Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark - Target Internet

DIGITAL MARKETING SKILLS BENCHMARK

in association with

May 2020

THERE IS A NEED FOR ORGANISATIONS TO STEP BACK AND LOOK AT THEIR STRUCTURE, OBJECTIVES AND THE ROLES WITHIN THEM.

As the latest Benchmark results reveal, the pace of technology has showed

no signs of slowing down and the marketing profession continues to evolve

in the range of skills required to be effective. When it comes to continued

professional development, standing still is not an option. In some cases, such

as SEO and social where the level of change and complexity is moving all the

time, marketers need to be continually upskilling themselves just to stay in the

same place. The finding that junior marketers are seeing significant investment

in their development and increasing their technical knowledge also reflects

the findings from CIM’s qualitative ‘Needs’ research which highlighted that

more organisations are broadening their marketing structures at a junior level.

Brining technical roles such as PPC and SEO in-house, reduces both the cost

and reliance on outsourcing, whilst ensuring those who carry out these roles

are truly experts in their field. The need to step back and look at marketing

structures and the roles within them as stated in the 2018 Benchmark report

seems to be reflected by the latest results and shifts in skill levels. However, the

levels of data will continue to grow and with the introduction of the general

data protection regulation (GDPR) the need to keep investing in upskilling is

still, if not more critical than ever.

Gemma Butler, Marketing Director, Chartered Institute of Marketing

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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark

BACKGROUND

This second edition of the Digital Skills Benchmark

highlights some very significant shifts in skills over the

last 2 years that could have a profound impact on many

organisations.

Digital has fundamentally changed the way we buy,

make decisions and interact with one another. As such,

it has become an essential element of not only any

marketing strategy, but of any organisational strategy.

The environment of constant change has led to a huge

skills challenge for individuals and organisations.

The pace of change means a simple process of ‘one-off’

training is no longer fit for purpose. You can no longer

expect to sit on your current skill-set and progress. Skills

need to be updated on an on-going basis, and a culture of

ongoing learning needs to be developed by organisations

and adopted by individuals. Culture is an essential element

of the solution to any skills gap, as simply providing

learning opportunities and training does not necessarily

lead to its adoption and usage.

A starting point to addressing this skills challenge is to

understand where our skills gaps lie and how this differs

between industries, roles and seniorities. The Digital Skills

Benchmark aims to be that starting point, to inform the

conversation and drive an ongoing skills improvement

agenda.

THIS SECOND EDITION OF THE DIGITAL SKILLS BENCHMARK HIGHLIGHTS SOME VERY SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS IN SKILLS OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS THAT COULD HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON MANY ORGANISATIONS.

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Target Internet

ABOUT THE BENCHMARK

The Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark is the first study of its type and

scale that looks at skills across such a wide range of industries and levels of

seniority. Rather than being opinion based like many other studies, the core

of the benchmark actually assesses the skills of thousands of individuals (you

can read more on the methodology below). This approach allows for a frank

look at digital marketing skills in the UK market and identifies a range of

skills gaps and challenges that need to be overcome in order for businesses

to thrive. The benchmark combines raw data on where skill levels currently lie,

whilst also providing insights and opinions on what this means in practice. The

aim of the benchmark is to help UK industry make informed decisions about

improving skills, and to reinforce the need for a culture of ongoing learning in

all organisations. The benchmark, now in its 2nd edition, also compares how

skills have changed in the last 2 years, and analyses what we can learn from our

progress (and lack of it in many cases).

METHODOLOGY

The initial benchmark asked nearly

4873 individuals a series of questions

on 12 core digital marketing related

topics. The latest iteration adds 3876

results and allows us to compare the

progress made over the last 2 years.

The questions were taken from a

bank of questions on each topic that

tested both tactical and strategic

knowledge. These questions were

weighted according to difficulty/

level of specialism, and a percentage

score was calculated out of a possible

100%. The benchmark was tested in

a range of commercial organisations

before being made more broadly

available. This was to make sure

the results aligned with the reality

of an individual’s skills. Questions

are regularly updated to reflect the

latest industry best practice and are

aligned with the Chartered Institute

of Marketing professional standards

and qualifications.

INDIVIDUALS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS THAT ASSESS TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH BEST PRACTICE AND ALIGNED WITH THE CIM PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS.

THE AIM OF THE BENCHMARK IS TO HELP UK INDUSTRY MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT IMPROVING SKILLS, AND TO REINFORCE THE NEED FOR A CULTURE OF ON-

GOING LEARNING IN ALL ORGANISATIONS.

