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April 24, 2024
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The Future of Marketing Jobs and Skills – 2023 Update
The marketing landscape has undergone a significant transformation in recent years and it continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. With the development of AI and other technologies, as well as the changing behaviour of consumers, businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to stay competitive. As a result of these changes, a range of new skills will come to the forefront as roles continue to shift.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the key competencies that employers will be looking for in future. If you’re already working in the industry, you need to be able to anticipate and adapt to these changes quickly, staying up-to-date with the latest tools and techniques and refining your creativity and strategic thinking skills.
The Impact of New Technologies
Artificial intelligence has begun to revolutionise the marketing industry in various ways. It enables businesses to analyse vast amounts of data to gain insights into consumer behaviour and preferences, enabling them to create more targeted and personalised marketing campaigns. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can also provide customers with a more seamless and personalised experience, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The rise of AI also raises concerns about job loss but as with most industries, humans won’t be replaced; they will just have different roles. (According to Statista, various marketing roles are forecast to grow between now and 2031, including the role of Marketing Manager which is projected to grow by 10%.) Being able to understand and work with AI will therefore be a valuable skill for marketers in the future.
There will also be new roles thanks to the increasing prevalence of blockchain technology. For example, NFT projects will rely on social media-like communities which will need managing, and managers will need to engage with communities to develop brand advocacy.
Virtual reality (VR) is also growing in prevalence, providing customers with immersive and engaging experiences and creating more memorable and impactful campaigns. Marketers will need to have a good understanding of VR technology and its applications, as well as the creativity to use it in new, innovative ways in order to stand out as it becomes more common.
The Importance of Content Strategists
With the introduction of AI tools such as ChatGPT, content is going to become more important than ever. Such tools can provide consumers with valuable content without them needing to click through to websites. Consumer behaviour will therefore change as a result and only the most compelling content will get clicks.
It will also be important for content to be created in various formats due to Google’s advanced model, the Multitask Unified Model (MUM), which is able to understand multiple media (i.e., images, audio, and video) within the context of a piece of text. It will therefore rank pages with mixed media higher, providing a richer user experience.
More attention may be given to content strategy and planning, ensuring that the most valuable information is provided and that it meets the evolving requirements of search algorithms.
Marketing Skills for the Future Job Market
Data Analysis
One of the biggest opportunities facing marketers today is the sheer volume of data that is available, allowing us to extract profitable insights. Data analysis skills are increasingly in-demand, especially due to the growing importance of personalisation.
Marketers need to analyse data from a variety of sources, including social media, website analytics, and customer surveys. As the IoT becomes more widely-used in marketing, data collected from wearables and other consumer devices will require analysis.
While the software often does most of the work for you, it’s still helpful to have a good understanding of statistical methods and data visualisation.
One important shift we may see is the reduction of dedicated data analyst roles because the technology is becoming more user friendly all the time. Instead, analytics will be incorporated into the roles of various marketing professionals, tailored to their specific domain.
Creativity
AI tools such as content and graphic generators are not eliminating the role of creativity. Creativity may become even more important than ever because – given that AI is making it easier to get started on a project and saving a lot of time – there is scope for greater refinement of ideas and the final products themselves (i.e., marketing assets). As a result, the bar may rise in terms of quality, driving competitiveness.
More employees will have strategic roles; therefore, strategic thinking and problem solving skills will become more in-demand. This means being able to anticipate the consequences of different possible outcomes and plan strategies around them. It means being able to think critically and objectively, to identify patterns and trends, and to use this information to make informed decisions.
Storytelling is another higher level area in which greater creativity will be required. Brand storytelling is the art of creating a narrative that resonates with audiences and builds an emotional connection with the brand. By using storytelling techniques, businesses can create a more authentic and compelling brand image, improving customer engagement and loyalty. Brand storytellers use a range of mediums, including video, social media, and blogs to tell stories that capture the essence of the brand and its values.
To be successful in this role, marketers need to have excellent communication skills and a deep understanding of the brand’s values, vision, and mission. They should be talented wordsmiths, and they need to combine their creativity with an understanding of consumer psychology in order to target them in the way they are most receptive to.
