I have read multiple articles in recent weeks about the difficulty in finding strong media talent in the online, specifically search, marketing space. These articles are primarily written by traditional marketing vets, who are deeply rooted in online marketing and have grown up with the medium from it’s very infancy. One thing that is rarely mentioned is that the industry is currently in a perpetual state of evolution and that even the industry “experts” are learning new approaches and techniques on a daily basis. The marketing talent has not miraculously disappeared. It has just not yet been discovered.

There is no doubt that the changes in the online marketing industry will eventually stabilize and the “talent” will re-emerge. In the interim, the responsibility falls on the plate of the leaders in the industry to identify and capitalize on the traits and skills that are best suited for this emerging market.

It is far too easy to pass the buck and say that the problem lies in the pool of available talent. Truthfully, the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the leaders in online marketing to realizes and develop the existing potential to establish this medium to play on the same par as those marketing media that have had the time to mature.