Good news for all you digitally savvy professionals out there - new data has revealed that the number of UK employers seeking digital marketing freelancers grew by a massive 79% in the last 12 months. Unfortunately for Brits, the report also warns that many of these positions are being filled by overseas professionals.
Good news for all you digitally savvy professionals out there – new data has revealed that the number of UK employers seeking digital marketing freelancers grew by a massive 79% in the last 12 months. Unfortunately for Brits, the report also warns that many of these positions are being filled by overseas professionals.
According to the report from the employment experts at Elance, although the booming UK digital economy now powers a reported 270,000 digital companies, UK marketing professionals appear to be lagging behind their foreign compatriots, focusing on more creative areas of marketing such as content production and graphic design rather than developing sought-after skills such as SEO, social media marketing, affiliate marketing and Google AdWords.
Kjetil Olsen, Elance’s Vice President of Europe, is warning that UK digital marketers will lose out on growing job opportunities unless they change their focus: “UK freelancers have built a very strong reputation when it comes to content production, but there’s also a huge opportunity in digital marketing that we’d encourage them to explore.
“Our data shows that when the talent isn’t available locally, UK companies are tapping into a global pool of online freelancers to source the required skills. Prior to online work, this was not an option for businesses that were faced with the option of relocating, hiring staff without the right skills or even worse, fail to get the work done. We see this trend continuing as businesses seek talent from across borders to gain a competitive edge.”
Luckily, opportunities for digital marketers looking to further develop their skills are improving, with courses such as Squared Online, the Google and Home Learning College partnership, presenting an exciting opportunity for graduates interested in digital marketing to equip themselves with the tools necessary to deal with future advancements in the industry.
As someone about to go freelance, with the inevitable nerves that come along with it – this has brightened my morning.
I completely agree, there are not enough freelance digital marketers in the UK pool and as far as I am aware (I’ll be the first I have ever met) providing freelance research and testing for conversion rate optimisation and user experience. The full ‘hands-on’ service is a rarity outside of an agency.
In a recent eConsultancy report, three out of five businesses (59%) said that they believed conversion rate optimisation was integral to their overall digital marketing strategy. But the top two reasons for not pursuing it were a lack of resources and budget. These numbers along with the Elance report makes me confident that there is definitely a gap to be filled without businesses having to search outside of the UK.
My aim by going freelance is to make CRO and UX more accessible to businesses and not-for-profit organisations. I hope to see more people taking the leap soon!
[…] order to be head and shoulders above the rest, digital marketers are encouraged to continue to learn new and specialised skills at every turn, […]
I became a London based digital marketing freelancer exactly one year ago and I haven’t looked back since. Although in the early days (of March 2013!) I wasn’t really sure what my offering was. Yes, it was marketing strategy and yes, it was marketing ideation and tactics but that needed to be packaged and channeled into something more concise.
The first leg of the journey for me was discovery and finding out what needed to happen for creative agencies and startups to grow. Fast. What was the demand and where was the lack of resource? Digital marketing turned out to be the golden nugget. Over the last year I have hurled myself into all that is digital marketing and I am currently enrolled in a six-month online digital marketing course (http://bit.ly/1geKDIQ) developed by Google.
It’s a fabulous time to be apart of digital. My clients understand that hiring a digital marketing freelancer to service their needs and also the needs of their clients is a no brainer. They get an entrepreneurial individual with a competitive edge and of course not forgetting the cost savings and flexibility.
If any of you believe in yourselves and are thinking of taking the leap, I say, do it. Nike says Just Do It. This book (http://amzn.to/1fdmO3w) says “Feel theFear And Do It Anyway”. If you’re still not convinced Shane Snow states a compelling case in this article (http://linkd.in/18e1LfW) on “Why Half of Us May Soon be Freelancers…”. And for the final shot of inspiration, this lovely quote popped up on my Twitter feed this morning:
“It’s impossible” says pride.
“It’s risky” says experience.
“It’s pointless” says reason.
“Give it a try” whispered the heart.