Employers are in desperate need of skilled marketing professionals. According to the 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey by Spear Marketing, 90 percent of employers say it’s difficult to find marketing talent, and 89 percent said their marketing department is understaffed.
It’s not that there is a shortage of marketing professionals. The problem is, these employers can’t find people with the skills they need — making any marketing professional with those skills instantly more hirable.
Here are the skills employers said are the most difficult to hire for, and the ones you should learn and add to your resume:
Marketing Analytics
Companies spend a lot on marketing, and they want to know how their campaigns are performing. That’s why many employers are seeking someone adept at analyzing marketing data. But 61 percent say marketing analytics is one of the most difficult skills to hire for.
Those who can analyze marketing data and tell employers how their marketing efforts are driving revenue are in-demand. If you want to become more attractive to employers, add marketing analytics to your skillset.
Marketing Operations
Marketing operations is a relatively new role, so it’s no surprise that 47 percent of employers say it’s one of the hardest skills to hire for. Act-On, a marketing automation software company, describes marketing operations as “one-quarter nerd (IT inclined), one-quarter marketer, one-quarter analyst, and one-quarter researcher.”
Responsibilities of the role are vast and can include any of the following: analytics, reporting, database administration, email marketing, automation, strategic planning, budgeting, CRM management, performance measurement, and vendor management.
To call marketing operations a “skill” really isn’t accurate. Rather, it’s many marketing skills put together. And if they’re skills you have, consider applying for a marketing operations role — employers are in need.
Demand Generation
Companies don’t just want someone who can build demand for their products, they’re looking for someone who understands the customer journey from beginning to end. They need someone with demand generation expertise — but 45 percent say it’s one of the more difficult skills to hire for.
Demand generation professionals identify potential customers, utilize different strategies to qualify these prospects and include them in a nurturing campaign, eventually passing them to the sales team as highly qualified leads. It’s an interesting role that combines aspects of inbound marketing, strategy development, and data analysis — and it’s a skill that could make you invaluable to an organization.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the most widely-used marketing strategies for a reason – it works. Despite that, 33 percent of employers said they have a hard time finding candidates with content marketing skills.
Content marketing is simply developing and distributing valuable content to attract and retain customers. This content becomes the fuel for virtually all your marketing initiatives, from social media to SEO to inbound marketing and everything in between. And if it’s a skill you possess, you’ll be more attractive to potential employers.
Find the next step in your marketing career
If you’re ready to make a move in your marketing career, contact Morgan Hunter. We’ve helped thousands of marketing professionals find career opportunities in Kansas City. Check out our current openings or contact a recruiter today.
