Is it Doom & Gloom? Data on senior marketing roles 2023

• Has the demand for senior marketers changed? What does the data show? 
• But, is it harder to find a role as a senior marketer in 2023 & 2024? And if so why? 
• What does it mean for me as a senior marketer? 

General considerations in hiring senior marketers: 

Now, firstly, before we look at the specific data it's worth considering a few general points about senior marketing jobs and the nuances around hiring senior marketers. 

As you get further up the tree there's a range of challenges: 

• Competition - you're at the top of your game & competing with the best
• Active & passive talent - you might be out of work but your competition is not only other active job seekers, but also passive talent: a large % of senior marketers are "open to opportunities" versus active. This audience is often half looking and over the years

These two points mean in a normal market you likely will always find it competitive to move roles. 

But what else is happening in the economy? 

• Redundancies in marketing & digital - AWH Solicitors found a range of redundancies within digital advertising. 
• Redundancies across the economy - Average redundancies are rising across the economy and have been doing so since early 2022, you can see full information at Statista 
• Technical recession - As of today, the UK government announced a technical recession with -0.3 growth from October to December 2023. Now this is a technical recession, but it’s still not good news. But it highlights the overall backdrop that all businesses are facing right now. 

What does a tough economic environment mean for marketing? Now on average marketing is cut, or reduced in tougher markets. Lots of our network have confirmed adjusted budgets in 2024. 

Now is it all doom & gloom? No, but there are certainly challenges in the economy. 

There are lots of good businesses hiring, judging by the consistent stats shared above. When I undertook looking at the data on our platform I had expected to see a real drop off in activity in H2 2023. 

So where does this leave you as a senior marketer? 

If you’re a senior marketer looking for the right role. Not any role. 

Now it is going to be more competitive. It's important to focus on what you can control: 

• Job search plan - you need one & stick to it 

• Stakeholders & influencers (not the social kind) in your network, or not, that you need to know

• Focus on your core skills & experience - where can you reasonably & competitively add value 

• Added value - metrics & information - showing your value  - The tougher economic environment means that one needs to articulate the ROI from activities as well as possible. This is where you prove your worth as a leader, navigating businesses in tougher environments

• Networking - who, what, when, how & where  

• Converting - how successful are your interviews? Honestly. What can you objectively improve? 

• Personal development - if you are out of work can you use this time effectively? Job searching can be monotonous and as such it's worthwhile to not see all of your time as a waste

• CV / LinkedIn - there are no excuses in the current market for your "marketing" to not be as sharp as possible 

• Content & personal brand - there's a lot you can do here but it is not a quick fix 

• What can you do that is out of the ordinary? Other avenues for cutting through the noise 

 If you haven't already you are welcome to register with us, we're building a great space for the marketing community, and perhaps we'll be able to help you find & secure the right role. Here's a link if you want to register with us. If you're looking at your job search and how to improve it, we can likely help with that too.