Most of us are adept at running multiple aspects of our lives through digital channels. We use technology to shop more easily, travel faster, keep in touch with friends and generally make our days more efficient. In our personal lives, we can see the impact of technology straight away, so we embrace it, are inquisitive and want to learn more about it. Do we welcome digital change as easily in our professional lives? I’d argue that we don’t, and that this needs to change if we are to use digital to its full potential in a business environment, especially as marketers.
‘The digital landscape’ is a phrase often spoken in the marketing industry, but gone are the days when digital activity was the duty of a team of specialists. Digital is now integral to all marketing roles, and professionals in the industry need to feel confident to move with the times.
For example, an employee’s remit may be PR, but as campaigns become increasingly integrated they will need to understand and implement a plethora of digital practices. This could be anything from social media analytics to SEO, basic website and app building processes to email marketing.
With these diverse skills forming part of a constantly evolving workplace, concerns have been raised with regards to the UK’s ability to handle these changing times. Go ON UK – a charity set up to promote digital skills – released a study stating that over 12million people in the UK still do not have the required knowledge to advance in this electronic era. A concerning statistic indeed. However, it would be interesting to know if these people are more competent in this area at home, compared to at work.
There are already efforts to upskill the nation’s digital CV, particularly when it comes to young people. OECD released research surrounding technological skills and how computers link to pupil performance, reaffirming the need for more emphasis on this in the coming years. Young people, or 'digital natives', may work in reverse to their parents – they use technology so much in their personal lives, it will seem only natural for them to use it at school, college, university and in the world of work.
The way I see it, there are two distinct areas to the current digital skills gap; working professionals struggling to find the time to master new technological advances and students who need to be shown how to channel their digital skills as part of their education.
Evidently, it is essential that the millions of professional people who are lacking digital skills are shown how to improve. I believe, however, that the appetite to learn must be cultivated first. It is our job to educate, but it is everyone’s personal responsibility to understand why this is necessary and take ownership of their own digital literacy. Professional marketers, more than other professions, may well be expected to be ahead of the game with their digital skills, as the sector changes at pace.
However, time is never on our side. It is completely understandable that those struggling to come to terms with the constantly evolving digital landscape feel they don’t have time to grasp new skills, while doing their day job. Furthermore, the longer we put things off, the harder it will be to understand them.
Finding the right resources to help marketers gain these skills is key. These could be free eBooks and guides on topics from content development to YouTube marketing, a podcast or even instruction from a colleague or acquaintance. Whatever it is, marketers must set themselves specific goals and stick to them. Think about ways that these new skills will make your working life more efficient and, like in your personal life, use this as your motivation to learn.
However, the key to closing the digital skills gap completely is to arm the next generation of professionals with the skills they need to thrive in a digital world. Technology should be embedded in education, rather than being seen as an optional ‘add-on’. This way, young people will leave school with high levels of digital literacy under their belt, standing them in good stead for future years. Should they choose a marketing career or not, it’s still important to embrace online technology.
In short, digital is everywhere and in everything, so it must be embedded throughout organisations and their marketing teams, job roles and, in particular, education. We are all learning how best to utilise the possibilities that advances in technology have opened up to us, but one thing is for sure: the more you understand, the better prepared for the digital future you'll be.
By Thomas Brown, Director of Strategy and Marketing at CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing).
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