Marketing has always been a function with a high percentage of freelance and consulting resources. Both marketing/advertising agencies and big brands have leveraged “on demand talent” to execute on their strategies and campaigns. The dependency on freelance and small/boutique consulting firms is likely to increase as a major ongoing trend in B2C and B2B marketing is the movement of functions that were historically performed by external marketing and advertising agencies back to” in house delivery models.” It’s a shift ripe for a job board marketplace that is more than just a match of projects and available resources, but a provider of available talent with “vetted skills” for employers, and a pipeline of qualified and well-defined projects for freelancers/agencies. This is the space Canada’s Communo fills.
It’s the latest job board marketplace shining the light on how job boards can leverage specialization, value added services to both sides of the marketplace, and a commitment to community to gain early traction and funding.
Given the trend of bringing the work “in house,” it’s an area where Communo and other services like it won’t be able to limit marketing and sales to marketing leaders, but will also have to sell to and/or comply with Purchasing/procurement, HR, and finance, especially when working with bigger brands. Communo faces stiff competition from freelance marketplaces like Upwork and job/career sites like LinkedIn, both of which are investing heavily in product and go-to-market.
Keep an eye on this category. More on the trends and opportunities for job boards can be found in the 2019 Global HR Tech Lookback.
Source: Calgary-based Communo raises $3.3 M in funding – Calgary’s Business