Marketers continue to grapple with a lack of data and analytics skills in their teams for the second year consecutively. Upskilling, the process of teaching employees additional skills, has seemingly taken a backseat, keeping a solution for the skill-gap issue at bay. The study found that around 36.9% of online marketers admitted that inadequate data and analytics knowledge was a primary concern for their businesses. A lag in performance marketing skills ranks second at 19.6%, followed by content and copywriting skills at 18.1%. Social media acumen and e-commerce skills trailed at 14.8% and 12.1% respectively.
The study highlighted hiring external talent as the most common approach to bridge the gap, with 34.5% of marketers choosing this route. Approximately similar percentages of marketers rely on training existing staff (33.8%) and using consultancy and freelancers (24.5%). Inherent problems, however, remain unaddressed with only 11.2% of businesses conducting skill audits to find a long-term solution.
The data collected for the study also suggests that opportunities for upskilling have been decreased, with 48.8% of participants saying they weren’t offered the chance to learn more to close any skill gap. Comparatively in 2023, 33.5% of marketers reported that no such opportunities were made available to them.
In contrast, the majority of marketers, about 83%, believe that they possess the right skill set for the industry, leaving 5.3% doubting their proficiency. Interestingly enough, 8.7% of higher-ups in marketing believe they aren’t adequately equipped for effective job performance. This percentage is higher when compared to management and junior levels marketing roles, at 4.4% and 5.5% respectively.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that senior marketers are the least likely to be offered upskilling opportunities. Around 60.7% of CMOs/Marketing Directors were not given the chance by their employers to upskill, while middle management and junior marketers stood at 50.2% and 38.6% respectively.
Source: Marketers point to data analysis as biggest skills gap in teams, survey says.
