Every organisation knows that marketing is critical to communicating its brand effectively, boosting its position in the marketplace and selling its product to its target audience. However, the modern marketing landscape is increasingly saturated. Customers now have access to unlimited digital media channels through their phones, tablets, laptops and even TVs.
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Every organisation knows that marketing is critical to communicating its brand effectively, boosting its position in the marketplace and selling its product to its target audience. However, the modern marketing landscape is increasingly saturated. Customers now have access to unlimited digital media channels through their phones, tablets, laptops and even TVs.
Businesses must strive to ensure their marketing teams have the right strategic marketing skills to develop a deeper understanding of audiences and their needs and to harness the power of the data available to them to support business growth, drive revenue and target advertising with greater purpose. But how do you ensure you have the right skills on your team and identify where you may need to bolster your team with recruitment?
This can be done by analysing the skills you currently have in house and assessing them against the most sought-after marketing skill sets in the current climate.
1. Data Analysis
Understanding the influence of data and data analytics in a modern marketing strategy. Brands generate an increasing amount of data on everything from consumer behaviour to competitive intelligence to customer feedback.
Knowledge of the tools and techniques available to interpret data sets and being able to apply them to glean practical insights that can steer strategy.
2. Social Media Marketing
With the expansion of social media channels and the development of new tools and strategies for marketing on these platforms, such as the expansion of social shopping and one-click purchasing, marketing professionals need to be confident in producing and integrating content across multiple channels and developing strategies that take into account the insights generated.
3. Consumer Psychology
How customers go about finding and selecting products is changing. Consumers are increasingly in control of their buying experience. They increasingly use search engines and social media platforms to research, discuss and select products. Marketers need to empathise with their customers and have a deeper understanding of why and how they go about making decisions to create strategies that comprehensively address queries and pain points.
4. Content Marketing
Quality content that engages consumers and drives them to a defined, profitable action is what makes a successful marketing strategy stand out. Marketing professionals are content creators and should be comfortable working across varied mediums and understand how each can add value to the bottom line. They’ll need to be experienced in the tools used to create, develop and edit video, audio and written content as well as possessing the analytical skills to uncover new opportunities.
5. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO are the techniques, tools and practices of increasing website and web content visibility on search engines like Google or Bing. A marketing professional who understands how to leverage SEO to grow organic web traffic and drive up conversion rates is a valuable part of any successful marketing team.
Once you have an idea of the top skills that are currently supporting some of the most successful organisations, you can assess your own team and conduct a skills gap analysis to determine where you may benefit from recruiting new skills.
Finding the right person to fill the gaps you have identified in your team can be tough and will involve a lot of forward planning to make sure you have the right skills in place for future products, campaigns and projects.
Your job description should be concise and well structured, outlining those desired skills clearly and prominently. Avoid trendy buzzwords particularly in the job title and keep clichés to a minimum as candidates will often repeat them back in their resumes. Always make sure to have your final advertisement to hand when you are reviewing CVs.
At the interview stage, push candidates to provide examples, particularly of those hard-to-quantify skills such as communication and organisation. You might also like to consider some more specific marketing questions. We’ve collected a few below for you.
1. What’s your understanding of our target audience and how we help them?
Great marketing is primarily focused on knowledge and an understanding of the target audience. Great candidates will have researched beyond the basics and should show in-depth awareness of your consumer values and show an ability to get into the mind of the customer.
2. Tell me about a product that you successfully marketed. What was your strategy and who was your audience? What channels did you use and how did you measure the impact?
Candidates should be able to take you through their strategies from start to finish. Look for examples of the specific content used and what tools were leveraged to measure success such as analytics. Stand-out candidates will be passionate and detailed.
3. What social media channels are you familiar with?
Most candidates should have a working knowledge of the big four platforms - Facebook, Instagram LinkedIn and Twitter - but look for candidates who have had success on other platforms like Reddit, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok. A great follow-up question might be: Which channels were most effective for you in the past and why?
4. How do you stay up-to-date on general marketing knowledge and trends?
Marketing professionals should be curious and passionate about their career. If a candidate takes the time to read industry publications, take training courses or attend seminars or conferences about the future of the marketing landscape you can be sure that they are driven, self-motivated and importantly, up-to-date.
5. What are the three most important skills for a marketing career?
How a candidate answers this question will tell you a lot about how they see themselves and their fit for the role. Does what they say match up with the job description? Are their values a good fit with your wider company culture?
Finding the strategic marketing skills you need can be overwhelming. The process is easier when you engage with a specialist recruiter well versed in the current marketing recruitment climate and able to assess your current marketing function and suggest relevant, strategic skills to target with your recruitment efforts.
Successful marketing teams start with talented individuals that can collaborate effectively to drive performance and results. Our global talent consultancy at DMCG Global helps to quickly connect marketing agencies and brands with the right individuals anywhere on the planet. If you are looking for marketing professionals and would like a bespoke, high-quality recruitment service, our expert consultants will be happy to help.
Get in touch below to find out more.
