Social media most in-demand skill for marketers

Digital skills are in high demand, with social media and digital marketing two of the three most sought after skills companies are looking for when hiring marketers.

The global data from LinkedIn shows management (second) and communication (fourth) are also key for brands, highlighting the value of people skills, particularly as companies look to bolster the position of marketing within the wider business.

Strategy (fifth) and more specifically, marketing strategy (sixth) are also in high demand as businesses look to grapple with a host of challenges, from inflation and the cost of living crisis to political unrest and driving sustainability.

The rest of the top 10 most sought after skills in marketing is made up of leadership, project management, advertising and customer service.

“Marketers that can demonstrate cutting-edge skills in social media and digital marketing, and have the strategic prowess to build an all-weather marketing strategy and engage audiences across new mediums and channels, will be in demand in 2023,” says Tom Pepper, senior director at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, EMEA and LATAM.

As brands continue to navigate uncertainty, he adds that businesses will increasingly be looking for “savvy marketers” with the skills to help them “remain agile and stay top of mind for buyers to capitalise on growth opportunities ahead”.

Likewise, he believes communication ranks so highly as it is “needed more than ever to help prove the business impact of marketing to internal stakeholders and strengthen future budgets”.

The list of marketing’s most in-demand skills is based on the attributes employers and recruiters have mentioned most often on LinkedIn when looking to hire in the six months to October 2022. Demand was measured by identifying the skills held by LinkedIn members who have been hired or contacted via LinkedIn during that time, and the skills listed in paid job postings.

To help bridge the skills gap LinkedIn is offering a series of free courses on the most sought after skills until 15 March.More than a third of brands plan to ramp up hiring in 2023

Marketing in demand

Marketing also ranks as one of the most sought after skills across all functions and disciplines in 2023 as businesses look to keep on top of changing customer behaviour and consumer trends.

Indeed, marketing is the ninth most in-demand skill for companies across the board, according to LinkedIn. Management is the most sought after skill, followed by communication (second), customer service (third), leadership (fourth), project management (sixth), research (seventh) and analytical skills (eighth), with teamwork rounding off the top 10.

Marketing and its related disciplines also feature heavily in the top 10 list for the most sought after skills for business. Marketing is the sixth most in-demand skill for business, behind sales (fifth) but ahead of finance (eighth).

Again management, communication, customer service and leadership feature high up the ranking, claiming the top four spots, respectively.

Looking at sales roles, customer service ranks as the most sought after skill, followed by management and communication, but marketing comes in fourth place for sales professionals, which LinkedIn says again speaks to the current climate.

Marketing also appears in ninth place on the lists for project management and recruitment, with LinkedIn saying “no one is recruiting for ‘one role’ anymore; they’re recruiting for the potential to learn and develop. To identify such potential, recruiters will have to develop new skills themselves.”

Workplace culture

Separate research by LinkedIn into workplace culture shows 93% of businesses are concerned about employee retention. At the same time, 83% of organisations want to create a more people-centric culture to help prevent staff leaving.

As part of this drive and to ensure employees have the skills they need, 41% of organisations expect to spend more on staff learning and development in 2023. This is below the 48% cited in 2022, but the third highest figure over the past seven years.

The number one way businesses are looking to improve retention is by “providing learning opportunities”, according to LinkedIn.

On the flip side, after better compensation and flexibility, the next three most important factors driving people to seek employment elsewhere are challenging and impactful work, opportunities for career growth within the company and opportunities to learn and develop new skills.

Marketing Week’s own Career and Salary Survey shows for marketing roles in particular, the most common reason people have recently moved into a new job is wanting to learn new skills (26.3%), with the same percentage keen to find a new direction. Around a fifth (21.3%) of marketers say they were attracted by the company’s culture.

Meanwhile, 16% say the pandemic made them rethink their priorities, 15.2% say their new business is better aligned with their personal views, 14.5% wanted flexible working and 13.9% were after a change of location.