As part of our 2014 State of Digital Marketing Talent study (announced yesterday, see post here), we asked 747 advertising and Fortune 500 marketing executives which digital marketing skills they value the most, and which skills their talent actually possess.
This enabled us to identify the largest talent gaps, and the most coveted digital marketing skills to have in 2014. (We define the talent gap as the difference between skills/specialties marketing executives value the most, and the skills their talent currently has.)
Brand side: most coveted digital marketing skills/specialities are analytics and mobile marketing
Analytics talent gap: 37%
- 76% of those surveyed believe analytics is a very important/important skill to have, but only 39% believe their talent is stronger/much stronger than other teams.
Mobile marketing talent gap: 29%
- 58% of those surveyed believe mobile is a very important/important skill, but only 29% believe their talent is stronger/much stronger than other teams
These are followed by content marketing (27%), social media (27%), email (27%), marketing automation (24%), SEO (19%), and digital advertising (12%).
Agency side: most coveted digital marketing skills/specialities are mobile, analytics, and marketing automation
Mobile marketing talent gap: 43%
- 74% of agency executives surveyed believe mobile is a very important/important skill to have, but only 31% believe their talent is stronger/much stronger than competition—a gap of 43 percentage points. Ouch!
Analytics talent gap: 30%
Marketing automation talent gap: 30%
How You Can Capitalize on These Talent Gaps
Individuals
Marketing professionals, advertising professionals and job seekers alike—you can increase career opportunities and command a higher salary by improving your skills in these areas (they are all in demand!). Our library of online classes will help you do just that.
Brand-side executives
Get a competitive advantage and increase market share by improving your team's skills with training and better hiring. The better equipped your digital team members are, the better your return on advertising and marketing spend will be. This will lead to better profitably overall. It's a win-win! We've seen firsthand online training for teams improves company-wide performance through our own eLearning programs.
Agency-side executives
If you want to stay relevant, it's critical to close these gaps through training. The largest digital skill gaps are on the agency side, not brand side. C'mon, be the strategic experts that you are! Your team will gain more trust and credibility in the eyes of your clients, and will know how to drive better, more quantifiable results. This will lead to higher billings and client satisfaction. Make it happen! We're here to help.
Digital Marketing Skills and Talent Infographic (embed code at the bottom)
Our friends over at Kelly Services did an incredible job creating this infographic to go along with the report—it highlights these key gaps and opportunities. Big shout out to Todd Wheatland, Michael Kirsten, and Dominique Hanlon at Kelly—you rock!
P.S. If you haven't already, download your copy of the State of Digital Marketing Talent report now, and be sure to let us know your thoughts.
