Southeast Asia has emerged as a hub for innovation and technological transformation. This region is known for having the world's largest cutting-edge talent ecosystem and a diverse talent pool. Manufacturing, retail, transportation, and telecommunications have seen the most rapid growth of any industry. The region has also seen a surge in startup activity as it has given rise to approximately 50 unicorns in the region, as well as a number of decacorns — startups worth US$10 billion or more — demonstrating that the region is progressing toward digitalisation and more advanced omnichannel marketing technologies

Observing current marketing activities, 56% of marketers believe their marketing approaches are incapable of keeping up with the ongoing evolution of marketing technology. While technological advancements should theoretically result in a more manageable workload, many in-house marketers continue to struggle to be jacks-of-all-trades.

Every new channel, marketing tech tool, or marketing tactic needs a specialist to navigate those new approaches. Getting started, strategising, creating content, and launching digital campaigns can be time-consuming, requiring advanced planning and knowledge — this is where marketing giggers come in.

Executives across the region are turning to giggers to help them unlock their potential by solving complex problems in the digital age, completing projects faster and boosting innovation. The following are main reasons why more businesses are hiring giggers for marketing tech activities:

1. Marketing roles are hard to fill & gig workforce provides access to specialised talent

Skilled marketing giggers provide expertise that businesses can easily access. If your company requires a specific marketing skill set, such as livestreaming or community marketing for a project, you can find a gigger who has spent years honing that skill.

A gigger's experience increases the value they can bring to a project. The company can benefit from the gigger's experience without devoting internal resources or adding a full-time employee to their payroll.

2. Marketing needs fresh perspective & tech-savvy skills

Giggers can bring a unique perspective to a project. As a new member of the team, they may bring a fresh perspective that can greatly benefit a project. This new viewpoint could be a solution to a problem or a new way of understanding your customer's needs. Furthermore, giggers are not bound by your company's historical mindset, allowing you to break free from the "that's how it's always been done" mentality that may be holding back your business.

Millennials and Generation Z are dominating today's gig workforce and they are flexibly adapting to change and embracing new technologies. Having a tech-savvy gigger in your business can help your digitisation agenda as well as your productivity because you can accomplish more in less time.

3. Cost-effective marketing

Traditional full-time employees are costly, especially during times of disruption. Bringing in giggers allows your company to cut down on multiple overhead costs. Furthermore, because giggers mostly work from home, they do not require a dedicated workspace in your office. Hiring a freelancer allows a company to cut costs while maintaining work output.

4. Flexibility, while still delivering on time

Giggers have a wide range of experience, which allows them to produce high-quality work. Before hiring a gigger, you'll have the opportunity to review their previous work portfolio, read reviews from previous employers, and interview them to ensure they're a good fit.

In addition to providing high-quality work, giggers can frequently deliver results faster than full-time employees as full-time employees are frequently assigned multiple projects at the same time and this frequently slows down and delays projects. Giggers, on the other hand, typically focus on one project at a time or work within shorter timeframes, resulting in increased efficiency and faster project completion.

5. Giggers know what’s up with social media marketing

According to Buffer, a business should post 14 times per day on Twitter alone, which means that if you use the full character length of 280, you should write 770 words per day.

It's also likely that your company uses other channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok, which all require more than just text-based content to feed the algorithms that bring organic reach. Writing posts, designing graphics, recording videos or podcasts, and nurturing interactive groups all consume the time and energy of in-house marketers who, in some cases, lack the capacity or skill set to do so.

Hiring a gigger to automate your social media marketing strategy can save you a lot of time. When it comes to MarTech tools and social media marketing, you should tap into the Gen Z gig workforce because they have grown up with technology. They are a digital native, hyper-cognitive generation that is very comfortable gathering and cross-referencing information from multiple sources and integrating virtual and offline experiences.

Companies that recognise the opportunity provided by giggers position themselves for a high return on investment and access to a more flexible workforce at a lower operating cost. From observing the trend within Qwork and throughout the Southeast Asia region, we learned that digital transformation is accelerating and more people are building durable new skills for the future of tech and marketing.

As the digital skills gap widens, marketing executives need to go beyond their existing capabilities by tapping into the digital possibilities and working with giggers who have got the skills for this era.

Are you navigating new MarTech tools & looking for tech-savvy talent? Find Qwork apprentices to assist you with your marketing strategy!

Qwork makes it easy to find the right gigger. Sign up for a Qwork account today if you're ready to hire a gigger to help your business.

Written by: Mohammad Hanif Haroen