Don't Panic. Just Lead.

At MPDailyFix, Beth Harte related a story about how a friend of hers, who is a senior-level marketer, was offered employment with junior-level pay. She goes on to explain some of the reasons this is happening and why she believes it will become more commonplace if marketers don't show their value. She's right. But if I can add my own perspective here, the problem Beth identifies can be understood economically and solved in the same terms.

Unemployment means there are too many people for too few jobs. In other words, there is a surplus of labor.

Surpluses tend to drive down prices.

The price of labor is measured in wages. Thus, when there is a labor surplus in any industry (like marketing), it tends to depress the wages of the people in that industry.

This is especially true when the hiring manager believes it doesn't matter from which part of the labor pool he chooses. One person is just as good as another -- or in Beth's words -- a commodity.

Being good -- being great -- these things don't matter unless we distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack. It is the perception of our expertise and effectiveness that will enable us to demand higher wages.

Actual expertise can help drive perceived expertise, but it does not guarantee it. Now, more than ever, a marketer must be both good and an excellent self-promoter.

Doing this effectively is about all the things Beth mentioned. Among them:

• Be a leader.
• Measure.
• Document.
• Foster and nurture relationships.
• Continuously improve.

However, this effort shouldn't resemble a campaign -- which is temporary and smacks of insincerity. In order to assure others of our value, we must first strive to be valuable. We must both improve the product and promote the improvement.

Luckily, in our cases, the act of successfully promoting the improvement, in some ways, actually helps to improve the product -- especially when we're willing to make mistakes and learn from them.

Instead of curse the conditions that led to this difficulty, we must embrace it as an opportunity to revolutionize the way we practice marketing. And we can apply to our clients the wisdom we gained from the experience of practicing it on ourselves.

I'm afraid that this won't guarantee a happy ending for everyone -- even a lot of the good ones. However, being a jack of all trades (and more importantly, being the sort of person who can adapt to changing circumstances) all but promises that we'll find someplace to be of use. - Cam Beck

Comments

[Beth Harte]

A great post Cam! Basic economics are at play here (and it's not the first time). I get that, but what I'd like to ask the Magic 8 Ball is if we all settle for less than our value (perceived or not), where will we be in 2-3 years from now? Continually striving to earn back that value (i.e. salary)? Perhaps it's an overall correction? Were marketers overvalued all along? I don't have the answers, that's for sure.

It's rough out there for marketers...even for those who do stand out from the pack. I think one of the reason's is exactly the point you mention:

"This is especially true when the hiring manager believes it doesn't matter from which part of the labor pool he chooses. One person is just as good as another..."

That, to me, is an indication of hiring managers not know what qualifies a marketer to be a good one...the lack of a benchmark perhaps? Or, again, is it perception? I could be a crappy marketer, but believe I am the best and I sell a company on it...Or, I could be a great marketer, but just not great at self-promotion and I appear weak.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next year.

Thanks again for the insights Cam!

[Jay Ehret]

Brian Tracy once asked (he's not the first) "Who creates high-paying jobs anyway?" The marketing firm? The government? The answer: people create high-paying jobs by being worth the salary they want.

When a company hires Person A for a salary of $80,000, they need a return on that investment of greater than $80,000. If you apply for that $80k job, you should be able to prove that you create value that is worth more than $80k. Your value as a potential employee has nothing to do with how many awards you've won or degrees you've earned.

[Cam Beck]

Beth - As long as the market is allowed to adjust as it should (i.e., no government intervention), prices and supply will reach a natural equilibrium. Talented folks who can make more money in different ways may decide to do so, and the people who are willing to work for less (and who may or may not be as talented) will jump on it.

The real opportunity is for the marketing zealots and the enterprising individuals who are dedicated to the things you wrote about. As they demonstrate their value, they will be able to fetch a higher salary.

Assuming a competitive market, those who hire the mediocre will (again, barring government intervention) witness their market share evaporate.

[Cam Beck]

Jay - It's true that people should be able to prove that they're worth the money they command, but what do people look at as evidence that they're worth that kind of money?

1. Experience
2. Degree
3. Awards

And I'm not sure what the order typically is, in this industry (though I'm sure there are all types).

Certainly after the hiring, the person has a certain amount of time to prove value, but before the fact it's just difficult, because it's hard to predict how and how much anyone will be able to contribute productively to an enterprise in a constantly changing environment.

[sarahmontague.wordpress.com]

I was very happy to find this post on MarketingProfs. Laws of supply/demand do fit and it is truly a buyer's market.

I am seeing this "underemployment" issue in my market. Some take lower salaries with agreement to revisit all terms of employment in 3 - 6 months. A trend I see is that there are opportunities in smaller companies, but smaller companies tend to pay lower salaries and don't necessarily have the same perks (benefits,stock options/lifestyle) that they did a few years ago.

I've actually heard a small business owner say, "Well, I am not meeting her salary demands. She's lucky she is finding this job in a recession."

I loved your list and think that now more than ever it is essential to document what you contribute. Marketing personnel need to make sure they are continuously informing managers of what they are contributing. Don't assume everyone knows about that great deal you just struck or that you just saved the company a ton of money.

[Lew]

Cam,

I wonder if supply and demand is at work here, in spite of the economy. Today, I read that 600,000 jobs were created last month, while 630,000 were eliminated. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but there seem to be plenty of jobs, but perhaps not in the fields we want to work. More than supply and demand, job openings are shifting.

That said, marketing jobs have always been viewed as a piece of discretionary spending. So when industries shift dollars, marketers are less valued. Although I agree that everyone needs to demonstrate their worth when seeking work, not sure that's going to help marketers much until businesses revenues begin a regular upswing once again.

[Cam Beck]

Thank you, Sarah. The beauty of freedom is that people are free to accept or reject any offer, based on individual needs at any given moment -- whatever they are (after all, some people might prefer to work at a small business environment and would be willing to make sacrifices in pay to do so).

I don't care what anyone says... every person is in sales. Every. Single. One. Marketers more than others.

Your suggestion to "revisit" their pay in 3-6 months reminded me of that. To pull it off takes negotiation and definitions... "Sure, Bob. Let's revisit my pay in 3-6 months, but in return for my accepting a lower salary now, let's talk about how my performance will be evaluated and how I'll be compensated by exceeding my success metrics."

[Cam Beck]

Hey, Lewis - Supply and Demand are always at work. It's not just a good idea, it's the law. :)

That's not to say that in a free market people always demand what will best benefit them, but history has shown us that it has a better record than any other system.

Like I mentioned to Sarah, high-value marketers might find it useful to construct clauses that reward success. The key there is to ensure you're measuring the right things, which is what they're going to have to do as part of their jobs anyway, for the business.