How to Hire an Online Marketing Manager and Boost Your Business

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business. Effective online marketing strategies can help increase brand visibility, drive traffic to your website, and ultimately boost sales. However, implementing these strategies requires the expertise of a skilled online marketing manager. Finding the right candidate for this role can be quite challenging, considering the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing. To navigate through this process smoothly and effectively, here's our guide on how to hire an online marketing manager that will help take your business to new heights.

Clearly Define Your Goals and Expectations

Before you start looking for an online marketing manager, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your business goals and expectations from this role. Are you looking to increase website traffic? Build brand awareness? Improve lead generation? Defining specific goals will enable you to find a candidate who has experience in achieving similar results.

Seek Relevant Experience

When hiring an online marketing manager, look for candidates with a proven track record in driving successful campaigns within your industry. They should have experience with various digital channels such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, content creation, and more.

Evaluate Their Technological Acumen

A skilled online marketing manager must be up-to-date with the latest trends and tools in the field. Assess their knowledge and proficiency in using various software platforms such as Google Analytics, marketing automation systems, social media management tools, keyword research tools, etc. A tech-savvy candidate will be better equipped to leverage these resources effectively.

Assess Communication Skills

Excellent communication skills are indispensable for an online marketing manager. They should be capable of developing comprehensive strategies as well as effectively communicating them to both internal teams and clients alike. Look for candidates who can articulate their ideas clearly and concisely.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Abilities

The digital marketing landscape is data-driven, and an effective online marketing manager should possess strong analytical skills to interpret key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-backed decisions. Additionally, they should have problem-solving abilities to identify areas of improvement in existing campaigns and devise strategies for better results.

Cultural Fit

Consider the company culture while hiring an online marketing manager. They will work closely with various departments, stakeholders, and external vendors on a regular basis. A candidate who not only possesses the required skills but also aligns with your organization's values and culture will help foster a collaborative work environment.

Interview Process

As with any important role in your organization, conducting a thorough interview process is crucial. Ask candidates about their past experiences, successful campaigns they have initiated or managed, challenges faced, and how they overcame them. Request references from their previous employers or clients for additional insight into their potential fit within your organization.

Continuous Learning Mindset

Online marketing is constantly evolving, with new tools and strategies emerging regularly. Ensure that the candidate you choose demonstrates a willingness to stay updated with industry trends through continuous learning opportunities such as attending webinars or obtaining relevant certifications.

Demonstrate Competitive Compensation

To attract top-tier talent for this critical position, offer a competitive compensation package that includes a mix of salary, bonuses/incentives, benefits, flexible work arrangements if possible, etc. Properly compensating your online marketing manager will position your business for success while retaining skilled professionals in the industry.

An online marketing manager is a person who knows how to operate with numbers. He has a number of excel-tables and spreadsheets on his PC. An interesting project is more important for him than his salary. His primary motivation includes new projects and the opportunity to achieve cool results, learn new things.

This is a specialist who develops and implements promotion strategies. What is the difference between online marketing and “just” marketing? ”The main difference is in the tools. If traditional marketing uses information channels such as packaging, billboards, TV shows, sales outlets, etc., then online marketing tools are on the Internet. Of course, this requires a marketer of specific technical knowledge.

When organizing a traditional advertising campaign, it is difficult to accurately assess the effect of placing information on various advertising media. In e-commerce, everything is different: online marketers check the performance of each tool on a daily basis, monitoring and editing the course of the campaign, tracking every client's transition, every site visit and analyzing the dynamics. Therefore, it is always accurate (close to 100%) that it knows what advertising channel worked and how efficiently the number of users and their profile (gender, age, country, city, interests).

In order to build the right strategy for Internet marketing and cover all channels of communication, an online marketer must understand the following areas of work:

• Web design;
• search engine optimization sites;
• contextual advertising in search engines;
• work in social networks;
• reputation management;
• customer support;
• electronic mailing;
• media/banner advertising;
• product (assortment) management, etc.

The functional responsibilities of an online marketer in Digital Agency include:

• study of the features of the product being promoted and platforms for its promotion;
• analysis of user requirements and preferences;
• formation and regular updating of the product promotion strategy based on the data obtained;
• constant monitoring of niche segments and the market as a whole, the definition of target needs and the formation of proposals for the promotion of the product;
• organizing and conducting PR campaigns and promotions, information partnerships, events and presentations (with minimal costs for the company and maximum return for products);
• improving accountability of accountable brands and loyalty of users/market professionals;
• document management, compliance and accounting of payment transactions in the framework of accountable activities;
• preparation and control of advertising campaigns;
• analysis of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns;
• site attendance analysis.

The amount of work in Internet marketing is large enough, there are so many small details that you need to pay attention to. In addition, you need the ability to work in stressful situations and multitasking (the ability to do several things at the same time). Therefore, an online marketer usually works in a team of company marketers and reports to the marketing director (head of marketing). If he is the only marketer in the organization, then his immediate superior is the head of the company.

Professional online marketing managers (people that work in AdvertaLine) set the task of improving the work, assess the time, the expediency of investing resources and monitors the implementation discipline, or implements independently. An unintelligible specialist must have high communication skills and type very fast.

When hiring a person to this position, take into account the important moments described below

Competence

Clearly describe expectations, personality characteristics that are important for the effective performance of work in the relevant position.

Vacancy Ads

Further, you should create a job description. It gives you the opportunity to make a good impression of your company. Remember, not only we choose, but we are chosen. Therefore, it is important to present yourself so that the candidate wants to “buy” you.

Describe his future work clearly. With a detailed description of the vacancy, some candidates will be eliminated even before communicating with you. Those who do respond to the vacancy are more likely to meet your requirements.

When describing a vacancy, indicate what you offer to the candidate, what working conditions, what knowledge and skills you want to see in it. Describe in detail what the work will consist of and what human qualities the candidate should possess. Place the ads on the most popular sites where people search for work.

Selection of resumes

You may not start by reading a person's resume. Better ask him something special about the vacancy. So you check the attentiveness of the candidate and the ability to formulate thoughts in written form.

Phone interview and questionnaire

During a telephone interview, if necessary, additional questions are also asked to clarify the candidate's professional competencies. In the case of a positive result of this interview, the candidate is sent a small questionnaire.

Test task

The test task should be given in accordance with the tasks that the employee will need to perform work as an online marketing manager. Come up with an interesting test so that you want to perform it as a quest and that will show you what you have to work within your company. With the help of test tasks, you have the opportunity to consider several candidates at once, which saves your time. If you do everything right, then many applicants will respond.

Personal or group interview

After the completion of the test tasks, only a few candidates for the online marketing manager position will be selected. They are usually invited to a personal meeting. You can organize a group interview by inviting several candidates who have successfully completed the quest.

After that, talk to each guy personally. Invite the candidate to tell about himself, compare his feelings and information with what the candidate says about himself.

Offer the candidate to ask his questions. Frequently asked questions can tell a lot about his interests. Simulate several situations to reveal his values. Listen to the candidate's questions.

If after the interview you understand that the candidate does not suit you, tell him about it immediately. If you promise to write to a person after the interview — be sure to do it.

Request for recommendations and additional information

If you have not yet made a final decision, it makes sense to collect recommendations on selected finalist candidates. To do this, it is enough to conduct a telephone survey of at least two or three previous employers.

Conclusion

Hiring an online marketing manager who can lead your business through the complex world of digital advertising requires careful consideration of their skills and expertise. By clearly defining goals, seeking candidates with relevant experience and skills while ensuring cultural fit within your organization – you can find the perfect individual who will drive your online presence to new heights while boosting overall business growth.