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INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN

HERE WE CAN SEE THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE BY TOPIC AREA BY INDUSTRY. EACH INDUSTRY HAS COMMENTARY ON KEY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND WHAT THIS POTENTIALLY MEANS IN CONTEXT.

INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN

Here we can see the level of knowledge by topic area by industry. Each industry has commentary on key strengths and weaknesses and what this potentially means in context.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY FINDINGS

A full breakdown of the benchmark results

can be found later in this report, broken

down by topic area, industry and seniority.

However, beyond the core measures, when

we look at particular questions and read the

data in context of general industry trends,

some clear challenges emerge:

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Lack of progress in the last two years (which hides a deeper problem)When we look at a comparison of knowledge levels now

against two years ago, when the Digital Skills Benchmark

was first compiled, we can see only small percentage

increases in some areas, and no change at all in others. At

first inspection this indicates little or no improvements in

knowledge in some disciplines, but also bear in mind this

hides some very significant shifts across different levels

of seniority. We should also factor in that these different

digital disciplines are changing quickly and many are

growing in complexity, indicating we need to be constantly

learning just to stand still.

Social, SEO and Usability are getting more complexSocial Media, Search Engine Optimisation and Usability

have all seen slight decreases in scores since the initial

report two years ago. This is indicative of the increasing

complexity of these disciplines and level of knowledge

required to achieve similar benchmarked scores.

Less reliance on email marketingAlthough email marketing remains one of the highest

scoring digital disciplines, its score has dropped

significantly (particularly in some industries) from where it

was two years ago. This is indicative of the lower reliance

on email in many industries and the realisation that email

marketing is becoming increasingly challenging.

Analytics knowledge is improvingAcross many industries and levels of seniority, analytics

knowledge is improving. This is particularly true in

more junior roles where analytics knowledge has grown

significantly in the last two years.

Content marketing fundamentals are more broadly understoodKnowledge of the fundamentals of Content marketing have

improved, and quite considerable in some industries and

levels of seniority. However we should remember these

are fundamentals, meaning we are probably getting more

content, but not necessarily content that follows absolutely

best practice.

Junior roles have significantly increased their knowledge levelsAt the intern, assistant and executive levels we have

seen very significant levels of improvement across a

wide range of digital disciplines. This shows considerable

improvement in training and education for entry and junior

level positions and potentially a clearer knowledge of the

importance of these skills in this group.

Mid-senior level managemvent knowledge has drifted across many digital disciplinesAlthough management level roles skills seem to be fairly

static, in many head of department level roles, knowledge

has slipped over the last two years. Thus indicating that

their may be a growing mid/senior-management level

skills gap in many organisations.

Directors are getting a little better,Two years ago we highlighted a skills gap at director level.

This has improved slightly in some cases, but the small

level of improvement indicates the need for continued

focus in this area.

DIGITAL DISCIPLINES BREAKDOWN

Topic Percentage Change %

Analytics and Data 35% +2

Content Marketing 28% +4

Digital Strategy 34% -

Ecommerce 37% -

Email Marketing 48% -4

General Marketing 47% +2

Mobile Marketing 29% -

Online Advertising 31% -

PPC 31% -

SEO 34% -1

Social Media 34% -2

Usability 28% -1

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC

Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing

General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy

Content MarketingAnalytics and Data As we can see, only email marketing

and general marketing knowledge still

scored above 40%. All other skills ranged

between 20%-40% with some small

changes in some areas versus 2 years ago.

This still indicates a generally low level

of knowledge in digital marketing and a

workforce struggling to stay up to date.

At first inspection the changes indicate

little or no improvements in knowledge

in some disciplines, but also bear in mind

this hides some very significant shifts

across different levels of seniority (see

later in the report.) We should also factor

in that these different digital disciplines

are changing quickly and many are

growing in complexity, indicating we

need to be constantly learning just to

stand still.

Although email marketing remains one

of the highest scoring digital disciplines,

its score has dropped significantly

(particularly in some industries) from

where it was 2 years ago. This is indicative

of the lower reliance on email in many

industries and the realisation that email

marketing is becoming increasingly

challenging.

Social Media, Search Engine Optimisation

and Usability have all seen slight

decreases in scores since the initial

report 2 years ago. This is indicative of the

increasing complexity of these disciplines

and level of knowledge required to

achieve a similar benchmarked scores

Knowledge of the fundamentals of

Content marketing have improved .

