published, Hey Salespeople: If You’re Not Telling Great Stories Then You’re Not Selling; just one example of the many resources out there that tout storytelling. Terms like these, are arguably just beginning to lose their value like most great things when they become coined. The false expectation that a full-time sales executive could produce great “storytelling” at the same caliber as an experienced freelance copywriter or marketing strategist, is part of the reason why so many creatives and marketers contribute to the saturation of talent — we need to package our individual professional skills and experiences and do so by creating hyper-niche specialty roles to set us apart.
As sales teams are barely introduced to the concept and adapting their sales tactics, big tech and media corporations follow suit. They seek to hire candidates that can support “content personalization” and enhance the “customer journey engagement” — all examples of how in-demand marketers are also now preferred, and in some cases expected, to have the latest data science and analytics skills, too.
Like it or not, creatives and marketers alike are at the mercy of technology and partnership. So, jobs are changing and titles are evolving as marketers everywhere run to keep up with the digital world — maybe the most accurate representation of performance marketing.
Today, as we continue to find new ways to remain relevant and provide essential marketing services in media, marketing and advertising, there’s a new wave of evolving content creators taking over social media and other digital platforms that we need to make way for: influencers. Not traditional influencers like brand ambassadors or spokespersons we’ve accustomed to seeing in advertising, but creators across industries and communities that seek to monetize their own work and creativity.
Last year, Technavio reported that because of the widespread growth of social media usage, the total addressable market for global content marketing was expected to grow by $270b, between 2020 and 2024.
So, whichever way you prefer to dice the onion, it sounds like the vast majority of our roles are here to stay — but which independent role(s) will you consider implementing for your team or organization?
