Recruitment process consulting for Digital Marketing Agencies: hiring specialists for the retainers you sold
A digital agency hires against the retainers it has signed, and a wrong hire shows up as a missed report or a nervous client. The process should test the skill the work needs, not the confidence of an interview.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy recruitment process consulting matters in digital marketing agencies
Most agencies hire in a hurry. A client signs, the paid media lead says the team is full, and someone is found within two weeks from a referral or a job portal. The person is interviewed by whoever is free, and the questions drift to past brands and tools. Three months later the new hire cannot read a campaign account properly, and a more senior person is quietly redoing the work.
A better process starts with what the retainer needs. A paid social executive who will run budgets needs different proof from a content writer who will write for a regulated brand. Write that down, give each applicant a short task from real work with names changed, and score every applicant the same way. Hiring then stops depending on who happened to be in the room.
How to set it up
1. Write a scorecard for each seat
List four or five things the role must do in the first ninety days, such as run weekly bid changes or produce four long articles a month. Add the tools and the client types. This is what the interview and the task test.
2. Set a paid test task from real work
Give a two-hour task using a sample account or brief, with the data cleaned of client names. Pay for longer tasks. Score it with the same sheet for every applicant.
3. Interview in two short rounds
One round with the hiring lead on craft, one with an account manager on how they would handle a client who wants more for the same fee. Both use the scorecard.
4. Open a route from freelancer to hire
Track freelancers who do well on your briefs and offer them the first look at full-time roles. Use role design to show what changes in the job.
5. Plan the first ninety days
Name the buddy, the first accounts and the review dates before the joining date. The hire should know what success looks like in week one.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Count how many of your last ten hires were still with you after a year and what they had in common.
- Check whether the last three interviews used the same questions.
- List the skills your next two retainers need and who currently has them.
- See how many hires came from referrals and how many of those stayed.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach recruitment process consulting in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Yes for craft roles, if it is short and relevant. Keep it to a couple of hours, pay for longer work and use the same task for everyone so the scores can be compared.
Ask a trusted outside specialist to review the task output, or use a freelancer who knows the platform. Score against the scorecard, not on how confident the applicant sounds.
They are often fast and give a good fit, but they narrow your pool. Use them alongside open posts, and judge referrals on the same scorecard as everyone else.