Where freelance PR & Marketing workers are in demand, and why

It’s often said that whatever the budget of your business, PR and Marketing will take one of the biggest slices of the pie. And that’s because its integral to the success or failure of any company, writes Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder and CEO of PeoplePerHour.

And in this, I speak from experience. Because you can have the best, most exceptional, most needed product or service in the world, but no one will ever buy it if they don’t know that it’s there. But the thing with marketing especially, is that demands, and expectations are forever changing.

So a bit like we’ve said if you’re freelancing in the Digital sector, and at odds with the slower trend fluctuation of freelance Photography and Editorial freelancing, it’s a case of snooze and you lose.

The maturing rise of social

Twenty years ago, Twitter, and even social media more generally, wasn’t even a thing. Today, social media commands a significant portion of every (savvy) company’s marketing ‘Action Plan.’ While Facebook’s 2.23 billion monthly active users make sure that it remains the most popular platform for PR and Marketing for now, Instagram is slowly creeping up. And freelance marketers who specialise in Instagram ‘Influencer’ Product Placement can now command £30 per hour. The demand for their skills has increased by hefty 76% in the last year. And seems unlikely to slow.

An area that hasn’t seen any significant rise in demand but remains one of the most sought-after freelance services in Public Relations (PR) and Marketing, is SEO Management. Google is essentially the internet’s King. It can indirectly influence the success or failure of any business, making the battle to be on page one of any keyword search result, fiercely (fiercely!) fought. Freelancers are benefitting from this, with a typical pay rate of £60 per hour – almost £50 more than the national average. So it’s not to be sniffed at!

Above-the-line is rebooting, not retreating

Perhaps surprisingly, with the current focus on online publicity so sharp, above-the-line marketing seems to be experiencing a reboot. After something of a lull, an increasing number of businesses are adding the wider remit of television and radio campaigns to their marketing schedule, in addition to the more targeted social media options.

This means that the potentially 'old skool' Marketing & PR specialisms which many of the more 'senior' practitioners had perhaps written off as redundant are once again finding a market.

In-demand (and out)

And people working in this resurgent field are currently earning £50 per hour – a rate that is increasing in line with demand.

Sadly, for those specialising in Print PR, the other traditional marketing areas are not experiencing the same surge in demand.

Although freelancers in the field are still able to ask for a very healthy £60 per hour, the number of jobs open to them is steadily decreasing. With the readership of physical newspapers in steady decline, and SEO rankings becoming ever-more crucial, this is at least one PR & Marketing trend which is unlikely to change.

Editor's Note: Read more about finding freelancers here.