Filling Digital Marketing’s Skills Gap

Digital marketing continues to be a priority for US-based marketers in 2022, according to a recent CMO survey. Investment in digital marketing has increased across the lath, with data analytics existence the most popular area for investment. These data-related investments highlight how companies are continuing to invest in capabilities to analyze, store/manage, and automate their information.

As businesses go on to build upwardly their digital marketing infrastructure, the skills and knowledge needed to operate them are falling behind. Marketing technologies and social media platforms continue to release new functionalities and marketers are having to keep up. Recent research conducted by Great britain-based Chartered Institute of Marketing, reveals that marketers’ ability in central digital skills take either stagnated or declined between 2022 and 2022 at all levels of seniority. Content and social media marketing experienced meaning declines relative to prior yr; whereas skills such as ecommerce, digital strategy, online advertising and usability remained brackish.

The role of marketing has get increasingly technical and data-driven. While traditional marketing skills with a focus on positioning, communications and creativity still remain relevant, employers are increasingly looking for professionals who can code, empathize analytics and know how to employ technology. The marketing skill set that is in demand is a combination of qualitative, quantitative and technical skills.

Businesses are exploring different ways to ensure their talent has the right marketing skills mix. Consumer goods company, Unilever, has invested in upskilling marketers around digital and other “future-facing” skills. “The complexities of working with many unlike e-commerce across pure play and omnichannel demands real expertise from our teams, “ explains Connie Braams, Unilever’s Main Digital and Marketing Officer to WARC. Unilever proposes internal grooming programs, including their Flex Experience program which allows employees to spend up to 20% of their fourth dimension in a different job function. Other examples include having specialist marketers piece of work with external agencies to gain new skills.

Universities are also taking annotation. Despite ongoing efforts by colleges and universities to update their marketing curricula, a 2022 report past the Digital Marketing Institute pointed at the part of universities in contributing to the digital marketing skills gap. Several studies have argued for curriculum reform in marketing that incorporates a digital-first approach. According to a 2022 review of digital marketing class offerings in US-based AACSB accredited concern schools, the majority of marketing departments offer at to the lowest degree one digital marketing course. At the same fourth dimension, many accept yet to offer a plethora of elective courses on digital marketing that may enable students to explore and learn about the topic with more depth and breadth.

And then there are tech platforms that offering certification training for their products. Google Ads and Google Analytics certifications are popular, particularly with dominance of the Google search engine. Meta also provides certification with Meta products in skills such as media ownership, creative strategy, and community direction amongst others. “Both entry-level and mid-career professionals are seeking to develop practical skills in digital marketing. It’south not simply about knowing the tools, but applying them in specific contexts and projects. With that in heed, nosotros design our courses to be both qualitative and tools-based,” explains Anke Audenaert, CEO and Co-founder of Aptly, an online teaching production visitor specializing in digital marketing education.

Digital marketing will merely accelerate as customers spend more than time and resource on digital channels such as websites, mobile apps and other digital channels. Unlike traditional marketing techniques, digital marketing is driven past data and analytics, focused on personalization, interactive and iterative. It requires developing new and frequently tech product dependent-skills which requires abiding updating. Filling this digital marketing skills gap requires an experimental approach and recognition that reskilling, upskilling and new skilling opportunities volition come up from a combination of both new and traditional educational service providers.