An overwhelming majority (92%) of B2B companies are finding it difficult to hire good marketers. But which skills are hardest to find? As it turns out, marketing analytics is the skill set most difficult to fill, according to the results of a new survey [download page] from Spear Marketing Group.
Indeed, the study found that some 6 in 10 respondents said they were having difficulty hiring individuals with marketing analytics skills. This is especially telling with analytics continuing to be an influential factor in businesses as whole, and not just in marketing. An increasing number of business leaders are using analytics to support their decisions: more than one-third (36%) are using analytics in their decision-making process. Issues with hiring might be behind B2B marketers’ difficulties with implementing analytics technologies, too.
Meanwhile, as marketing departments still prioritize demand generation over other marketing strategies like ABM, it’s easy to see why demand generation is still an essential skill set. However, 45% of respondents say they are having problems hiring individuals with demand generation in the marketing toolbox.
Other skill sets that B2B businesses are having difficulty hiring for include marketing operations (47%), and content marketing (33%), with fewer pointing to social media marketing (12%) and creative (12%).
With talent in many of the skill sets marketing departments are demanding being seemingly scarce, B2B businesses are looking to outsource some areas to third-party consultants, contractors or agencies. Notably, while creative is an area where a relatively small percentage of companies have difficulty hiring, it is the top area for outsourcing, with 61% of respondents willing to hand it over to a third-party.
With content marketing forecasted to continue to grow steadily over the next few years, content marketing skills will continue to be in demand. It is also ranked second (41%) in areas B2Bs are willing to outsource. Others areas where businesses seem willing to outsource include media management (34%), demand generation (33%), branding (33%) and social media marketing (27%). Marketing analytics, though, is an area that marketers want to keep in house, despite the challenges in rinding the right talent.
The full report can be downloaded here.
About the Data: Results from Spear Marketing Group’s 2019 Marketing Talent Crunch Survey are based on responses of a survey sent out to 10,000 B2B marketers.
