THE 5 MARKETING SKILLS EMPLOYERS NEED RIGHT NOW

Marketing jobs are trending in a big way, according to LinkedIn. 

The business network platform recently released a report and this handy infographic showcasing the trends in marketing jobs that arose between the start of stay-at-home orders (March 30, 2020) and the six-month period immediately following. As the pandemic spurred the shift toward virtual jobs, these five marketing roles were ones most posted by employers: 

1. Digital Marketing Specialist

2. Digital Account Executive

3. Social Media Manager 

4. Digital Marketing Manager 

5. Copywriter

And these were the five most in-demand skills:

1. Instagram 

2. Content Marketing 

3. Creative Problem Solving 

4. Brand Awareness 

5. Branding 

As the managing partner of a full-service content marketing company, I was fascinated (and thrilled) to see social media, paid search strategy, SEO, and content marketing among the top skills that employers want. 

While many brands have been expanding their e-commerce presence for a while, the overnight shift in our lifestyles wrought by Covid-19 drove customers online in a bigger surge than anyone had predicted. Pre-pandemic, Google search traffic hovered around 3.6 billion searches per day. But since March 2020, it's averaged around 6 billion per day. People are online, and that's where marketers need to be too.

If you're an employer trying to hire marketers for your team right now, the competition for talent is fierce. You may be asking, how can we compete with all of the other job listings in order to attract the best marketers with those in-demand skills?

Two ways. You can work with a company like mine to supplement your team while you're scaling up. And you can make these important shifts to stand out among the competition. 

Create an Employee-Centered Work Culture

Happy employees are more engaged, more productive, less likely to leave, and highly likely to recommend your company. In the age of social media, especially in professional platforms like LinkedIn that are built for networking, it's easy for potential employees to reach out and ask your current employees how they like their job. Applicants can also easily see employee reviews--both positive and negative--on sites like Glassdoor.

What are your current employees going to tell them? That the work-life balance is atrocious? Or will they list off all the great perks you offer and mention how happy they are working at your company?

Make Your Company's Mission and Values Clear (and Stand by Them)

You're looking for talented employees. But remember, those potential employees are also scrutinizing your company to gauge whether or not they feel like they'll fit in. This is where your mission and values can make or break a deal if you want to win them over.

Nurture Growth and Education Opportunities

If you're going to attract and maintain talented, dedicated employees, your company goals need to work in tandem with your employees' personal career goals. New employees are 30 times more likely to join your team if they see opportunities to accelerate their career with your company. At Masthead, we not only encourage our employees to sign up for courses that enable them to grow professionally, we pay for them, too. In recent years, we've also created our own coursework that's available to our employees and anyone who collaborates with our company (freelancers, colleagues, and clients) at no charge. 

BY AMANDA PRESSNER KREUSER, CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, MASTHEAD MEDIA@MASTHEADMEDIA