Recruitment firm Michael Page recently approached 500 marketing employers across the UK to explore which are the most valued skills in the industry. It found that almost a third of them consider brand marketing the key expertise a team should have in order to contribute to the prosperity of their organisation this year, Marketing magazine says.
Brand marketing has gained in importance compared to 2012, when just 19% marketers identified it as the most essential function of a marketing team.
Last year marketing employers named online and web development as the skill they value most, but that now ranks second on their lists, together with customer relationship management (CRM). These are the preferred skills a marketing team should posses for 21% of employers. Social media and mobile expertise also saw a drop in importance – it is now deemed crucial for 6% of companies, against 9% last year.
Business growth was identified by 57% of those interviewed as their biggest priority. Employee retention was deemed vital by just 5% of marketers, but according to Paul Sykes, managing director of Michael Page, underestimating staff could pose serious challenges.
The lower position of digital this year could be partly due to the extent to which it is now integrated in the marketing function. Sykes considers that the change in marketing employers´ stance on what matters most for a marketing team to be successful stems from the fact that brand differentiation is now the ultimate goal in securing stronger market presence, given the “cautious and competitive” state of the market.
Brand Marketing More Vital Than Digital Skills For Industry Employees
