The UK’s largest search engine marketing agency has decided to shun traditional recruitment paths and actively target client-side marketers.
Search Laboratory, who boasts ASOS, VisitBritain and Vistaprint among its clients, is rapidly expanding and has taken on over 70 new staff in the past 10 months.
The SEO and PPC specialist is currently recruiting for no less than three SEO account managers, but rather than take the usual path of seeking fellow agency-side candidates, Search Laboratory is casting their gaze client-side instead.
The jump from agency to in-house is traditionally considered a one-way street for marketers. Search Laboratory is reversing this trend following several months of continuous recruitment, during which time it became clear that candidates with in-house experience were more suited to manage the agency’s enterprise clients’ global campaigns.
Search Laboratory’s Commercial Director, John Readman said: “We feel that too many agencies are set in their ways when it comes to recruitment and by having a pre-disposition for candidates with only agency experiences they are missing out on a massive talent pool.
“Marketers coming from an in-house department background make, in our experience, brilliant account managers.
“They appreciate how all aspects of a business work and know how clients perceive agencies – a lavish cost or a valuable extension – and this helps with understanding the pressures marketing and ecommerce departments are under and therefore how important an account manager’s decisions are.”
