According to a recent marketing salary and career survey, a majority of marketers felt like they may not be receiving the right upskilling facilities by their employers.
The secret to upskilling in B2B marketing or most other roles entails having your own upskilling goals laid out without depending on an institute or employer to take care of it as a whole.
Marketers or others in a B2B role are often offered training and upskilling of various kinds but it’s crucial to keep in mind that many times, these facilities will tie into an organization goal. For instance, if a brand or company wants to push their ABM strategies further, they might choose to invest in training their teams by having them undertake various ABM specific courses and certifications.
But this might not always tie into what a particular employee may want for their own long term plan or growth.
Upskilling initiatives that combine personal initiatives and organizational goals can actually carry more weight in future.
For B2B marketing teams who are looking at new ways to upskill themselves but get spoilt for choice, here are a few factors that might help when making a decision:
Understanding the Current Needs of a Typical B2B Marketing Role
B2B marketing is evolving and skills that were prevalent a decade ago might find some place in a priority list of skills today but marketers will need more add-ons to this list to grow or successfully build ROI against their efforts.
The constant array of new martech features and tools (remember, ChatGPT) and similar such industry updates naturally mean that marketers need to constantly self-learn to stay abreast of latest industry needs and trends. This is just one example of maneuvering upskilling outcomes.
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Knowing Where You Stand And What You Aim To Do Down The Line
It is important for organizations to allocate KPIs to various marketing processes and functions to effectively measure marketing performance and the eventual ROI it creates for brands. Marketers who map their existing skills against these KPIs are in a better position to understand what the organization expects from the marketing team as a whole in the future and they can accordingly take the right upskilling measures to drive those goals, if they feel there are lags in the current state of the game. This is where marketing leaders can enable a better professional growth process that aligns to the brand’s overall goal by helping team members understand where they stand and map it to individual growth goals as well.
On the other hand, marketers who currently work in let’s say marketing ops but aim to be email marketing professionals in future: the growth map and upskilling initiative has to accordingly be set in place to help align to that goal: typically this would involve training on email marketing platforms, how to craft email cadences that can initiate marketing ROI, knowing what measures need to be taken to enable better email deliverability and more.
Staying atop of Upcoming Industry Changes and Needs
Industry leaders, constant research and reports as well as surveys can provide enriching insights into what type of skills and marketing needs will be dominant in future. This is where marketers who have a keen interest in constantly upskilling can use this data to identify what they need to do now or learn today to prepare for upcoming industry changes.
A short example: the buzz around AI and it’s growing impact across marketing is not new, established leaders often cite how in future, marketers who know how to use AI powered tools to drive a brand’s benefit will be in demand. Established leaders have also often said that AI won’t essentially replace marketer roles but will need certain type of skilled marketers who can use the systems effectively to impact change.
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Identifying Areas of Interest
B2B marketing includes a huge list of sub functions, from omnichannel marketing to ABM to social media marketing, lead generation and so much more. Marketers who are well tuned into running one area of the typical cycle that their organization has adopted can easily identify what other areas will be useful to learn more on before deciding on what type of training or upskilling plan to pursue.
Constant upskilling across the typical marketing functions and areas can allow marketers to have the right knowledge and skill set to power more than one function, putting them at a more competitive advantage down the line.
The B2B industry is largely dynamic and marketers today need to adapt to new trends and martech regularly. Constant training and upskilling is necessary to stay atop of any role. As the industry shifts to a more automated, AI driven format, team sizes might narrow further but at the base of it all, certain skills that only humans can provide and drive will still be in demand and this is what marketers need to tap into today and keep strengthening.