However we should remember these

are fundamentals and knowledge levels

overall are still very low.Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]

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Target Internet

INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN

Here we can see the level of knowledge by topic area by industry. Each industry has commentary on key strengths and weaknesses and what this potentially means in context.

Although skills gaps vary from industry to industry, some key insights are

common. We have shown how skills have changed since 2 years ago and have

also added a range of new industries to the list we cover.

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AGENCY


Analytics and Data 41% -3

Content Marketing 31% -4

Digital Strategy 40% -5

Ecommerce 43% -3


General Marketing 48% -

Mobile Marketing 35% -3

Online Advertising 40% -2

PPC 36% -2

SEO 42% -7

Social Media 37% -2

Usability 35% -5

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy

Content MarketingAnalytics and Data As you would hope, agencies’

general level of knowledge of

digital was better than most

other industry sectors. However,

we have seen declines in

overall knowledge levels in

most disciplines in the last

2 years, again indicating the

challenge of staying up to date

in an increasingly complex and

fast changing world. Bear in

mind the benchmark includes

a wide range of different

agency types, and specialist

digital agencies actually saw

improvements in the majority

of disciplines.

Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]

9

Target Internet

The automotive industry shows

further growth in email skills,

reflecting anecdotal evidence

of over reliance on this channel

still in the industry. Analytics

skills have improved, which is

reassuring due the low level

in this sector being noted in

the previous benchmark. Like

many industries however, skills

have dropped slightly in many

areas as some disciplines have

become more complex and

the pace of change continues.

Mobile and usability skills

have grown slightly, again

reassuring as a lack of focus

in this area was noted in the

previous benchmark, especially

as consumer device usage

changes.

AUTOMOTIVE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy

Content MarketingAnalytics and Data





Ecommerce 34% -

Email Marketing 49% +7


Mobile Marketing 25% +6


PPC 38% -2

SEO 41% -4

Social Media 36% -

Usability 25% +3


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BEAUTY AND COSMETICS

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy



Analytics and Data 32% -

Content Marketing 23% -


Ecommerce 39% -

Email Marketing 48% -




PPC 34% -

SEO 30% -

Social Media 39% -

Usability 22% -

This is the first time the Beauty

and Cosmetics industry has

been analysed independently

in the benchmark. The

industry is scoring poorly

overall against average, but

does slightly above average

in the Ecommerce and PPC

disciplines. This makes sense

against anecdotal evidence of

a limited numbers of brands

moving toward online direct

sales, but is indicative of an

industry behind the curve in

most cases.


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Target Internet

Charities seem to still be very

focused on email marketing

skills but thankfully knowledge

has increased in Digital

Strategy and Social Media.

This reflects an industry that

is making better planned use

of the opportunities of social

media. However there has been

in a dip in Analytics skills and

the industry is slightly behind

average in this area, meaning

that any improvements in

digital strategy may not be

best informed.

CHARITY

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy





Digital Strategy 32% +10

Ecommerce 34% +6


General Marketing 41% -1


Online Advertising 30% +7

PPC 28% -1

SEO 29% +5

Social Media 34% +9

Usability 24% +7


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CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 30% -





PPC 27% -

SEO 33% -

Social Media 35% -

Usability 21% -

This is the first time the

Construction and Property

industry has been analysed

independently in the

benchmark. The industry is

scoring poorly overall against

average in all disciplines

except email marketing. This

is indicative of an industry

behind the curve in most

cases, with over reliance on

the increasingly challenging

email channel. However, it also

indicates that organisations

in this sector that address

their digital skills gap have

an opportunity to stand out

amongst their competitors.


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Target Internet

Generally, the Consultancy

sector improved its scores in

most digital disciplines but

actually still scored quite

poorly against averages. This

is heavily impacted by what

type of consultancy these

organisations offer, but since

digital impacts almost all

areas of business, it should

be a key area of focus for

the Consultancy industry to

improve their digital skills.

CONSULTANCY

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 37% +9





PPC 30% +5

SEO 31% +7

Social Media 33% +1

Usability 30% +7


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Consumer Goods organisations

saw improvement across

the board since the previous

benchmark, but were pretty

much inline with overall

averages except in some key

areas. Email, Ecommerce,

Mobile and Display skills were

all above average which is a

positive sign for an industry

generally moving toward

direct to consumer ecommerce

offerings. However, social

media skills have dropped

and are poor against averages,

leaving a great opportunity

for brands to stand out in this

area.

