Digital marketing continues to establish itself as an essential skillset for organizations of all sizes, within every industry. Yet despite the undeniable need for these capabilities, the majority of digital professionals fail to achieve entry-level competency in digital marketing skills, with skill levels registering equally low across the USA, UK and Ireland.
That’s why ProTrain has partnered with the Digital Marketing Institute to offer the Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing. This certification is ideal for anyone involved in the planning, implementation or measurement of digital strategies – or anyone who would like to pursue a career in this area. The Professional Certification in Digital Marketing course is a rounded introduction to all the core digital marketing disciplines, and will prepare students to take up a more specialist role within the overall marketing domain.
In the USA, 51% of digital marketers rated themselves as very or fairly competent, but in a test-based review, only 38% of these professionals actually reached a competent skill level. US digital marketers scored highest in mobile skills, with 39% of respondents achieving competency, and lowest in display advertising, with only 35% receiving a competent rating or higher.
Marketing professionals in the UK scored an average of just 37%, emphasizing the fact that many businesses and organizations are struggling to keep pace with the rate of digital evolution. Overall, UK marketing professionals scored the highest across the three countries in the category of strategy (42%), while its weakest skills were email marketing (33%) and display advertising (30%).
Similarly, digital skill levels are continuing to fall in Ireland, with marketing professionals achieving an average score of just 38%, down from 42% in 2014. In Ireland, the most significant drop in skills was in the mobile category with participants scoring 40% on average, a 7% drop from 2014. There were also sharp declines in search marketing skills (37% vs. 41%), display (35% vs. 39%), strategy (38% vs. 40%), email (38% vs. 40%) and social media (37% vs. 40%).
These results are unacceptable, and highlight a persistent, and widening skills gap that has the potential to seriously threaten the growth of the digital economy at a global level.
For more information on the Digital Skills Crisis, download our FREE report, Missing the Mark: The Digital Marketing Skills Gap in the USA, UK, and Ireland.
