New research from The Creative Group helps creative and marketing teams overcome common barriers to digital innovation at their organizations by examining how leading companies are approaching digital initiatives, as well as tips for building high-performance teams.
The firm recently published a new white paper, Step Up Your Digital Game: Lessons from In-House Creative Teams. Among the companies reviewed in the study are A+E Networks, Microsoft and IBM Watson.
“A primary challenge for many creative and marketing teams looking to expand their digital capabilities is finding people with the right hard and soft skills and a passion for problem solving,” said Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group, in a news release. “Top digital talent is rare in today’s competitive employment market. When hiring managers come across promising candidates, they need to move quickly and be prepared to negotiate salary and perks or risk losing them to competing offers.”
Among the key findings:
Room for growth
More than half of creative and marketing professionals (55 percent) rated their organization’s digital marketing strategy as fair or poor. When asked which department is responsible for planning, executing and evaluating digital marketing initiatives, only 29 percent reported a dedicated digital team.
Hiring hurdles
Seventy-one percent of creative and marketing professionals said it’s challenging to find talent with up-to-date digital skills. The technical skills most lacking on their teams include:
- Data science, data analysis and A/B testing
- Web and user experience (UX) design
- Content creation and content marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing
On the brink of burnout
Nearly one-third of respondents (31 percent) said they work more than 50 hours a week, and nearly half (47 percent) feel they work more hours than colleagues in other departments.
Help wanted
Seventy percent of creative professionals said their teams are understaffed, and the top areas they would like to hire are web design and production and print design and production. More than six in 10 marketers (64 percent) also reported being shorthanded, and the top areas they would like to hire are digital marketing strategy, SEO and SEM.
The survey was developed and conducted by The Creative Group in collaboration with AIGA, the professional association for design, and Graphic Design USA. It includes responses from nearly 600 creative and marketing professionals with hiring authority.
