Table of Contents
[toc headings="h2" title="Table of Contents"] The job market in the San Francisco Bay Area is booming. The more than 10,000 jobs added in May 2023 pushed the region to a critical milestone, exceeding pre-pandemic employment figures for the first time. While this is good news for the overall economy of northern California, it can also present a challenge for companies hiring employees in the city. Working with a recruiter is one reliable way to find and hire the right professionals faster in this kind of competitive employment landscape. If you need help filling opportunities in your company, the recruiting firms below can serve as your partner to get the job done.
The Top 5 Digital Marketing Recruiters in San Francisco
1. Nexus IT Group
"Quality through understanding" is the tagline of Nexus IT Group, and that's an apt description of the value they bring to clients. They're a performance-driven staffing agency built for efficiency and speed, with 81% of the successful candidates they place submitted within one week of starting the search. They deliver high-quality talent, too, and 96% of the candidates they place are still employed by the client company after a year. They can bring this combination of speed and hiring expertise to any digital marketing role that you need to hire, from e-commerce developers and search engine optimization experts to leadership roles like Director of Marketing or executive positions. Add in their nationwide network of talent and it's easy to see why they're the go-to digital marketing recruitment agency for companies across the United States.
2. Accur Recruiting Services
Founded in Miami in 2006, Accur Recruiting has quickly grown a broad international presence, giving them the ability to find the best candidates from around the world. San Francisco is one of their main offices, and they also have locations in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and dozens of other cities across the US. This broad reach is just one source of their recruiting success. Both their contingent and retained executive search services use a strategy customized to your business needs that starts with gaining an in-depth understanding of the client's company and the skills they're looking for in a role. They can bring their expertise to any job in the digital marketing world, whether you need content marketing experts, search engine marketing and SEO professionals, or executives and leaders to take charge of your whole digital marketing team.
3. Method Recruiting
The recruiters at Method Recruiting are experts in the digital marketing sector, with a tight focus on growth marketing and brand management talent. They provide their clients with a boutique recruiting experience although they do still have a national reach, with offices in cities like Chicago, Boston, and Denver as well as in the Bay Area. This means businesses that work with Method get the best of both worlds: the personal touch and hands-on expertise of a small firm, as well as the broad candidate network and reach of a large agency. Their focus on relationships and the human side of recruitment sets them apart from other firms and enables them to source marketing professionals whose knowledge and experiences are perfectly aligned with your company's vision and goals.
4. Betts Recruiting
The mission of Betts Recruiting is to connect exceptional marketers with companies that are driving innovation around the world. They're an ideal partner for tech companies that need to grow their online marketing, social media marketing, or customer acquisition teams, and have helped more than 30 unicorn startups develop their hiring strategies and grow their brands. In addition to their location right in Silicon Valley, they also have offices in New York, Chicago, Austin, and Los Angeles, expanding their reach so they can find the right people for your role quickly. Their strategic hiring approach uses proprietary data and draws on their expertise across technology-related industries to help organizations find targeted hiring solutions. Whether your organization wants to improve its DE&I or needs in-demand or niche marketing staffing, Betts is among the top agencies to deliver results.
5. Bernhart Associates
If you need executive search services in the marketing industry, Bernhart Associates is a recruiter that should be on your radar. They have more than 35 years of experience recruiting ecommerce, B2B, and digital marketing professionals, and that expertise is at the heart of their success. Their team includes specialists in areas like UI/UX, affiliate marketing, and online sales, allowing them to source highly-qualified niche and executive-level talent. This depth of knowledge is how they don't just meet but exceed client expectations and their success rate speaks for itself, with 97% of their placed clients still in the role after 2 years. Nearly 20% of the Fortune 2000 trusts Bernhart as their external recruitment partner when they have open opportunities, further proof of their high client satisfaction.
What do recruiting services cost in San Francisco?
Most recruiting firms work on a contingency basis. Rather than charging a flat fee, their payment is based on a percentage of the successful hire's first-year salary, typically around 10-30%. Based on the current average salary of a digital marketer in San Francisco (around $86,600 per year), most companies should expect to spend around $8,660-$25,980 for each role filled. Retained search is the other common pay structure used by marketing recruiting agencies. With a retained search service, the recruiter is paid a flat monthly fee for the duration of the search. This model is most common for executive searches, though it may also be used to fill in-demand roles, niche positions, or other hard-to-fill opportunities. While the costs of retained search are typically higher than with contingent recruitment, this comes with exclusivity and confidentiality that are worth the expense for critical roles.
