Feature
The Gist
- Market shift. High-demand roles are those impacting revenue directly.
- Location matters. Major tech hubs remain ideal for marketing roles.
- Skill demand. Data analytics, personalized marketing and AI knowledge are key.
Marketing, customer service or customer engagement professionals who have tracked labor trends this year certainly know that the job market has been in great flux. There have been several consecutive months of job growth overall, but also widely reported layoffs among certain industries or job types.
Job seekers among the marketing and customer relations ranks can expect to see more of the same over the second half of 2023. The pros with the best chance of landing new jobs or grabbing bigger paychecks are those who help increase revenue, hiring experts say.
That is especially true for any of these professionals who work at tech companies. Layoffs have been pervasive within many larger tech firms, while rising interest rates have slowed venture capital and private equity investments, explained Sean McLoughlin, vice president of operations at HireMinds. Tech layoffs have not just impacted the ranks of IT, but have had sweeping impacts on the overall workforce within these organizations.
The Job Market Today: Less Great, but Still Good
Overall, the nation has added an impressive number of new jobs since the height of the pandemic, but the rapid rise may be behind us.
“That said, opportunity remains,” McLoughlin stressed. “We continue to see hiring for marketing positions, as smaller companies take advantage of talent formerly locked up in big tech companies.”
These newfound “opportunities” are not there for just any marketing or customer engagement pro. The ones who are prized are those who bring true value to the growth and success of the organization.
“The biggest roles in demand are those positions that have a measurable impact on revenue,” McLoughlin said. “We continue to see focus on demand generation and lead generation roles.”
Unfortunately, many customer service and customer engagement departments have been hit hard when companies have gone through layoffs. But McLoughlin said those roles with a technical bent — such as implementation, configuration or customization — or a sales or renewal focus have seen a lift.
Related Article: Tech Layoffs: Why Tech Is Getting Hit so Hard
The Best Job Markets for Marketers & Customer Relations Pros
Depending on which job role a candidate has experience in, the best markets for overall hiring vary, McLoughlin said. Obviously direct-industry experience and number of years of experience count for a great deal in any hiring decision, but certain cities and states stand out.
“For marketers, we’ve continued to see the major tech hubs still lead as top job markets: San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington DC,” McLoughlin said. “While candidates who are able to come into the office are seeing a more active job market than employees who prefer to stay fully remote, we haven’t seen a shift in the top markets.”
“For customer service roles, we’ve seen more companies build teams in areas perceived as having a lower cost of living. North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Maine stand out,” McLoughlin said.
“For customer experience or engagement roles, it’s been a mix,” McLoughlin noted. “Companies seem more willing to hire the talent wherever they may sit, especially if a position has a heavy travel or customer facing component or a heavy focus on technical work.”
Conversational AI Redefines Roles in Customer Service Sector
Within customer service, there are new roles being developed related to conversational AI applications, explained Max Ball, a principal analyst at Forrester Research.
Smaller organizations might get by with less than a full-time resource to manage their AI applications — primarily chatbots and other customer self-service capabilities. But at larger brands that have taken a more focused approach to AI, there are often teams of five-to-10 people managing the AI applications, Ball said.
While these roles are new and focused on AI, they are logical extensions of the teams that used to manage the interactive voice response (IVR) system, Ball explained. Organizations have now typically added employees with new skill sets such as conversational designers.
“Similarly, there is an expansion in the number of people doing data analysis in the contact center, as AI-based tools allow for brands to take call recordings between the agents and customers and turn the content of those conversations into quantifiable information,” Ball said. “While this is very cool, it’s nascent, and there are not a significant number of people doing this function.”
Related Article: How Good Is Your Marketing Strategy at Attracting Talent?
The Skills, Traits and Experiences That Employers Most Want
It seems that the artificial intelligence bug has bitten everyone, and marketing and customer relations are not immune.
“AI and ChatGPT (a generative AI tool from OpenAI) are the biggest buzzwords across marketing, customer service and customer engagement,” McLoughlin explained. “It’s clear that most companies are trying to figure out if AI is an existential threat to their business. Many employees are wondering if AI will help them improve their work or threaten their jobs.”
Beyond AI, there are a number of technology, business and interpersonal skills and traits that will best serve marketing and customer relations staff.
Data Analytics, Personalized Marketing & Social Skills Reign Supreme
“For marketers, data analytics and personalized marketing remain king,” McLoughlin stressed. “In the B2B world, this is a focus on account-based marketing within product and demand generation. In the B2C world, we see many roles focus on CDP technology, making sure that the customer is hit with the right message at the right time.”
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For customer service, there is still an emphasis on chatbot services, McLoughlin said.
“For customer experience-focused roles, we see a focus on either the technical skill sets — especially around implementation and configuration. If the role is more focused on driving customer growth, the trend is towards alignment with sales,” McLoughlin said.
Also high in demand are social media skills. The need is for marketing professionals who can help create and manage campaigns on social media, engaging with customers directly and building brand awareness. Marketing pros should be able to communicate effectively, help customers feel that they are being well cared for, and that they have their customers’ best interests in mind.
