How to Hire Digital Marketing Talent Online During COVID-19

Updated on: July 9, 2020

Talent acquisition during a global pandemic, which is having a profound and unprecedented impact on the world economy, has its challenges. Yet while the enormous hurdle of getting hired in such a market has been discussed at length, sufficient attention has not been devoted to the equally serious obstacles that are faced by companies that seek to hire in the world where recruitment has truly gone virtual. This is true for organizations hiring digital marketing talent online as well, who are faced with at once with both a great challenge and a huge opportunity.

While for most digital marketers, the future that predicted is here, many find that they are not ready to face this situation yet. So, how do firms find the best candidates online, in a world where every element of the recruitment process has gone virtual? We should provide opportunities to those skillful people who are capable of working from a remote location. This will help them to avoid depression during the corona lockdown.

Yet once a hiring manager gets started, this could in fact be a huge opportunity, where organizations can in fact assess the most digital-savvy candidates in an environment where talent acquisition has truly moved into cyberspace. Here, the best candidates are indeed the ones who understand how to navigate through and truly shine in a digital world. In such a scenario, let also look at four strategies that you could use.

Find and hire the best digital marketing talent online during COVID-19.

1. Try virtual assistant services & remote jobs :

A recent TimesJobs survey indicates that as many as 55% of hiring managers found that the demand for remote working shot up during the lockdown in response to COVID-19. Additionally, they expected the demand for remote jobs to continue to rise post the lockdown. Clearly, in this new world, websites for remote jobs would make great starting points in your search for digital marketing talent online. Some popular websites that proved to be extremely useful tools include

Additionally, the talent acquisition function is turning increasingly to virtual platforms and assistant services. Such virtual platforms make it possible for hiring managers to stay connected to potential hires throughout the recruitment process, while still following social distancing norms. As a result, businesses have been increasingly shifting to virtual platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies that wish to attract the best digital marketers will need to make this transition.

2. Recruit on Facebook groups :

It is important to remember that Facebook does not just have 2.6 billion monthly active users. It is also a network of 2.6 billion potential hires, and it is possible for you to connect to this community to address your recruiting needs. While as many as 85 percent of recruiters frequently use LinkedIn, often targeting the same candidates repeatedly, Facebook on the other hand is a less tapped resource for recruitment, even while it has double the number of users as LinkedIn.

So, if you would like to try a more creative route to meet your talent acquisition requirements, it might be a good idea to look beyond LinkedIn job posts and job boards and try Facebook groups instead. All you would need to do is look for a relevant focus group and post requirements. Yet, a more unconventional approach may also require you to try more non-traditional approaches to engage with your target audience.

For instance, it has been found that job posts could get the best response, reaching as many as 36 percent more applications, when these are accompanied by a video. Clearly, in the digital world, it not only candidates seeking jobs who most adapt, but even organizations must also evolve as well. In such a scenario, an organization that builds its brands and engages with its audience will attract the best digital marketing talent online.

3. Don’t forget referral connections from friends and the community :

In the pre-COVID world, it was often said that most jobs were not advertised. In fact, a popular LinkedIn survey even revealed that as many as 85 percent of all jobs were filled through networking. While much has changed, that finding still holds true. So even while you try new solutions like virtual assistants in a digital world, not everything from the old world is to be discarded. So, the most effective way to start your hunt for the best digital marketing talent still starts with your own friend circle and professional community. You could be surprised at what you find.

In this context, it is important to remember that while traditional recruitment channels usually reach out to candidates who are actively searching for jobs, this approach even engages with those who may have a job search on their minds. In fact, the earlier Linked survey that I discussed also showed that while networking helped up to 47 percent of active candidates to find jobs, it in fact enabled as many as 62 percents of passive candidates to find jobs. As it turns out, sometimes your best potential candidates could belong to this group.

4. Turn to the online education community :

Some of the best digital marketing experts have used the pandemic to skill and upskill themselves. In addition, many renowned universities in India and across the world are taking learning online as well. In fact, as many as 192 countries have closed schools and educational institutions as a result of the pandemic, This make online education communities, whether these are MOOCS or popular learning spaces such as

a great place to search for outstanding talent. Just like a university’s placement cell did in the past, these online learning platforms could give hiring managers access to outstanding candidates across geographies. All that you would need to do is make your job posting here and await a response.

Clearly, the pandemic has triggered a paradigm shift in how the world acquires the best talent. In this new normal, organizations will have to evolve as rapidly as the candidates that they recruit. For the digital marketer, this new situation, could in fact provide the best evaluation scenario, which makes it possible to assess a candidate’s true digital aptitude, adaptability, and willingness to learn in a rapidly changing world.

Karan Khanna

Karan Khanna is a vivid writer who wants to share his online learning experience using his writing skills. He also runs his own business in Internet marketing to help people to scale their business online.