CONSUMER GOODS

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 48% +5





PPC 31% +2

SEO 38% +3

Social Media 30% -1

Usability 35% +4


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Target Internet

The Ecommerce/Online sector

was well above average in

the previous benchmark, but

worryingly we have seen skills

drop back across the board and

results actually being much

lower than average across

most disciplines. However,

it should be noted that the

number of respondents in this

category grew dramatically

as new businesses enter the

market and existing businesses

moved to have online offerings.

Combined with greatly

increased use expectations,

the ecommerce industry has

much to improve and live up

to. It should also be noted

that there were a number of

high scoring outliers that were

clearly doing an exceptional

job of delivering ecommerce

experiences.

ECOMMERCE/ONLINE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 34% -11





PPC 27% -11

SEO 30% -16

Social Media 32% -

Usability 22% -16


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Education was one of several

sectors that scored well

previously in traditional

marketing techniques and

email marketing, but struggled

in all other aspects of digital.

That trend has continued with

little improvement in many

areas. This is in line with

the industry as a whole and

interestingly, new entrants to

the sector were more likely to

classify themselves as ‘online

services’ than education

businesses (mainly apps

offering educational services).

This is indicative of an industry

changing radically and

potentially being disrupted by

new market entrants.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 37% +1





PPC 30% -

SEO 33% +4

Social Media 34% -

Usability 27% +6


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Target Internet

ELECTRONICS AND ENGINEERING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 36% -





PPC 31% -

SEO 33% -

Social Media 32% -

Usability 29% -


Electronics and Engineering





average in most disciplines.

This is indicative of an industry

behind the curve in most cases.

However, it also indicates that

organisations in this sector

have an opportunity to embrace

direct to customer routes and

stand out from competitors if

they can improve their digital

skills.


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EVENTS AND CONFERENCES

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 38% -





PPC 24% -

SEO 26% -

Social Media 32% -

Usability 19% -

This is the first time the Events

and Conferences industry has


in the benchmark. The industry

is scoring very poorly against

average across the range

of digital disciplines. In an

environment where physical

events and conferences are

unlikely to return to normal for

some time, the industry needs

to urgently improve its skills

and change its approach if it is

to service.


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Target Internet

FASHION

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 37% -





PPC 26% -

SEO 29% -

Social Media 23% -

Usability 23% -


Fashion industry has been

analysed independently in

the benchmark. The industry

is scoring poorly overall

against average in most digital

disciplines. This is perhaps

surprising bearing in mind the

huge growth in online fashion

retail, but perhaps indicative

of the majority of the industry

being in ‘catch-up’ mode. In an

environment where physical

retail is struggling, there is

clearly much that can be done

in the industry to embrace

digital more effectively.


20


Financial services’ reliance

on email marketing, due to

the traditional nature of the

industry and risk-aversity

(with email allowing for long

compliance statements), is

reflected in the skill-set of the

industry. However, progress

since the previous benchmark

has been significant, indicating

an industry that has begun

to embrace its shortcomings.

Digital Strategy scores have

grown significantly, but these

needs further progress with

Analytics and Data to be truly

effective.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 37% +5





PPC 32% +4

SEO 33% +12

Social Media 34% +7

Usability 30% -2


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Target Internet

FOOD AND DRINK

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 32% -





PPC 27% -

SEO 33% -

Social Media 35% -

Usability 21% -

This is the first time the Food

and Drink industry has been

analysed independently in the




except traditional marketing

and very slightly above average

in social media. This highlights

a great opportunity for general

improvement in digital skills

and to further enhance the

use of social media in what

is generally a highly engaged

industry online.


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GAMING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 34% -





PPC 31% -

SEO 33% -

Social Media 30% -

Usability 24% -


Gaming industry has been




average in most disciplines,

which is perhaps surprising for

a generally technical industry.

It should be noted that there

were a number of very high

scoring outliers, doing a great

job of marketing their offerings.

However, many appear to

be reliant on their channel

partners to deliver great

digital marketing experiences.

A clear opportunity to embrace

their own marketing activity to

grow business.


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Target Internet

HEALTHCARE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 36% -





PPC 34% -

SEO 37% -

Social Media 36% -

Usability 32% -


Healthcare industry has been



is showing a mixed picture

with its highest scores in

traditional marketing an email,

and poor scores in many digital

disciplines. However, social

media, PPC and SEO were all

slightly above average. Scores

across the industry were

also very varied, indicating

uneven adoption of digital as

a primary approach, with some

exceptional and some very

poor results.


