{"id":21980,"date":"2019-01-21T07:13:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T07:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=21980"},"modified":"2023-08-08T12:45:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T10:45:13","slug":"5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Must-Have Skills to Thrive in the Modern Marketing Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n            <!-- Responsive picture tag -->\n        <picture class=\"picture-block\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888826.ChZizWGMpN1NlwO3DRsj_height640.png\" >\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888824.bQRj0SZXfkyn2EsY3G49_height640.png\" alt=\"\">\n        <\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>Marketing is a vital part of business, and the numbers reflect this: global advertising spending is projected to reach 557.99 billion US dollars in 2018.<sup>1<\/sup> Of that amount, 40.2% is expected to be spent on digital marketing alone.<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Success in the digital landscape means you need skills that traditional marketers are able to do without.<\/strong> It\u2019s worth exploring the skills that the modern digital marketer should always have at the ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<div id=\"bq-spacing\">\n<p id=\"bq-main-copy\">These marketing skills are applicable to anyone with an interest or stake in marketing&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>These marketing skills are applicable to anyone with an interest or stake in marketing, including those moving into the industry for the first time, those looking to fill gaps in their marketing knowledge, or management interested in gaining a better understanding of the marketing function in their organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Analytics<\/h2>\n\n\n<div>\n            <!-- Responsive picture tag -->\n        <picture class=\"picture-block\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888832.JDVUkYQfDjQdgX10F4qe_height640.png\" >\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888834.WpcQ10LFbn1U0A3acSuK_height640.png\" alt=\"\">\n        <\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>Digital marketing presents a strange dichotomy. On the one hand, success does still require a strong creative flair; this has always been true of marketing and advertising. But today, with our ability to gather vast amounts of data and apply them to our marketing efforts, it has become necessary to develop your knowledge of analytics as well. Investing time in platforms such as Google Analytics or Tableau can provide rich rewards in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ability to make good use of analytics comes with several benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Properly used, analytics can inform marketing strategy to make it more effective<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They provide insights into customer behaviour, allowing for better targeting and engagement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They allow the marketing team to quantify the effect of their efforts, and adjust where necessary<sup>3<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The search bar is one of the primary ways we interact with information in the modern age &#8211; even on social media.<sup>4<\/sup> SEO \u2013 done properly \u2013 gives you the best chance of ensuring that you rank above your competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<div id=\"bq-spacing\">\n<p id=\"bq-main-copy\">The search bar is one of the primary ways we interact with information in the modern age &#8211; even on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is this important? More than 90% of people never stray beyond the first page of results when they search for something. Indeed, capturing the number one position on a search results page has been shown to get nearly 30% of all traffic on the search page,<sup>5<\/sup> making it an important spot to fight for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are several ways to do this (including writing high-quality content), but all these methods are unified and given force by SEO, which allows you to determine which search terms to target, to ensure you get the best bang for your marketing buck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, speaking of writing content:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketers tend to target Google fairly heavily in their efforts, and there\u2019s a good reason for this \u2013 the venerable search engine has consistently held a global share of searches that hovers near, and often above, 90%.<sup>6<\/sup> This means that marketers pay very close attention to what Google does.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years, the search engine giant has made a concerted push to make content more organically relevant to searchers. This means businesses need to avoid things like keyword stuffing \u2013 which refers to placing search terms into digital content in ways that don\u2019t sound natural \u2013 and duplicate content.<sup>7<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, it\u2019s important to understand and be able to create a content strategy that emphasises the organisation\u2019s authority, by providing value to your consumers.<sup>8<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"related-programme-block\">\n<div class=\"related-programme\" onclick=\"window.open('https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/products\/mit-sloan-digital-marketing-analytics-online-short-course', '_blank')\">\n    <div class=\"row\">\n        <div class=\"col-12 col-md-11\">\n            <div class=\"related-programme__school-logo-container\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/universities\/massachusetts-institute-of-technology\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"related-programme__school-logo-link\">\n                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/blog_related_courses_logos_MIT_Sloan.png\" alt=\"School Logo\" class=\"related-programme__school-logo\">\n            <\/a>\n            <\/div>\n            <div class=\"related-programme__copy\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/universities\/massachusetts-institute-of-technology\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"related-programme__school-name\">\n                MIT Sloan School of Management            <\/a><br>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/products\/mit-sloan-digital-marketing-analytics-online-short-course\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"related-programme__programme-name\">\n                Digital Marketing Analytics            <\/a>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"col-md-1 related-programme__chevron-column\">\n            <div class=\"related-programme__icon-container\">\n                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"add-btn\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/blog\/assets\/icn_arrow-circle_right.svg\" alt=\"Read More Icon\">\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mobile<\/h2>\n\n\n<div>\n            <!-- Responsive picture tag -->\n        <picture class=\"picture-block\">\n            <source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888828.1mUz6LO7JA7YCV1YglZ3_height640.png\" >\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/928886737888830.0DbU84tKmtoLRJEJMqX1_height640.png\" alt=\"\">\n        <\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>Globally, mobile phones accounted for close to half of all internet usage by April 2018; in Asia and Africa, this number was even higher, settling a little above 60%.<sup>9<\/sup> And this number is likely to continue its growth, thanks to the increasing rates of mobile internet penetration across the world.