Growth Marketing Recruitment at Michael Page

I’m a Senior Recruitment Consultant with Michael Page where I specialize in the placement of marketing professionals within the DTC and eCommerce space. Since joining the business in 2018, I’ve noticed an increased demand for candidates in Growth Marketing, Retention Marketing, eCommerce Marketing, and other technical digital marketing roles.  

Our most common call is from a business leader saying something to the effect of, “I’ve never had to hire a recruitment agency before. I’ve interviewed 30 people. Why are there so many titles for Growth Marketers? Why do they cost so much money? Which companies have them and which are using agencies?”.  

We hear this most commonly from small to mid-sized companies within the consumer goods space, consumer goods referring to a product the consumer purchases directly online, in-store, or on an app platform that provides a service/product to the end-user. We hear this most commonly within DTC because growth marketing, retention marketing, and other more technical digital marketing roles help drive brand awareness, traffic, and revenue. These growth marketers can help growing start-ups break up the noise of the competitive consumer goods space, engage with the consumer and say, “You see me. We see you. Click me!”. From there, the retention marketer swoops in and says, “I know you clicked me, come back! Here’s what value we can bring to you and why.” Both processes are data-driven, and it’s much more complex than posting on social media and hoping for the best. Without these experts in your corner, imagine how difficult it would be for a new business in 2021 to compete with more established brands? 

What makes a technical marketing search like Growth or Retention Marketing so difficult?  

Quite simply, there are only so many people who know how to do it, and most of them have jobs that they like already. Yes, even now. When these specialists are employed, their management teams know the value they bring to their business, and so when faced with the prospect of their resignation or potential exit from the company, they’re more inclined to pay a hefty counteroffer to secure them. (Quick side note to the reader, do your research on why it’s unwise to accept a counteroffer, but I digress). When these candidates are on the market for a new role, they have multiple interviews and know that they can secure the best of the offers they’re getting. They also use the other offers to drive their salary demands upward. In conclusion, what makes these searches so difficult is these candidates know their worth, and so respectfully, they don’t play the old game of recruitment where you come in with an offer 20k lower than promised over the course of 7 interviews.  

How can Michael Page Recruitment be a solution?  

Each consultant on our Marketing Recruitment team has a background in consultative sales and marketing, and speak to candidates about their marketing methodology at a very granular level. We have an existing, expansive network of talent in the consumer goods space we maintain partnerships with. In fact, I reviewed the data this weekend, and wasn’t surprised to see that 60% of our teams’ growth marketing placements are with candidates who we were in touch with for 6 months+ before placing them in their current role. While we are known as “headhunters” (a term that always sounds so intense to me) and do provide “headhunting” services, the reality is with roles like growth marketing and retention, these candidates want to work with someone who they trust will understand them. They want to work with someone who understands their career aspirations, someone who speaks the marketing lingo and can give them a glimpse into a company before they make a move.  

We also know their market worth, and we understand what their salary targets mean to them. We ensure that placements occur at a salary that is fair for both parties, which is a balance that while difficult is important to find. We provide references early on in the process as a way of saying, “See, it’s not just us. This candidate is a rock star”.

Many of my clients have a difficult time finding these candidates because titles vary so greatly. Digital Marketing Manager, Performance Marketing Manager, Growth Marketing Manager, Affiliate Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Conversion Optimization Manager, in some instances, can all mean the same thing. This means a quick look on LinkedIn is like peering through a crack in a wall, seeing some sunlight, but not what’s entirely beyond the wall. Even if you do get candidates to come through, your confidence is lacking, because you just wonder, “what if I could see what’s beyond that wall?” Additionally, maybe you’re an incredible Founder and entrepreneur with a penchant for building strong brands, but you sincerely have no idea what questions to ask a candidate to determine the level of their growth marketing skillset. It’s beneficial to have someone like myself in your corner to help you decipher candidate responses and get to the heart of their candidacy.  

We’re also constantly having proactive conversations with candidates. I ensure that most of my candidate calls start as simply as, “Hey let’s network”, because as a salesperson, I can understand and appreciate candidates are sick of being sold to. They are sick of recruiters and CEOs calling them and promising them the dream, 30k under their asking price, with a complete lack of understanding of what they do. Candidates welcome a conversation with an expert like myself who knows what exciting roles to call them about. Then, when a Founder who has just secured Series A funding in the skincare space tells me they need a growth marketer, I can deliver a quality shortlist more quickly and more effectively because I have a growth marketer who cannot wait for me to call and tell them about it.  I don’t JUST take calls with CEOs and write down orders. I'm not a note taker who jots down orders and sends resumes hoping for the best. It’s my job to come to these conversations with candidates ready and advisement on hand.

Finally, most companies in 2019 were prepping up their 5-year eCommerce plan, and then 2020 turned around and said, “How about now?". That 5-year plan became a chaotic 5-month plan, CAC skyrocketed in November 2020, and the demand for eCommerce and technical digital marketing candidates skyrocketed. Companies and candidates are genuinely overwhelmed by the options available to them. Either there are so many options they can’t choose, or they are uncertain if these are genuinely the best options because they don’t have enough visibility into the other party to evaluate it. This can be a stressful experience for candidates and clients, and sometimes it helps to have a third party to bring both the company and candidate together and say, “Let’s talk it out. How can you help each other?”. We connect people, we match people, we don’t JUST place people.  

I’m a Senior Recruitment Consultant and I specialize in the placement of marketing professionals in the Direct-to-Consumer and eCommerce space. Let's network, even if you don't need me right now. A long-term partnership with your recruiter goes along whether you are a passive/active candidate or a hiring manager.

Email me at sarataryla@michaelpage.us.com or call 212-672-6943 for a personalized consultation.