How to Find and Hire Creative Talent in a Competitive Landscape
By Marta Gongos Around 75% of employers have difficulty finding skilled talent—and this problem is often magnified when filling marketing roles. Every employer seeks marketing unicorns, but many don’t understand how or where to find them.
Often, businesses spend months trying to hire creative talent, only to settle for candidates who don’t fully meet their needs. The result? High turnover, lower productivity, and often a severe lack of the creativity the role requires.
In an increasingly competitive market, these scenarios lead to negative business outcomes and unnecessary costs. This article dives into the most effective recruitment strategies to help you find marketing unicorns who will drive your business forward.
Partner with a Specialized Recruitment Agency
Even if you know the exact type of marketer you want, it’s easy to miss crucial details in the hiring process when you’re not a recruitment expert. You might overlook red flags in portfolios or miss key technical questions during interviews. You’re better off spending your time running your business!
Working with specialized recruitment agencies to hire creative talent is a good solution. They help reduce your time-to-hire while ensuring better candidate quality with:
- Exclusive focus on marketing and advertising roles
- Extensive networks of pre-vetted candidates (including passive candidates)
- Solid understanding of what it takes to thrive in marketing roles
- Direct insights into industry trends and salary benchmarks
- Effective recruitment strategies tailored to creative roles
→Learn more: How Do Recruitment Agencies Work?
Cast a Wider Recruitment Net
The most innovative marketers often come from unexpected places. If you can’t hire creative talent in your traditional candidate pools, it’s time to expand your search.
Don’t limit your criteria to marketing degrees or agency experience. Talent shortages mean these people are often already employed or not actively looking for new opportunities. Instead, consider potential candidates from diverse backgrounds, industries, and age groups.
Similarly, don’t limit your job postings to LinkedIn, Indeed, or Monster. You’ll be surprised to learn how many marketing unicorns you can find through:
- Facebook and Instagram
- X and Threads
- Industry-specific job boards
- Professional marketing associations
- Networking events
- Employee referrals
- Portfolio websites (e.g., Behance, Clippings, etc)
Pro Tip: We’ve seen some of the most creative marketing minds come from self-taught professionals or career-changers, so they’re worth considering. Just use reliable skill assessment tools to understand their expertise and adaptability.
Write Clear and Compelling Job Posts
Generic job descriptions are the fastest way to attract generic candidates. Marketing unicorns are picky—they want to know exactly what to expect and how they’ll make an impact in your organization. If your job descriptions don’t paint a vivid picture of what the role entails (day-to-day tasks, growth potential, salary expectations, etc) you’re likely turning away qualified candidates who might otherwise be a perfect fit.
Remember, the job description is your chance to sell your company and create a strong first impression. Make it count!
→Learn more: How to Write a Job Description
Work on Employer Branding
Your company’s reputation plays a huge role in how to hire and retain top talent in a competitive market. It communicates:
- what your brand stands for,
- what it’s like to work with you, and
- how you support your employees.
The stronger the employer’s brand, the easier it is to attract talent. Companies that ace their branding see up to a 43% reduction in hiring costs. This is because they don’t need to spend money finding job seekers, they come knocking on their own.
Make Attractive Offers
Employer branding goes hand in hand with your employer value proposition (EVP)—the promises and offers you give to employees. A compelling EVP highlights why candidates should choose your company over others and why current employees stay.
It’s not just about competitive compensation, either. True unicorns know what they’re worth, and their value allows them to be selective. To hire creative talent, you need to offer something unique and desirable. Consider:
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→Learn more: Why Is Total Compensation Important to Recruiting and Retaining Employees?
Use Data-Driven Recruitment Strategies
Marketing and recruitment speak the same language: data. Just as marketers use analytics to refine campaigns and target audiences, recruiters can harness data to streamline the recruitment process and attract top-tier talent.
In a competitive landscape, data-driven recruitment strategies sharpen your competitive edge by helping you identify top talent, optimize job postings and candidate pools, predict future hiring needs, and reduce recruitment bias.
Create a Positive Candidate Experience
If you want to hire creative talent in a competitive landscape, aim to impress. The recruitment process is your chance to screen and test candidates, but this goes both ways. Potential hires will also be judging whether they want to work with you.
Showcase your company values and professionalism by:
- Responding promptly to applications
- Providing clear communication throughout the process
- Offering constructive feedback to candidates who aren’t selected
- Personalizing the experience
- Being transparent about the role, expectations, and company culture
- Creating a welcoming and positive environment during interviews and assessments
→Learn More: The Ultimate Guide to Employee Experience
Find and Hire Marketing Unicorns with Ad Culture
Stay ahead of the competition by working with recruitment experts who can spot a marketing unicorn a mile away. Ad Culture brings insider marketing expertise to your talent search—we know the right questions to ask because we’ve done the job ourselves.
We help businesses find and hire creative talent with the right skills, experience, and culture fit. Our team screens, tests, and interviews candidates so you only meet potential candidates who can elevate your business.
With Ad Culture, you can win the talent war without lifting a finger. Contact us today to start your search!