Benefits of working with a digital marketing recruiter
When you see the costs of recruitment services, you might wonder: why pay that kind of premium for something you could do in-house? The truth is, there are a range of benefits that come from using an external search firm, some of which may surprise you. Let's look at some of the most common ones.
Lower total recruitment costs
In-house recruitment may seem to cost less at first glance, but this can often be deceptive. The cost to hire a new employee can range from $4,000 to $20,000 or more depending on the job type, the industry, and the length of the search. Those costs tend to be on the higher side in a tight labor market, when simply finding qualified candidates can take a lot of research and active outreach.
Faster time to hire
Some employers maintain talent pipelines but most start from scratch when they begin the hiring process. In-house HR teams also have other things on their plate and can't devote their full time and attention to recruitment. Marketing recruiters only focus on finding talent. They do the legwork in advance to build relationships with skilled and experienced marketing professionals, giving them a head start on a new search. Because of this, they can often deliver potential candidates to clients within 1-2 weeks.
Access to hidden talent pools
The best professionals aren't necessarily the ones who are actively looking for a job. Some of a recruiter's existing network and relationships are passive candidates who are open to new opportunities but won't be found on job marketplaces like Indeed. This can be especially beneficial for filling in-demand or niche roles.
Knowledge and expertise
Marketing staffing firms work with a wide range of digital marketing agencies and companies across industries that hire marketing professionals. They are experts in how to find candidates who are an ideal fit, not just for the skills of the role, but for the culture of the company. They also have deeper insights into the hiring landscape and industry trends that they can share with clients, helping them better identify the right employees for their team.
Choosing the right digital marketing recruiter in San Francisco
You'll get those benefits mentioned above from any established recruiting agency--but that doesn't necessarily mean every agency is the right fit for your company. Recruiting is all about relationships, and that should be your main focus when you're searching for an agency. A great way to start your research is to read reviews and testimonials from past clients. Pay particular attention to clients whose searches were similar to your own to get a sense of whether the firm is the right fit for your specific needs. Also evaluate the firm's history, including the types of projects they've completed successfully and their experience hiring in your industry and niche. Once you have a short list of potential recruiters, call your top choices to set up a consultation. Having a conversation with the recruiter can give you valuable insights into their communication style and whether you'll work together effectively on your search. A bit of due diligence before you hire a recruitment agency can ensure you enjoy the full benefits of that relationship.
The job market in the San Francisco Bay Area is booming. The more than 10,000 jobs added in May 2023 pushed the region to a critical milestone, exceeding pre-pandemic employment figures for the first time.
While this is good news for the overall economy of northern California, it can also present a challenge for companies hiring employees in the city. Working with a recruiter is one reliable way to find and hire the right professionals faster in this kind of competitive employment landscape. If you need help filling opportunities in your company, the recruiting firms below can serve as your partner to get the job done.
The Top 5 Digital Marketing Recruiters in San Francisco
1. Nexus IT Group
“Quality through understanding” is the tagline of Nexus IT Group, and that’s an apt description of the value they bring to clients. They’re a performance-driven staffing agency built for efficiency and speed, with 81% of the successful candidates they place submitted within one week of starting the search. They deliver high-quality talent, too, and 96% of the candidates they place are still employed by the client company after a year. They can bring this combination of speed and hiring expertise to any digital marketing role that you need to hire, from e-commerce developers and search engine optimization experts to leadership roles like Director of Marketing or executive positions. Add in their nationwide network of talent and it’s easy to see why they’re the go-to digital marketing recruitment agency for companies across the United States.
2. Accur Recruiting Services
Founded in Miami in 2006, Accur Recruiting has quickly grown a broad international presence, giving them the ability to find the best candidates from around the world. San Francisco is one of their main offices, and they also have locations in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and dozens of other cities across the US. This broad reach is just one source of their recruiting success. Both their contingent and retained executive search services use a strategy customized to your business needs that starts with gaining an in-depth understanding of the client’s company and the skills they’re looking for in a role. They can bring their expertise to any job in the digital marketing world, whether you need content marketing experts, search engine marketing and SEO professionals, or executives and leaders to take charge of your whole digital marketing team.
3. Method Recruiting
The recruiters at Method Recruiting are experts in the digital marketing sector, with a tight focus on growth marketing and brand management talent. They provide their clients with a boutique recruiting experience although they do still have a national reach, with offices in cities like Chicago, Boston, and Denver as well as in the Bay Area. This means businesses that work with Method get the best of both worlds: the personal touch and hands-on expertise of a small firm, as well as the broad candidate network and reach of a large agency. Their focus on relationships and the human side of recruitment sets them apart from other firms and enables them to source marketing professionals whose knowledge and experiences are perfectly aligned with your company’s vision and goals.
