Learning The Skills Of The Future Now

With the job market now more hotly contested than ever, professionals are looking for any edge they can get when it comes to developing skills.

The skills rush is particularly pertinent for marketers, who are increasingly being asked to extend themselves into new areas and develop different skills for different projects.

To find out the skills of the future which marketers need to take note of, B&T teamed up with the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) for the ADMA Professional Skills Census 2020.

Speaking with B&T, ADMA CEO Andrea Martens explained that marketers are in the position to lead change across their workplace.

“The workforce is changing at a rapid pace. Marketers are often the leaders of change and are therefore being asked to work across multiple projects/priorities as companies evolve to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving marketplace,” she said.

The research showed that when it comes to data-driven marketing skills, the ability to use numbers to better understand the customer is imperative.

Analysing customer data/insight is the most important data-related skill for marketers, with 71 per cent of respondents listing it as a skill that is extremely important to their current career and 78 per cent nominating it as a critical skill of the future.

“Using data to gain insights and clearer understanding of the major drivers of consumer behaviour will become more important in the future,” Martens continued.

“The move towards customer centricity and personalisation will also remain a focus, driving effectiveness and ROI, streamlining though automation. Data analytics is a powerful enabler for all of these trends.”

The changing face of digital marketing

While digital marketing is often associated with technological innovation, in many ways, what is old is once again new, explained ADMA marketing manager Emma Smith.

“The marketing challenge of motivating our consumers to act has not changed over time. But the environment that we interact with our customers has,” Smith said.

What has changed is where you meet these customers. According to the survey, digital marketing is currently the most important channel for 73 per cent of marketers, while 75 per cent of respondents tipped it to be the channel of the future.

“Obviously the role of digital marketing has increased significantly as our consumer audiences spend more of their time in this channel,” Smith continued.

“Marketers that have strong data skills are the marketers that are best equipped to analyse effectiveness of marketing programs, gain insights and understanding around what drives success, make faster and more accurate decisions, optimise tactics and maintain profitability of their portfolio.”

Time to learn

When it comes to acquiring these digital marketing skills, the study revealed marketers use a wide array of channels.

Some 58 per cent of marketers revealed they have received ‘on the job’ training, while 33 per cent said they’d engaged a private company, 20 per cent with an industry body such as ADMA and 13 per cent with training institutions such as TAFE.

According to ADMA head of education Melinda Arko, organisations need to consider combining these different options for optimised results.

“Research has shown that the modern marketer is having to be more flexible, adaptable, and knowledgeable in more areas than ever before. As a result, organisations need to adapt to more integrated learning modalities that create synergies between on-the-job training (70 per cent), learning from others (20 per cent) and formal learning (20 per cent)

Learning needs to be viewed as a consistent process within an organisation whereby learning and work are integrated providing the modern marketer with a variety of options to learn incorporating working through real word problems”

Martens added that by engaging industry professionals, ADMA’s courses can complement any on the job training marketers have received.

“All ADMA courses are taught by practicing industry professionals who bring real world situations and real-world learning contexts to the classroom.  ADMA IQ courses are built around an industry led curriculum, and delivered by industry experts, ensuring our students are industry qualified,” she said.

Check out ADMA’s range of courses. Their comprehensive range of courses are taught by practicing industry professionals who bring years of experience to the classroom. Courses include:

• Digital Marketing
• Data-Driven Marketing
• Customer Experience
• Copywriting & Creative
• Digital Campaigns
• Analytics
• Regulatory

You can download the ADMA Professional Skills Census 2020 here.