Software Development skills soar in demand

Software Development bounces back this month

Demand from top brands for software development skills has risen dramatically in October, our latest data has shown.
StudioSpace is an agency/client matchmaking platform, monitoring real-time briefs we receive from chief marketing officers (CMOs) and brand owners. This information gives us a unique perspective on what’s hot and what’s not each month – data which is then distilled into our monthly Marketer’s Most Wanted report.

This month Software Development has firmly slotted itself into second place on our table, a sharp rise from its fifth place position back in September. It currently represents 10.8% of our briefing total, more than 3% higher than last month.

”This time last year this category struggled to find itself in the top half of the table, so it’s certainly interesting to see the demand change,” said our CEO Pete Sayburn.

Projects in this category have largely been website development-oriented, specifically for mid-size companies.

You can find our full list of Software Development agencies here.

Social & Content sees its lowest share of briefs in 2024, whilst Creative & Production also suffers losses.
Despite its ninth month running in first place, Social & Content’s volume share has decreased significantly in October, now making up 12.2% of our total.

Since peaking at 21.1% in June this year, this category dropped to 17.9% of the total volume share in July, and this downward trend has continued steadily since.

Creative & Production, like Social & Content, peaked this summer, comfortably retaining second place with an average of 10.5% share. But this month, its first slip to third place since June, it now represents 8.8%.

“We labeled Summer 2024 as the ‘Summer of Creativity’, but as the weather gets progressively colder, we’re left wondering how much longer these two will be able to retain their leading positions,” noted Pete.

Research & Insight also sees a drop in volume this month after a positive September
Research & Insight remains neck and neck with Creative & Production this month, also making up 8.8% of total briefs and returning to its usual fourth place position.

Last month we had a big surge in demand for this category, and also indication of investment in future growth. This demand has been split across both qualitative and quantitative research, with lots of projects focused on testing new concepts and features.

“This is a combination of B2B and B2C audiences, with some hard-to-recruit audiences keeping our agencies on their toes,” added Sayburn. “It’ll be interesting to see whether this category continues to grow or whether September was an anomaly.”

Digital Marketing rises up the ranks
There’s been a big rise in demand for digital marketing skills this month, which in October has made up 8.8% of our briefing total. This category has been hovering at the bottom half of the table after re-entering the charts back in March, and now sits in fifth place - its highest ever position.

Demand has been for both strategy and big digital campaigns from a variety of brands, plus extensions to existing projects.

Proposition Design and UX/UI Design lose out in October
Having risen up the ranks last month, Proposition Design relinquishes two places, moving down from fourth to sixth this month. Its volume remains relatively flat with a 0.2% volume loss. Interestingly, this category roared up the table last month from ninth place, driven by an increasing demand from brands to explore new offerings and territories.

UX/UI Design has also dropped down the table this month, 1% down on volume share to now make up 6.8% of October’s total. The downwards progression of this category has been particularly interesting considering it was 2023’s overall best-performing category in terms of both volume and value. After its initial fall in June from second to sixth, it has never fully recovered, and now remains a middle-of-the-table competitor. However, we continue to see demand in this category primarily for retained design resource and other specific projects.

SEO & PPC, Brand Strategy and PR & Comms retain their positions
Our SEO & PPC category has seen no change in its position this month and remains tied with UX/UI Design. This category has proved extremely volatile this year, moving up and down almost every month.

Brand Strategy suffered a big drop in the table last month, this month holding on to its ninth place position, despite further volume loss of 0.4%. Like SEO & PPC, this is a serial mover on the charts. “Perhaps this category will pick up again in the New Year,” wondered Pete. “It will be interesting to see if brands choose to reinvest in this area or if they will turn their focus to other projects and categories.”

PR & Comms rejoined the table in September after having dropped out of the top ten back in March. This month it has stayed in tenth place, making up 4.1% of volume share. This category is a traditional marketing category, with projects including podcasts, Press Office retainers, and larger campaigns.

Conclusion

“Overall it’s been great to see a real spread in the volume share this month, with less than 10% difference between our top and bottom performers - especially considering we saw an over 15% difference this summer,” concluded Pete. “This spread is causing the big leaders to lose their established footing as other categories have gained traction towards the end of the year.”

Next month we’ll be hosting our highly popular ‘2024 Lookback and 2025 Predictions’ event, where we’ll be taking a years’ worth of Marketers’ Most Wanted data and observing trends to predict what’s going to be popular next year. It seems already that there’ll be a significant difference between the 2023 and 2024 results, and we can’t wait to see the full data.

If you’re interested in attending the event, or have any questions regarding this month’s report, please email us at hello@studiospace.com and one of our team members will be happy to help.

StudioSpace Project Highlights This Month

• D2C illustrations for a specialist financial services group focusing on attractive segments of the retirement income market.
• Retail strategy design for a financial services provider, offering life insurance, pensions, retirement and investment services.
• AI automations for a data collection platform that enables data-driven decision making.
• Website build and SEO for a global technology company in EdTech.
• Performance marketing campaign for a leading workflow compliance provider.

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About StudioSpace
StudioSpace is a matchmaking platform for senior marketers looking to hire agencies. Its clients include major brands such as Google, Jaguar Land Rover and Aviva. It was founded in January 2022 by Pete Sayburn, Gideon Hyde, Robin Scarborough, Paul Bowman and Phil Kohler.

About Marketers Most Wanted
The Marketers Most Wanted report is a regular snapshot of actual agency briefs posted on the StudioSpace platform by brand owners and chief marketing officers from 50 blue chip companies to over 350 creative, digital and marketing agencies.