Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought significant influence on changes in digital marketing strategies in the era of industry 5.0. The application of AI and Big Data is an essential part of marketing 5.0 for creating new opportunities in career development. The adoption of AI in digital marketing changes the way companies interact with consumers. It also creates broader career transformation opportunities for individuals in this field. Marketing careers are reshaping with the development of new skills in technology management. Professionals are using AI tools for marketing. These advances are transforming the interactions between businesses and consumers. Thus, the landscape of marketing career is observing unimaginable changes and innovation.
Table of Contents
Categories of Skills for Marketing Professionals
In doing content analysis of job advertisements and a cross-country survey of marketing professionals across lowly and highly digitalised firms, studies identifies five employability skill categories and 29 skills and capabilities (Gregorio et al., 2019). The categories and sub-categories are as follows.
Basic soft skills
- Initiative
- Teamwork
- Interpersonal skills
- Motivation
- Flexibility
- Oral communication and presentation skills
- Stress resilience
Digital and technical skills
- Knowledge of social media
- Knowledge of Mobile
- Knowledge of E-commerce
- Knowledge of Analytics and real time practices
- Knowledge of Internet & software knowledge
- SEO & SEM
Core marketing skills
- Planning, organisation and time management
- Contents creation across channel
- Creative thinking
- Precision and attention to detail
- Sales knowledge and management skills
- Ability to manage multiple marketing tasks
Analytical skills
- Data-driven/data-oriented
- Good conceptual and analytical skills
- Statistical knowledge
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Ability to synthesise information into meaningful and actionable reports
Customer insights skills
- Knowledge of company and of its customers
- Knowledge of research methods
- Knowledge of customer touchpoints and journey
- CRM and relational skills
It is observed that technological advances increasingly demand knowledge related to soft and technical skills. According to Elhajjar (2021), the categories of required skills and knowledge are as follows.
Schlee and Harich (2010) examined the skills and conceptual knowledge that employers require for marketing positions at different levels. These levels range from entry- or lower-level jobs to middle- and senior-level positions. Based on the content analysis of 500 marketing jobs posted on Monster.com for Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle, they found notable differences in the skills needed for different levels. Entry-, lower-, middle-, and upper-level marketing jobs each require distinct skills and conceptual knowledge. Technical skills appear to be much more important at all levels than what was documented in earlier research. The major technical skills include MS Office skills and MS Outlook. They also require Statistical software and Database analysis. Customer relationship management and Data mining are important. There’s a need for Internet marketing tools and other analytics/software.
Conclusion
The company’s own digital marketing tools are seen as more credible and more relevant for the job application decision. LinkedIn is considered a more credible platform for advertising job openings than Facebook. In terms of content marketing, LinkedIn positively influences candidates’ decisions. It also enhances companies’ reputations (Rodrigues and Martinez, 2020). Technological advances have changed the nature of marketing. Innovative business models also play a role. Additionally, cloud services and big data contribute to these changes (Crittenden and Peterson 2019). Although there are difficulties such as data privacy, algorithmic biases, and platform saturation (Leeflang et al., 2014), it is essential to connect the digital strategies with developing trends and ethical frameworks in order to fully realize the digital potential in a global economy.
References
- Crittenden, V., & Peterson, R. A. (2019). Digital Disruption: The Transdisciplinary Future of Marketing Education. Journal of Marketing Education, 41(1), 3-4. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475319825534
- Dalvia Rodrigues, Luis F. Martinez, (2020). The influence of digital marketing on recruitment effectiveness: a qualitative study. European Journal of Management Studies; 25 (1): 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJMS-09-2020-002
- Di Gregorio, A., Maggioni, I., Mauri, C., & Mazzucchelli, A. (2019). Employability skills for future marketing professionals. European management journal, 37(3), 251-258.
- Leeflang, P. S. H., Verhoef, P. C., Dahlström, P., & Freundt, T. (2014). Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era. European Management Journal, 32(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2013.12.001
- Pefanis Schlee, R., & Harich, K. R. (2010). Knowledge and Skill Requirements for Marketing Jobs in the 21st Century. Journal of Marketing Education, 32(3), 341-352. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475310380881
- Samer Elhajjar (2021): Digital marketing jobs: What are recruiters looking for?, Journal of Education for Business, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2021.1884520.
About the Author
