Marketing hiring growth continues to increase this year following year-over-year growth of 19% in 2016, according to a study released by McKinley Marketing Partners.

Hiring managers planning to hire more marketers jumped to 44% this year from 28% in the 2016 survey. Almost half of hiring managers, 49%, will hire to fill vacant positions or to redistribute responsibilities; 7% expect smaller marketing teams.

The study also found digital marketing skills are still highest in demand. Of those who are hiring this year, 56% will hire professionals with digital marketing expertise, which includes content creation and curation, mobile, social, SEO/SEM and lead generation. The second-highest area of hiring is creative services, which came in at 35%.

“As digital marketing continues to grow, marketers have a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact,” said Michelle Boggs, president and CEO of McKinley Marketing Partners. “While the advent of new tools makes it easier to quantify results the basic tenets of marketing still stand: prove value to stakeholders and differentiate from the competition.”

Additional highlights from the 2017 report include:

• More than half of marketing hires will be digital this year.
• Digital advertising and content rank highest among digital marketing needs.
• Demand for marketing talent far exceeds supply in key areas.
• Midlevel marketers will be in highest demand

The study polled 314 directors, vice presidents, C-level marketing executives, as well as hiring managers and others in the position to make decisions about marketing talent for their 2016 hiring decisions and projected hiring needs for 2017. The survey also included, for the first time, marketers without any direct influence on hiring to better understand the issues and trends important to their careers. It was conducted between Nov. 21 and Dec. 23, 2016.