The Most Marketable Skills (in marketing) for 2015

The Most Marketable Skills (in marketing) for 2015

Webucator (www.webucator.com) asked me to blog on skills that would be most needed in 2015 and I agreed to write about Marketing.

The basic skills of marketing: strategic thinking, analytics, product and project management--haven’t changed. The tools and tactics that marketers use have changed dramatically. Online channels (Internet, phone, interactive TV, etc) have been added to the mix—in some cases dominate the mix.

How we obtain data and the speed it’s acquired has forced marketers to move quickly to adjust. Marketers have to be aware of what’s new and what is changing and seize on the opportunity. 

 Having some of these key skills before leaving college will give you a huge leg up on getting your first marketing job.

A recent look at available jobs on Linked In in the NYC metro area shows the following: 3,000+ openings in Marketing Analytics, 2,500+ Digital Analytics, 6,000+ in various areas of social media, 1,000+ for UX/UI people, 6,000+ Digital Marketing, 800+ Channel or Multi-Channel Marketing, 1,400+ Mobile App Development.

What does this mean for the recent grad or someone with a little experience? 

  1.     Have some experience before you start your job search. If you can’t get a paid internship, work for free. If you need to earn money, work during the day and intern on weekends and the evening. Ask to work with the person who is doing the analysis, the social media plan, the UX development.

   2. Investigate what software and measurement tools are needed and in high demand. You can do that quickly by looking up the open positions on Linked In, corporate websites, indeed. They all list what is required in the job description.

  3. Know all the social media outlets: what’s hot, what’s new. Be the expert on how companies use their twitter feeds and blogs to their benefit.

  4.   Know the terminology: SEM, SEO, PPC, Paid Search, google adwords, site catalyst, webtrends, facebook analytics, CCS, Java, Ruby on Rails—the list is endless.

  5. Marketing strategy: How does the digital channel fit with other channels (Uber is an app that uses email marketing, advertising and direct marketing).

 

  6.  How do we sell stuff and what stuff do we sell; again analytics and research.

  7.  Nimbleness—ability to learn new things as they come—the world changes so fast that you need to know what's next before the person next to you.

  8.     Doing more with less—budgets have decreased or been diverted to cheaper alternatives; much easier and cheaper to test on the web/phone than sending out a direct mail package.

  9.  CRM across the board: keep your customers coming back; cheaper to keep them than to get new ones.

Ellen Weber | Managing Director | CareerPath Executive Recruiters | Digital, Direct and Marketing Talent Acquisitions  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/careerpath-executive-recruiters

ellen@careerpathassociates.com|www.careerpathexecutiverecruiters.com
Blogs: ellenweber.wordpress.com |collegegradjobsearch.blogspot.com |Twitter: @lnwebr| Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/ellenweber