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INSURANCE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 38% -





PPC 27% -

SEO 37% -

Social Media 37% -

Usability 31% -


Insurance industry has been

analysed independently


industry is scoring above

average across the board

in all digital disciplines,

but with exceptional scores

in traditional marketing

and email. This indicates a

strong reliance on traditional

methods still but with very

good adoption of digital

channels as well. It should be

noted that there were some

outliers with very poor scores

that represented some of

the better known and larger

industry brands.


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Target Internet

IT/Technology/Telecoms have

traditionally been behind the

curve in digital adoption and

still remain slightly below

average in many digital

disciplines. However, this is in

the context of great growth

in skills across the digital

disciplines.

IT/TECHNOLOGY/TELECOMS

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 38% -8





PPC 32% +6

SEO 33% -1

Social Media 35% +1

Usability 30% +2


26


Leisure, Entertainment and

Sport have fallen back from

an industry that was above

average in most digital

disciplines to actually being

well below average in most

areas. This drop has fallen in-

line with significant growth in

respondents in this industry,

perhaps indicative of many

late adopters not having the

appropriate digital skills.

LEISURE/ENTERTAINMENT/SPORT

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 33% +5





PPC 31% -3

SEO 26% -10

Social Media 34% -13

Usability 24% -10


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Target Internet

LEGAL AND ACCOUNTANCY

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 34% -





PPC 25% -

SEO 41% -

Social Media 36% -

Usability 23% -

This is the first time the Legal

and Accountancy industry has




overall against average in

all disciplines except email

marketing. This is indicative

of an industry behind the

curve in most cases, with over

reliance on the increasingly

challenging email channel.

However, it also indicates that

organisations in this sector

that address their digital

skills gap have an opportunity

to stand out amongst their

competitors.


28


LUXURY GOODS

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 45% -





PPC 43% -

SEO 41% -

Social Media 34% -

Usability 31% -


Luxury Goods industry has



scores well in many digital

disciplines against average, but

with very high scores in email

marketing, perhaps indicative

of reliance (and anecdotally

still good engagement for this

channel in this industry) on

this channel. Paid search and

SEO where also high compared

to average indicative of great

tactical adoption, but digital

strategy scores where low

from almost all respondents.

Clearly an industry with great

opportunity to embrace more

robust approaches to strategy

which could lead to even more

success.


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Target Internet

MANUFACTURING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 30% -





PPC 27% -

SEO 20% -

Social Media 30% -

Usability 20% -


Manufacturing industry has



is scoring poorly overall

against average in all digital

disciplines. This is indicative

of an industry behind the

curve in most cases, but also







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MEDIA AND PUBLISHING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 41% +14





PPC 30% +6

SEO 33% +12

Social Media 35% -4

Usability 26% +6

Media and publishing have

seen strong growth across

most digital disciplines since

the last benchmark, but are

still below average in most

areas. The sectors strongest

areas are in email, which was

also historically the case, but

interestingly there has been

good growth in ecommerce

and display advertising skills.

For an industry that has been

struggling for some time

with monetisation, these are

perhaps reassuring signals,

but with lots of room for

improvement.


31

Target Internet

PHARMACEUTICAL

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 31% -





PPC 31% -

SEO 28% -

Social Media 29% -

Usability 30% -


Pharmaceutical industry has




overall against average in all

disciplines except traditional

and email marketing. This


behind the curve in most cases,

with over reliance on the

increasingly challenging email

channel. However its also







32


PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 33% -6





PPC 30% -8

SEO 34% +5

Social Media 34% -7

Usability 29% -1

Professional services skills

are still focussed on email

marketing, with very low

levels of knowledge around

social media and content

marketing. As well as scoring

below average in many areas,

the sector has also seen

many scores drop since the

benchmark’s last edition,

indicating difficulties in

keeping skills up to date. An

industry that clearly has some

particularly serious issues with

digital skills.


33

Target Internet

PUBLIC SECTOR

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 40% -





PPC 26% -

SEO 30% -

Social Media 42% -

Usability 33% -


Public Sector has been





except email marketing, and

interestingly social media. This


behind the curve in most cases,

with over reliance on the

increasingly challenging email

channel, but with opportunity

in how they embrace social

media. It should be noted there

were some outliers doing an

exceptional job with digital

skills within the public sector.


