Business services & B2B salaries and market trends

What key trends have you witnessed  in 2017?

Despite Brexit and political turbulence on both sides of the Atlantic over the course of 2017, it has resulted in minimal impact to overall hiring. The requirement for highly skilled marketers across this sector remains vibrant. With particular focus on B2B, we have witnessed an appetite for exceptional lead and demand generation experience. Similarly to previous years, the most skills in demand have been expertise in digital with CRM, social media and data driven roles.

Brexit uncertainty has not noticeably impacted this market in 2017. Hiring demand has remained consistent and in line with earlier years.

What key trends to do you expect to see over the next 12 months?

Account-based marketing (ABM) has been a hot topic in B2B marketing in the past few years and we predict it will become even more popular in the next 12 months. Organisations are starting to realise the need to move to an account-centric model across marketing. ABM demands a data-driven approach to strategy, planning, execution and measurement. For this reason, we can expect an influx of roles that require candidates to be familiar with various marketing automation and analytical tools.

What methods are companies using to attract and retain top talent?

The battle to attract and retain top talent in the market continues to intensify and encourages companies to create the optimum environment if they are to attract the strongest candidates.

Key drivers include development, training, clear progression path, autonomy, flexibility and diversity. If the environment is set up to encourage and allow top performers to work in a style favourable to them bringing out their very best, appreciating their terms and preferences, it is much less likely that they will be poached by competitors.

Do you anticipate any changes to permanent salaries and bonuses over the next 12 months?

As a whole, B2B Marketers are well remunerated compared to other professionals within other sectors, so I wouldn’t expect to see much change over the next 12 months. Bonuses still remain an integral part of the package for many candidates, as companies continue to look to incentivise employees. These are usually linked to company performance and personal KPI’s. Having said that, we may see a rise in salaries across certain roles that require specific marketing automation skills.

Contract roles & day rates

Demand for contract marketing roles have increased in the latter half of 2017. There have also been a higher number of temporary to permanent positions, both planned and unplanned. The number of contract to permanent positions appears to be driven out of hesitancy to hire permanently due to the general uncertainty of Brexit. As the number of contract B2B marketing roles increase, employers need to move quickly and speed up interview processes to secure the best candidates, as we’re often finding them being snapped up very quickly!

Contract marketing manager roles are the highest paid in the B2B space, £300-350 per day.

Day rates are often higher than their permanent counterparts and more recently, candidates have chosen contracting to allow for flexibility, expanding skill-sets and varied sector experience. The skills in most demand are end-to-end campaign management, demand generation, analytical skills, marketing automation and influencer marketing.

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