I love my job. I love that each search we are asked to work on requires a different approach and I love that on the Versique Marketing search team, we rarely work on simple searches. Whether we’re looking for specific industry experience, expertise in a certain program or software, or a unique combination of modern marketing skills, we work to find the right fit for each position.
In the past year, I’ve noticed a shift in the most requested marketing positions we’ve been asked to fill. Rarely are we asked to work on traditional marketing roles, but rather we’re asked to perform searches for what many call “modern marketing.” In my next few blog posts, I will detail a number of the new types of searches the Versique Marketing team has worked on in the past year.
Vice President of Digital Media
One search I conducted this year was for a Vice President of Digital Media. Our client needed someone who understood DMP (data management platform), DSP (demand side planning), and Programmatic marketing; as well as someone who was capable of leading paid search, display, affiliate, email, and content initiatives-– all connected to media. Tall order.
For those not as familiar with programmatic marketing, a basic definition is any sort of marketing campaign that is automatically triggered by a certain type of event and is deployed according to a set of rules applied by software and/or algorithms. For example, if someone makes a purchase or clicks on a specific page on a website, certain rules dictate if they are then to receive an email, get directed to another page, or any number of different options.
Even though most of this is done via computer, humans are still required for effective programmatic campaigns as everything must be planned and established by marketers prior to campaign implementation. The most common forms of programmatic marketing on digital channels are:
- Programmatic buying via RTB (real time bidding) and ad exchanges
- Programmatic site retargeting
- Shopping cart abandonment email campaigns
- Product recommendation
The search ended when I found an individual who had not only recently helped his company integrate a DMP (data management platform) solution, but had working knowledge of programmatic buying via RTB and ad exchanges, and was ready to bring all that experience to a new company.
Within the last month, I’ve been asked to conduct a very similar search for a Director of Digital Media Strategy. This person will be heavily involved in both the strategy and tactical execution of digital media programs on behalf of their growing set of clients.
What makes someone a perfect fit? It’s the in-depth leadership in the digital media landscape, being able to go toe-to-toe with a CMO, CTO, or what I’m seeing more and more of – the CMT, Chief Marketing Technologist. The Digital Strategist is often faced with tough questions from leadership: “How can you justify us spending $10M in paid media versus the traditional channels we’ve used for years and years?” and “How are we going to use the data we collect from our campaigns?” and “What will the results mean for the bottom line?”
As we continue into the age of digital marketing, what questions do you see these roles facing? Let’s talk in the comments below.
Watch for the next segment in this series coming soon and read more about Marketing trends on our blog.
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