The Top Skills in Marketing & Digital for 2021

Whether you are an employer hiring new talent to fill a skills gap or a hiring manager looking to plan your hiring strategy for the next 12 months, it has never been more important to understand which competencies and attributes are the most sought-after in Marketing & Digital. In uncertain times, innovative solutions are increasingly needed to solve complex problems.

With this in mind, we have collated a list of some of the top skills which are set to shape 2021 in Marketing & Digital. These are the skills which teams will need to thrive and succeed this year. For team leaders, they illustrate areas that may require focus and may highlight skills gaps.

However, this should not be viewed as an issue but also as an opportunity to upskill teams and individuals to take advantage of the trends which will define the years ahead. The other articles in this eBook will help you hire with skills in mind, and help you understand why upskilling and reskilling are so important in a modern organisation.

Upgrading digital infrastructure is a political buzz word, recognition of the sector’s ever-growing importance in the economy. According to eMarketer, digital advertising spend grew by 11.2% last year. Against this backdrop, employers are facing skills shortages in specialist disciplines.

Customer insights

Being able to understand and manipulate customer insights can help build a comprehensive strategy.

Professionals who are skilled in analysing customer insights are becoming an integral part of the marketing function. Having the ability to understand, translate, and manipulate customer insights can help to build a comprehensive strategy, as well as provide actionable insights to boost your business offering. Further to this, category analysis and in-depth knowledge of the market ensures that everyone across your business understands their stakeholders better, which makes for a more efficient approach.

Clearly communicating ROI

Those able to decipher marketing metrics and report on them are valuable to business growth.

ROI is a crucial metric in the marketing department, where results and reporting are key. Individuals with the skills to analyse marketing metrics and report on trends, help drive business growth and development. This not only means being able to decipher results, but also knowing which tools are the best to use. Once the results are in, communicating back to senior leaders to get buy-in on any new ventures is critical to maintaining momentum. The delivery of ROI communications is essential to ensure marketing teams can develop their strategies successfully.

Brnad management

A skilled brand manager should be proficient in running campaigns and social media management.

Brand managers are responsible for the management of your company brand, or your clients’ brands. In today’s market, where competition is fierce, these skilled workers can make or break a brand’s reputation through the management of, and speed at which, they move the brand forward. These professionals should be proficient across a variety of functions, including running campaigns (sometimes multiple at once), new product development, and social media management. Brand managers are becoming increasingly important in 2021, as they are central to brand performance and success.

PR AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Both PR and social media are important in ensuring that your company voice is portrayed correctly.

The way your company is represented in the media and on social media platforms has become a core focus for most businesses. As brand reputation becomes ever more crucial in today’s competitive market, professionals who can manage your brand image are key. Those who possess the skills to support brand messaging across social media and PR channels are important in ensuring that your company voice is delivered correctly and that your messaging resonates with your target audience. A combination of these professionals in your teams will help to identify new opportunities for your business.

Copywriting / asset design

Content marketing teams can develop engaging campaigns and thought-provoking designs.

Content and design teams are now a core component of many in-house marketing departments. Their output is the fuel that drives campaigns forward, through compelling copy creation and thought-provoking design. Skilled copywriters are able to both update old copy and create new digital content, keeping the key principles of SEO, readability and persuasion in mind. Meanwhile, designers bring their words to life in the form of whitepapers, eBooks, infographics and more. Talented content professionals pride themselves on creating collateral that stands out in the market and beats the competition.

Stakeholder relations

Skills in stakeholder relations will facilitate better working practices.

Working with others is integral in most business functions. However, in marketing, it could be argued that it is even more pertinent to be able to work effectively with stakeholders as there is so much cross-collaboration within teams – both internally and externally. Indeed, effective stakeholder management can be the difference between the success and failure of a multi-faceted project. Professionals skilled in stakeholder relations will enable your organisation to communicate more effectively, which will facilitate better working practices, now and in the future.

E-commerce analytics

As the world continues to digitise, skills in e-commerce are becoming more in-demand.

As the closure of a number of prominent high-street stores in 2019 underlined, e-commerce is now the primary battleground in the world of retail. With the online retail sector growing substantially, skills in e-commerce are becoming ever more sought after. Given that e-commerce is a multichannel operation, it is important that professionals are versatile and have a solid understanding of the digital marketing mix. They should also have a keen eye for spotting trends in data and devising action plans to drive further growth.

UX development

Combining UX with integrated design will mean that you can take your processes to the next level.

Creating a unique user experience that is easy to follow and satisfying for your customers is the key to repeat business and a happy client. Not only should you look for skills in UX development, but combining this with integrated design and digital skills will mean that you have a professional that can take your processes to the next level. Consistency in your user experience and brand representation in this space will keep up conversion rates and encourage completions.

SEO: Content & technical

Ensuring all elements of your website are built for SEO will drive more traffic to your content.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process by which the visibility of a website or webpage is improved in the rankings of search engines like Google, to increase traffic. Broadly, there are three key areas of SEO: technical/onsite, content, and linkbuilding. Professionals with a proven track record in one, or ideally all, of these areas have been in ever-increasing demand over the past decade or so. As Google’s rules on best practice change regularly, SEO experts need to be adaptable and ready to find new strategies to improve website visibility.

CRM strategy & execution

CRM professionals analyse data across channels and use their findings to implement positive change.

CRM continues to be a key skill in any marketing function. Not only to ensure you are communicating with your customers effectively, but also ensuring that you are making the most out of your audiences and targeting them correctly with your communications. CRM involves the management of many systems. However, CRM professionals must be able to analyse this data across multiple channels and use their findings to implement positive change across the organisation.