<sup>10<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This makes mobile users a vital cog in the digital marketing landscape, and it further follows that understanding the particular nuances of mobile marketing is a useful skill for the ambitious marketer about town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it is a skill: mobile devices present several challenges to marketers, from smaller screens to data caps, that make it necessary to heavily adapt marketing techniques in order to be successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adaptability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Soft skills are as important as hard, technical skills, and when it comes to digital marketing, few soft skills are more important than adaptability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<div id=\"bq-spacing\">\n<p id=\"bq-main-copy\">Soft skills are as important as hard, technical skills&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because the internet evolves, and it does so rapidly: Google is reported to make changes to its search algorithm between 500 and 600 times a year \u2013 nearly twice day.<sup>11<\/sup> This is an enormous amount, and even if not every update makes major changes, you\u2019ll still need to be aware of the fact that what worked yesterday in digital marketing might not work today. You need to be able to&nbsp;roll with the punches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The expertise outlined above certainly aren\u2019t the only useful skills for those interested in, or involved with digital marketing today. But they\u2019ll go a long way towards ensuring your success. If you\u2019re interested in finding out what else there is to master, consider learning more about digital marketing online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"accordion\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div id=\"headingOne\" class=\"card-header\">\n<h6 class=\"mb-0\"><button class=\"btn\" style=\"background-color: transparent;\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#sources\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-controls=\"sources\"> <strong>Click here to view sources<\/strong> <\/button><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"sources\" class=\"collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"headingOne\" data-parent=\"#accordion\">\n<div class=\"card-body\">\n<ul class=\"mx-0\" style=\"list-style: none;\">\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>1<\/sup> (Dec 2017). \u2018Global advertising spending from 2010 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/236943\/global-advertising-spending\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Statista.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>2<\/sup> Tan, J. (Mar 2018). \u2018Online advertising to account for 44.6% of global ad spend\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketing-interactive.com\/online-advertising-to-account-for-44-6-of-global-ad-spend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marketing.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>3<\/sup> Bhandari, R, Singer, M, and Van Der Scheer, H. (Jun, 2014). \u2018Using marketing analytics to drive superior growth\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/business-functions\/marketing-and-sales\/our-insights\/using-marketing-analytics-to-drive-superior-growth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">McKinsey &amp; Company.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>4<\/sup> DeMers, J. (Jun, 2015). \u2018Is Facebook Going To Become The New Google?\u2019 Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jaysondemers\/2015\/06\/12\/is-facebook-going-to-become-the-new-google\/#32bfac9a7690\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forbes.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>5<\/sup> Hodgdon, M. (Jul 2015). \u2018Value of Organic First-Page Results\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infront.com\/blog\/the-blog\/value-of-first-page-google-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Infront Webworks.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>6<\/sup> (Aug, 2018). \u2018Worldwide desktop market share of leading search engines from January 2010 to July 2018\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/216573\/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Statista.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>7<\/sup> Hall, SH. (Jul, 2018). \u2018The 10 Essential SEO Ranking Factors You Need to Rank #1 (2018)\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/optinmonster.com\/seo-ranking-factors\/#seorank5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Optinmonster.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>8<\/sup> Steimle, J. (Sep, 2014). \u2018What Is Content Marketing?\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/joshsteimle\/2014\/09\/19\/what-is-content-marketing\/#455f80f810b9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forbes.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>9<\/sup> (Jun, 2018). \u2018Mobile internet traffic as percentage of total web traffic in April 2018, by region\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/306528\/share-of-mobile-internet-traffic-in-global-regions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Statista.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>10<\/sup> (Aug, 2015). \u2018Mobile phone internet user penetration worldwide from 2014 to 2019\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/284202\/mobile-phone-internet-user-penetration-worldwide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Statista.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mb-4\"><sup>11<\/sup> Shelley, R. (Oct, 2016). \u20183 things to do after a major Google algorithm update\u2019. Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/3-things-major-google-algorithm-update-260828\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Search Engine Land.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marketing is a vital part of business, and the numbers reflect this: global advertising spending is projected to reach 557.99 billion US dollars in 2018.1 Of that amount, 40.2% is expected to be spent on digital marketing alone.2 Success in the digital landscape means you need skills that traditional marketers are able to do without. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":22003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[127,125],"article-format":[],"class_list":["post-21980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-career-advice","tag-marketing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Must-Have Skills to Thrive in the Modern Marketing Environment - GetSmarter Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With marketing being such a vital part of business, it\u2019s time to give your marketing career a boost by mastering these 5 must-have skills.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Must-Have Skills to Thrive in the Modern Marketing Environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With marketing being such a vital part of business, it\u2019s time to give your marketing career a boost by mastering these 5 must-have skills.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetSmarter Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-21T07:13:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-08T10:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/928886737888822.rirTXmRXf0cMkuaHZJ6i_height640.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"278\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shameel Mohanlal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GetSmarter Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/928886737888822.rirTXmRXf0cMkuaHZJ6i_height640.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/928886737888822.rirTXmRXf0cMkuaHZJ6i_height640.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":278},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/5-must-have-skills-to-thrive-in-the-modern-marketing-environment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Must-Have Skills to Thrive in the Modern Marketing Environment - 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