Social media and SEO most popular skills for modern marketers

Data from LinkedIn collected over the past three years reveal a recurring story – digital marketers require social media and SEO skills above all others.

Hastened by the pandemic, this digitalisation of an already tech-savvy industry accelerated between 2020 and 2021, with search managers, social media coordinators and search engine marketing managers among the four fastest growing marketing occupations listed on LinkedIn.

In 2022, LinkedIn named SEO as the third most in-demand marketing skill, after digital marketing and social media marketing.

And this year, businesses have concentrated their employment searches to make social media and digital marketing two of their top three required skills.

This trend is even more precedent when you consider the turbulent health of the global economy and big media players such as Yahoo, Meta and Amazon announcing big layoffs at the start of 2023.

20,000 are expected to be laid off at Yahoo, 10,000 from Meta and 18,000 from Amazon.

Marketing budgets continue to grow

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently confirmed that businesses are holding back on recruitment, with Ann Swain, global CEO of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), suggesting: “The widespread reports from the end of 2022 that the UK will be in a recession in 2023 clearly had an impact [on job vacancies].”

Despite this gloomy outlook, those within the marketing function appear to be avoiding this employment shortage.

According to a report by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), nearly 60% of CMOs saw budgets grow in 2022, and expects this trend to continue into 2023.

The same survey revealed that over half of respondents will enjoy an increased marketing budget over the next 12 months (53%), with a hike between 11% and 20%.

CIM chief executive Chris Daly said: “The coming year will test the resilience of our industry, but it is clear the majority of professional marketers see a silver lining in the storm clouds.

“With household budgets under pressure from rising costs, and wages shrinking due to inflation, brands have the opportunity to benefit from both those trading down from premium offerings or looking for affordable luxuries to compensate for compromised lifestyles.

“Attracting and retaining these new customers will be key, as will negotiating sufficient resources from the wider business to unlock much needed growth.”

SEO and social media key skills

As per the LinkedIn findings, the concentration on social media traction and using Google et al to surface marketing and advertising content means brands are still investing heavily in these areas.

Polly Astill, senior marketing manager at agency Impression claims that SEO will be the biggest revenue driver moving forward.

SEO is vital for marketing to work successfully as it gains visibility for business websites, services and products. It also allows companies to understand exactly what potential customers are searching for in the first place.

“We asked senior marketers to take part in a survey to determine what the marketing landscape will look like in 2023. Despite the cost of living crisis highlighted as the biggest challenge businesses will face in 2023, almost 700 respondents said their marketing budgets will increase with 400+ predicting SEO to be their biggest revenue driver,” she says.

“As the competitive paid media landscape drives higher CPAs, it’s no surprise that organic tactics will be utilised to drive meaningful growth. The businesses that reap the rewards will be those that understand the importance of investing in a solid SEO strategy alongside short-term performance activity. This combined approach will maximise returns on marketing investment in 2023 and beyond.”