Less than a decade ago, the digital side of the business was comprised of a handful of sales jobs on the publishing side and agencies boasting two or three experts to help guide brave clients around the relatively new medium. Today agencies have dozens of people dedicated to digital, publishers are in a hiring frenzy and opportunities in the space reflect the growing budgets advertisers are committing to digital platforms.
“It is awesome to see how digital has grown,” says Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada vicechair Carolyn Cramer, country manager for Tribal Fusion in Toronto. “There are so many opportunities for people to carve out exciting careers.” In response, IAB Canada introduced the 2010 Interactive Advertising Salary Guide, the first comprehensive look at the job functions and salaries of marketing professionals across the country (see the table opposite for a small sample).
Salaries out of control
Dawna Henderson, IAB chairman and president of Toronto-based Henderson Bas, says the guide comes at a crucial time in the industry’s growth. “There was an inconsistency out in the market. A lot of agencies really don’t know what to pay at what level. Some salaries were unacceptable and there needed to be sanity put back on it.” Indeed, in the scramble to hire talent that was thought to be scarce in a competitive market, salaries were often inflated as companies offered top dollar to hire strong talent for new projects. “If you’re not careful you can get into a vicious cycle of paying way too much for people,” says Henderson.
The IAB salary guide is a first step in providing the industry with “a reality check” and structure around compensation, says IAB Canada president Paula Gignac.
A stabilizing force for industry
Everyone stands to benefit, says Gignac. Not only can companies get a sense of whether they are paying competitively, but with titles given to job descriptions, candidates can get a clearer picture of how they want to steer their career. In addition, HR personnel can use the guide to rationalize their budgets, while colleges and universities can see where the opportunities are and design curriculum accordingly. Gignac says there tends to be a lot of movement in the industry, especially in the fourth quarter when new projects are launched and companies seeking talent for those projects “back up the money truck.”
“It’s definitely an employees’ market,” says Henderson, who recalls a recent graduate coming to her demanding a starting wage of $200,000 (he didn’t get it). “I can’t hire people fast enough. There’s a lot of work out there and sometimes I can’t afford to pay the salaries big agencies pay.” Mark Rouse, vice president, practice lead IQ Partners Inc. in Toronto, says agencies “looking for intermediate to mid-senior digital talent are finding it very hard to hire quality at a reasonable pay rate. Not surprisingly, there is also concern about low retention rates in the in-demand roles.” While the Guide will help set more realistic boundaries and stem some of the job-hopping, it will be a while before things fully stabilize, says Cramer. “There is a lot of movement and there will continue to be for a long time because it’s a relatively new industry… A lot of agencies are increasing their digital departments.”
“Every agency hire is digitally referenced to some degree,” says Rouse, adding sales, junior and mid-senior account people, social media strategists and senior technical talent with leadership experience are hot commodities. The overall demand is spurring digital agencies to move from contract to permanent hiring, which should bring some greater stability.
Boom spells opportunity
Digital has usurped television as the sexy medium, says Cramer. “It really is the place to be because of growth.” As a result, a lot of sales candidates are looking to make the switch from other media to digital publishing. The challenge is that no matter how seasoned people were in their previous roles, they have to be willing to cut their teeth again when they make the transition. In some cases this means making a lateral move or even taking a less senior role and decrease in pay to learn the ropes. The good news is “in this industry you can get a lot of experience in two years,” says Gignac.
“In this business, five years is an eternity,” agrees Cramer, adding that companies are looking not only for initiative, but also for people who are “passionate” about digital marketing and advertising. “Digital really seems to be a lifestyle as opposed to a job,” she says. It’s expected, however, that as positions become more defined, there will be a real honing of skills as candidates and companies develop a clearer idea of the abilities and compensation necessary for various jobs on the totem pole.
At the moment, being part of the space is an ongoing education–conferences, workshops, events, networking–as the medium is constantly evolving. “My advice is to become a sponge,” says Henderson. “I think your worth is based on how much you keep up because it’s easy to very quickly fall behind.”
“Every time a new technology is developed, more jobs will follow,” says Cramer. Canada, with its relatively healthy economy, is also attracting interest from companies around the globe that want to open shop here. “There are not a lot of markets growing at the pace we’re growing at,” says Cramer. “The next 12 months will be very exciting. We’re anticipating good growth and a lot more opportunities in digital.”