4. Betts Recruiting
The mission of Betts Recruiting is to connect exceptional marketers with companies that are driving innovation around the world. They’re an ideal partner for tech companies that need to grow their online marketing, social media marketing, or customer acquisition teams, and have helped more than 30 unicorn startups develop their hiring strategies and grow their brands. In addition to their location right in Silicon Valley, they also have offices in New York, Chicago, Austin, and Los Angeles, expanding their reach so they can find the right people for your role quickly. Their strategic hiring approach uses proprietary data and draws on their expertise across technology-related industries to help organizations find targeted hiring solutions. Whether your organization wants to improve its DE&I or needs in-demand or niche marketing staffing, Betts is among the top agencies to deliver results.
5. Bernhart Associates
If you need executive search services in the marketing industry, Bernhart Associates is a recruiter that should be on your radar. They have more than 35 years of experience recruiting ecommerce, B2B, and digital marketing professionals, and that expertise is at the heart of their success. Their team includes specialists in areas like UI/UX, affiliate marketing, and online sales, allowing them to source highly-qualified niche and executive-level talent. This depth of knowledge is how they don’t just meet but exceed client expectations and their success rate speaks for itself, with 97% of their placed clients still in the role after 2 years. Nearly 20% of the Fortune 2000 trusts Bernhart as their external recruitment partner when they have open opportunities, further proof of their high client satisfaction.
What do recruiting services cost in San Francisco?
Most recruiting firms work on a contingency basis. Rather than charging a flat fee, their payment is based on a percentage of the successful hire’s first-year salary, typically around 10-30%. Based on the current average salary of a digital marketer in San Francisco (around $86,600 per year), most companies should expect to spend around $8,660-$25,980 for each role filled.
Retained search is the other common pay structure used by marketing recruiting agencies. With a retained search service, the recruiter is paid a flat monthly fee for the duration of the search. This model is most common for executive searches, though it may also be used to fill in-demand roles, niche positions, or other hard-to-fill opportunities. While the costs of retained search are typically higher than with contingent recruitment, this comes with exclusivity and confidentiality that are worth the expense for critical roles.
Benefits of working with a digital marketing recruiter
When you see the costs of recruitment services, you might wonder: why pay that kind of premium for something you could do in-house? The truth is, there are a range of benefits that come from using an external search firm, some of which may surprise you. Let’s look at some of the most common ones.
Lower total recruitment costs
In-house recruitment may seem to cost less at first glance, but this can often be deceptive. The cost to hire a new employee can range from $4,000 to $20,000 or more depending on the job type, the industry, and the length of the search. Those costs tend to be on the higher side in a tight labor market, when simply finding qualified candidates can take a lot of research and active outreach.
Faster time to hire
Some employers maintain talent pipelines but most start from scratch when they begin the hiring process. In-house HR teams also have other things on their plate and can’t devote their full time and attention to recruitment. Marketing recruiters only focus on finding talent. They do the legwork in advance to build relationships with skilled and experienced marketing professionals, giving them a head start on a new search. Because of this, they can often deliver potential candidates to clients within 1-2 weeks.
Access to hidden talent pools
The best professionals aren’t necessarily the ones who are actively looking for a job. Some of a recruiter’s existing network and relationships are passive candidates who are open to new opportunities but won’t be found on job marketplaces like Indeed. This can be especially beneficial for filling in-demand or niche roles.
Knowledge and expertise
Marketing staffing firms work with a wide range of digital marketing agencies and companies across industries that hire marketing professionals. They are experts in how to find candidates who are an ideal fit, not just for the skills of the role, but for the culture of the company. They also have deeper insights into the hiring landscape and industry trends that they can share with clients, helping them better identify the right employees for their team.
Choosing the right digital marketing recruiter in San Francisco
You’ll get those benefits mentioned above from any established recruiting agency–but that doesn’t necessarily mean every agency is the right fit for your company. Recruiting is all about relationships, and that should be your main focus when you’re searching for an agency.
A great way to start your research is to read reviews and testimonials from past clients. Pay particular attention to clients whose searches were similar to your own to get a sense of whether the firm is the right fit for your specific needs. Also evaluate the firm’s history, including the types of projects they’ve completed successfully and their experience hiring in your industry and niche.
Once you have a short list of potential recruiters, call your top choices to set up a consultation. Having a conversation with the recruiter can give you valuable insights into their communication style and whether you’ll work together effectively on your search. A bit of due diligence before you hire a recruitment agency can ensure you enjoy the full benefits of that relationship.