Marketing strategy is the most undervalued skill by businesses, marketers say

Marketing strategy is the most undervalued skill by businesses, according to Marketing Week’s 2023 Career and Salary Survey.

More than half (51.5%) of the more than 3,000 marketers taking part in this year’s survey say businesses are undervaluing marketing strategy.

That figure drops to 46.7% for B2C marketers, but reaches 52.4% of B2B marketers and 54.9% for those working in businesses with a mix of B2B and B2C.

Brand management (43.1%) is the second most undervalued marketing skill, according to marketers. Again breaking this down by business type, 43% of B2B marketers believe brand management is not given the weight it deserves by businesses, while 41.5% of B2C marketers and 44.8% of businesses with a mix of B2B and B2C agree.

Data analysis is also highlighted by 32.9% of marketers as being undervalued by their business. More B2B marketers (33.4%) than B2C (28.4%) say businesses undervalue data analysis, with 36.6% of marketers with a mix of B2B and B2C suggesting it is an issue.

Looking at the whole sample again, 22.8% of marketers believe businesses are undervaluing advertising and marketing technology, followed by commercial acumen (21.4%), performance marketing (18.2%), and profit and loss management (15.9%).

Social media is the most overrated skill by businesses, marketers sayCheryl Calverley, former CEO of Eve Sleep, isn’t too concerned by marketing strategy’s ranking. “It’s sort of not an issue, because human beings will always value things they can understand, talk about, point to,” she says. “And businesses really should be focused on the impact of things,” rather than the strategy behind it.

“If your marketing strategy is, you feel, undervalued by the business, you aren’t communicating in a way that’s making it feel valuable. We all know it’s vital and no business would say we don’t believe in strategy.”

As part of our Anatomy of a Marketer series, which is based on data from the Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey, we take a closer look at the marketing skills that are needed, necessary and fundamental to success in the current and future environment, as well as those that aren’t.

Check out all the latest 2023 Career and Salary Survey content