34


RECRUITMENT AND HR

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 40% -





PPC 25% -

SEO 32% -

Social Media 33% -

Usability 34% -

This is the first time

the Recruitment and HR




scoring generally inline with

averages, except in digital

strategy and content where

there were quite poor scores.

This indicates an industry

with great scope for improving

business results if these

disciplines were improved,

giving the ability to stand out

from competitors.


35

Target Internet

RETAIL

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 39% +4





PPC 31% +3

SEO 34% +3

Social Media 35% +2

Usability 27% -2

The retail industry has seen

good improvement in digital

skills since the last benchmark,

now bringing itself generally

inline with overall averages.

This is great news for a industry

that is struggling with its high-

street operations, but this is

against a backdrop of very low

bar and great opportunity for

improvement,


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TRAVEL/TOURISM/HOSPITALITY/CATERING

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 39% -





PPC 30% -

SEO 35% -

Social Media 36% -

Usability 29% -


Travel, Tourism, Hospitality

and Catering industry has been



is scoring inline or slightly

above average in most digital

disciplines. However, this is

against a backdrop of radical

change and disruption and it

remains to be seen if these

new skills can be used to help

build business back after the

COVID-19 crisis.


37

Target Internet

SENIORITY BREAKDOWN

Here we can see the level of knowledge broken down by topic area based on role seniority.

At a high level we can see that more junior roles knowledge has increased

significantly since the first benchmark 2 years ago. This positive news has been

joined by a slight increase in knowledge at Board level, which starts to address

once of the biggest concerns outlined in the original benchmark two years

ago. However, this slight increase should be an indicator of our need to keep

developing and building momentum.

The most worrying changes over the last two years, however, is a significant

dip in knowledge level at the Head of Department level. This mid/senior

management skills gap can have a very significant impact on an organisation’s

ability to implement and manage any digital strategy.

38

INTERN

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 35% +19





PPC 27% +16

SEO 29% +6

Social Media 31% +6

Usability 22% +4


39

Target Internet

ASSISTANT/GRADUATE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 34% +2





PPC 30% +5

SEO 30% +1

Social Media 31% +1

Usability 26% +4


40


EXECUTIVE

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 39% +2





PPC 33% -1

SEO 35% -

Social Media 35% -3

Usability 30% +1


41

Target Internet

MANAGER

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 39% -2





PPC 31% -

SEO 34% -

Social Media 35% -1

Usability 29% +1


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HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 38% -4





PPC 34% -5

SEO 40% -10

Social Media 36% -2

Usability 32% -3


43

Target Internet

DIRECTOR

Usability

Social Media

SEO

PPC


General Marketing

Email Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Strategy






Ecommerce 40% +14


General Marketing 63% -2



PPC 32% +3

SEO 36% +4

Social Media 36% -

Usability 33% +4


44


CONCLUSIONS

The latest results from the benchmark report are both encouraging and provide food for thought. Over the last two years we’ve continued to see the role of the modern marketer increase, combining specialisms with a wider ranging brief. The nature of marketing’s role as a business critical function has adapted significantly with digital continuing to be a key driver. Issues around data and trust

and how to navigate the complex world of technology continues to affect organisations of all sizes. Marketers must demonstrate their value in driving critical growth and organisations are more and more reliant on marketers to protect and grow their brand identity and revenues.

As highlighted by the latest results, CIM also recognises the digital skills

present in junior marketers with businesses increasingly putting their brands in

the hands of the next generation. In addition, recent changes to CIMs Chartered

Marketer programme which will allow more marketers to gain recognition than

ever before, we believe it is a marketers responsibility no matter their level of

seniority to stay up to date and engaged with the core principles ensuring a full

view of how tactics meet strategy.

Chris Daly, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Marketing

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DIGITAL CONTINUES TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY WE BUY, MAKE DECISIONS AND INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER. THIS ENVIRONMENT OF CONSTANT CHANGE HAS LED TO A HUGE SKILLS CHALLENGE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS. THE ONLY GUARANTEE IS THAT THE PACE OF CHANGE, AND THE RATE AT WHICH THIS IMPACTS SKILLS REQUIREMENTS, WILL GET FASTER AND FASTER. ORGANISATIONS (AND INDIVIDUALS) THAT ARE ABLE TO ADOPT A CULTURE OF ON-GOING LEARNING WILL BE BEST PLACED TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THIS ENVIRONMENT.

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WANT TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR TEAM’S SKILLS GAPS ARE AND WORK OUT HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR TRAINING BUDGET?


Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark - Target Internet

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Transcript of Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark - Target Internet