For much of the past few years, marketing professionals (and those hoping to join their ranks) had it pretty good.
All across the business landscape, demand for those with marketing skills was up, and there were nowhere near enough marketers to fill the available jobs.
As a result, anyone with the right marketing skills and experience had little trouble finding work.
Then came the coronavirus (COVID-19).
A damaging impact on an economy as large as India’s caused due a total lockdown was imminent. Unemployment went up to nearly 24 percent in April 2020. This was possibly a result of a decrease in demand as well as the disruption of workforce faced by companies.
What’s more?
At the same time, early reports indicated that businesses were taking steps to conserve cash, with the majority already slashing marketing budgets or reporting that they have plans to do so.
For marketing professionals, that means one thing.
They now face the choice of either turning to their existing network of contacts in a bid to launch themselves as a sole trader, or they can redouble their efforts to add to their credentials as a way to stand out from the crowd.
For those choosing the latter approach, here are the most useful marketing skills that will help you land a job in the post-coronavirus world.
Essential Marketing Skills You Should Have
Here are the most important marketing skills that you should have for the post-coronavirus world.
1. Content Creation and Management
As marketing budgets contract, businesses tend to shift their focus toward marketing efforts that offer a long-term return on investment (ROI) to ensure continuity
Right now, content marketing is at the top of that list. But to get the maximum value out of the diminished spending, businesses are going to be looking for marketing professionals that have a background in content marketing – and more specifically in content curation.
For that reason, marketing professionals should take steps to build their content curation skills
Having these marketing skills will give them access to many of the on-staff marketing positions that will be created by the coronavirus-related downturn.
And that’s not all.
Apart from learning the tricks of the trade, it’s a good time for job-seeking marketers to put them into action using their own online presence. By doing so, they can use their own social feed as something of a portfolio to show off their content curation skills.
2. Marketing Data Analytics
Marketing analytics involves the technologies and processes of senior Marketing Staff, and marketers use to appraise the effectiveness their efforts bring into the picture. As such, various metrics are used in marketing analytics to quantify the performance of marketing initiatives. Successful marketing analytics gathers data from all possible sources and channels and collates it into a single data. Marketing teams then use the analytics to determine how their marketing initiatives are performing and to recognize opportunities for continual improvement. It is complicated to decide on the usefulness and return on investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns without marketing analytics.
For several years, businesses have been investing heavily in marketing data and web analytics in a bid to improve their marketing ROI.
The sudden budget crunch caused by the coronavirus has only made the need to lean on data operations all the more vital.
What does this mean for you?
It means there’s an excellent chance that businesses with existing analytics teams are going to move to expand them, and those who have no on-staff expertise in this area are going to go out looking for people with those marketing skills.
In both cases, that bodes well for any marketing professional that has well-developed skills in the realm of marketing data and analytics.
Even introductory courses can prove advantageous, but since data is the future of marketing, the more you know, the further you’ll go.
3. SEO and Digital Development
In keeping with the trend toward efficiency, businesses are also likely to start looking for ways to maximize returns from their existing digital properties.
This has a direct effect on their flow of fresh leads as well as their convertion rates once they’ve captured those leads.
Under normal circumstances, businesses might consider outsourcing the needed SEO work out to a third-party.
With spending constrained, though, more businesses are going to be looking for ways to do the job in-house.
For marketing professionals, that means there’s about to be a high premium placed on those with development and SEO skills very soon.
In truth, SEO skills were already in very high demand even before the coronavirus upended the market and are one of the most important marketing skills you should have.
With the added urgency created by the demand for maximum marketing efficiency, anyone with the right marketing skill set will be a hot commodity in the present job market and for the long-term.
So, you should take the time to upskill yourself by registering for some online courses.
4. Marketing Management Skills
In good economic times, businesses tend to either miss or ignore deficiencies in their marketing operations.
In more difficult economic times, those flaws become apparent to everyone and call out for urgent remedies.
And much as is the case with any other kind of team, it’s easier to create a change by bringing in new leadership than it is to rebuild a marketing team from the ground up.
That’s excellent news for anyone who has the right marketing skills to manage teams, many of whom will start seeing opportunities to advance in the near future.
And for those on the outside looking in, that makes now the perfect time to pursue an online degree in marketing management.
For professionals at this level, the present situation could soon turn into a golden opportunity to take the reins of a marketing department and make a name for themselves both inside and outside the marketing industry.
Success Under Difficult Circumstances
Although the sudden onset of major economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus isn’t a good thing, marketing professionals can do a great deal to help themselves by doing what’s necessary to build marketing skills in the four skills listed here.
Adding any or all of these to your resume can mean the difference between struggling to find work or finding success despite the difficult circumstances.
And the best part?
These marketing skills should continue to be in demand long after the coronavirus fades into a distant unpleasant memory.
The bottom line then is that there’s a path forward for any marketing professional who finds themselves in the unfortunate position of job-hunting during this crisis.
While they may be tempted to strike out on their own as a way to get by in the interim (or longer, if they can make it work), it’s a much better idea to invest in their own future by turning this into an opportunity for professional growth.
In the end, they’ll be better off for their efforts – and will have careers on an upward trajectory to show for it.
