A SPEAR MARKETING GROUP REPORT
2019 Marketing
Talent Crunch
Survey
How dicult it is to hire good marketing people,
which roles and skillsets are in most demand, and
how are B2B companies nding ways to adapt.
REPORT: 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey
© Spear Marketing Group, Inc.. All rights reserved. No reproduction or reuse without permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Introduction
4 Executive Summary
6 Survey Results
14 What the Results Mean for B2B Companies
17 5 Reasons to Hire an Agency
19 About Spear Marketing Group
REPORT: 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey
© Spear Marketing Group, Inc.. All rights reserved. No reproduction or reuse without permission.
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As an agency and marketing services provider, we at Spear Marketing Group experience the current shortage of marketing talent rst-
hand in two ways:
1. It’s more dicult to nd the right people for our own job openings; and
2. Companies are looking to us (and other service providers, including contractors and freelancers) as both interim and permanent
alternatives to hiring full-time employees.
We wanted to know just how much our own experience was reective of the market as a whole. We were interested (and thought our
clients might be, too) in learning just how bad the problem actually is, and what other companies are doing to cope.
We wanted to discover:
• How long is it taking to nd new hires?
• What are the skillsets that are most in demand and most dicult to hire for?
• How much are marketers adapting their hiring practices, or even abandoning hires in favor of third-party
service providers?
In late 2018, we invited more than 10,000 B2B marketers to respond to a short 2-minute survey, providing answers to these questions
and more. The responses conrmed some of what we already knew, but also uncovered some surprises.
One thing is for certain: the Marketing Talent Crunch is real. This report is a summary of the results from the survey along with our
analysis of what those responses mean for B2B marketers. We hope you nd the information useful.
INTRODUCTION
REPORT: 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey
© Spear Marketing Group, Inc.. All rights reserved. No reproduction or reuse without permission.
4
Executive Summary
REPORT: 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey
© Spear Marketing Group, Inc.. All rights reserved. No reproduction or reuse without permission.
5
1. 90+ percent of companies are having diculty nding marketing talent.
2. 83 percent of marketing roles take 5+ weeks to ll.
3. Marketing technology is driving the most in-demand roles (marketing analytics, marketing operations).
4. Marketers are adopting a more exible hiring model to include remote employees and contractors/freelancers/agencies.
5. There are some marketing roles (notably, marketing operations) that companies are hesitant to outsource, even if those
roles are very dicult to ll.
5 KEY FINDINGS
“I recommend people attend their local BMA, AMA, and IABC meetings to network and nd local talent, especially people between jobs or
doing full-time contracting. I’ve asked agencies and other vendors for recommendations of freelancers. I’ve even reached out on social
media to copywriters or others based on posts I liked. Budget permitting I’d prefer to hire agencies but the costs can be high.”