Brand Marketing for B2B
The B2B Institute, a think tank funded by LinkedIn, predicts that brand marketing is going to take on a far more important role in the B2B space than before, suggesting that it will gain more investment than more traditional activities such as lead generation. This would mean an increase in branding-related roles; roles that, again, require creativity as a core competency.
Adaptability
Adaptability is going to be critical on the whole as the pace of technological change increases. However, a specific example that is already relevant and is likely to continue to be pertains to the use of a wide variety of digital marketing channels.
We’re seeing more evidence all the time that the more channels a company has a presence on, the better the results; therefore, it’s essential to know how to use all social media platforms, as well as understanding email marketing and SEO. By demonstrating that you can create content that is optimised for each platform and track your results using analytics tools, you will be an appealing candidate. In addition, you should always keep an eye out for emerging platforms in order to stay ahead
The Increasing Use of Influencer Marketing
Social media influencers are continuing to grow in importance. They can be powerful advocates for brands, as their followers trust their opinions and recommendations. Marketers will need to have the people skills to work closely with influencers and maintain positive and productive relationships with them.
The Need for Cross-Functional Collaboration
The future of marketing requires a more collaborative and cross-functional approach. One reason for this is the trend of omnichannel marketing, creating a seamless experience for users across multiple devices. Consumers switch between devices throughout the day, and so companies want to cater to that behaviour. It would therefore be helpful to have a thorough understanding of what other functions will be doing (such as sales, IT, UX design, etc.) in relation to marketing in the future.
AI Jobs
Which marketing jobs will AI replace – and what new roles may be created as a result of AI? Telemarketers will be one of the first to go, with the number of job openings for this role forecast to decline by 18.2% by 2031. The role is easy to automate and is not the most successful form of conversion as it is.
When it comes to content, proofreaders may become obsolete – but not yet. While there are plenty of software tools for checking the correctness and readability of a piece of text (such as Grammarly and the Hemingway App), they are far from perfect. As it stands, we still need a human to give any content a once-over before publishing but if these tools improve, we may be able to have enough confidence in the results to stop hiring proofreaders.
Market research positions are also under threat, with tools available that can conduct research after the user enters some simple commands, similar to ChatGPT. In addition, the use of chatbots to automate customer surveys is nothing new and as this trend continues to grow, less human hours will be required when it comes to gathering customer insights. Combined with analytics, it’s likely that the number of market research positions will reduce.
AI will lead to some existing marketing roles being combined, while other new positions will gain prominence. For example, Creative Automation Strategists will seek the best ways to harness automation when creating marketing assets in order to increase efficiency and ROI – all while maintaining consistent branding.
As it becomes increasingly possible to direct more resources to the human element of marketing, there may be an increased demand for Marketing Psychologists and Customer Relationship Managers. In addition, we will see more demand for Communications Managers; customers are more interested in a business’ values than ever before and want to spend their money with companies that are having a positive impact. Therefore, more resources will be needed for PR purposes.
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Metaverse Jobs
As the increased adoption of virtual reality looms on the horizon, we can expect to see new jobs emerging that involve the development of marketing assets and management of campaigns that solely exist within the metaverse. New roles will pertain to developing words and creating brand experiences, causing an increased demand for 3D artists. Other possible roles will include Metaverse Ecosystem Managers, Metaverse Community Managers, and Metaverse Storytellers.
Wrapping Up
The future of marketing is exciting and dynamic, filled with emerging roles that will shape the industry for years to come. Seasoned marketers and newcomers alike need to keep a close eye on how things are changing, especially as it relates to more complex technologies such as blockchain. It’s hard to predict exactly what the role of blockchain will be as we move towards Web 3.0, but it’s likely to be highly disruptive with a broad range of uses.
Otherwise, by developing your data analysis, creativity, storytelling, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills, you will be able to put your best foot forward. Content quality will grow in importance; aspiring marketers will need to be at the top of their game in terms of creativity and thinking outside the box in order to take content standards to a new level. Soft skills relating to human-centred tasks such as customer relationship management will also become more important.
Make sure you are in a state of continuous learning – read widely, test out new tools and keep practicing. Attending workshops and conferences is another great way to stay up to date.
If you need any assistance with your marketing strategy, get in touch – my team and I would be delighted to help.
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