digital marketing skills benchmark - target internet
TRANSCRIPT
DIGITAL MARKETING SKILLS BENCHMARK
in association with
May 2020
THERE IS A NEED FOR ORGANISATIONS TO STEP BACK AND LOOK AT THEIR STRUCTURE, OBJECTIVES AND THE ROLES WITHIN THEM.
As the latest Benchmark results reveal, the pace of technology has showed
no signs of slowing down and the marketing profession continues to evolve
in the range of skills required to be effective. When it comes to continued
professional development, standing still is not an option. In some cases, such
as SEO and social where the level of change and complexity is moving all the
time, marketers need to be continually upskilling themselves just to stay in the
same place. The finding that junior marketers are seeing significant investment
in their development and increasing their technical knowledge also reflects
the findings from CIM’s qualitative ‘Needs’ research which highlighted that
more organisations are broadening their marketing structures at a junior level.
Brining technical roles such as PPC and SEO in-house, reduces both the cost
and reliance on outsourcing, whilst ensuring those who carry out these roles
are truly experts in their field. The need to step back and look at marketing
structures and the roles within them as stated in the 2018 Benchmark report
seems to be reflected by the latest results and shifts in skill levels. However, the
levels of data will continue to grow and with the introduction of the general
data protection regulation (GDPR) the need to keep investing in upskilling is
still, if not more critical than ever.
Gemma Butler, Marketing Director, Chartered Institute of Marketing
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
BACKGROUND
This second edition of the Digital Skills Benchmark
highlights some very significant shifts in skills over the
last 2 years that could have a profound impact on many
organisations.
Digital has fundamentally changed the way we buy,
make decisions and interact with one another. As such,
it has become an essential element of not only any
marketing strategy, but of any organisational strategy.
The environment of constant change has led to a huge
skills challenge for individuals and organisations.
The pace of change means a simple process of ‘one-off’
training is no longer fit for purpose. You can no longer
expect to sit on your current skill-set and progress. Skills
need to be updated on an on-going basis, and a culture of
ongoing learning needs to be developed by organisations
and adopted by individuals. Culture is an essential element
of the solution to any skills gap, as simply providing
learning opportunities and training does not necessarily
lead to its adoption and usage.
A starting point to addressing this skills challenge is to
understand where our skills gaps lie and how this differs
between industries, roles and seniorities. The Digital Skills
Benchmark aims to be that starting point, to inform the
conversation and drive an ongoing skills improvement
agenda.
THIS SECOND EDITION OF THE DIGITAL SKILLS BENCHMARK HIGHLIGHTS SOME VERY SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS IN SKILLS OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS THAT COULD HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON MANY ORGANISATIONS.
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Target Internet
ABOUT THE BENCHMARK
The Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark is the first study of its type and
scale that looks at skills across such a wide range of industries and levels of
seniority. Rather than being opinion based like many other studies, the core
of the benchmark actually assesses the skills of thousands of individuals (you
can read more on the methodology below). This approach allows for a frank
look at digital marketing skills in the UK market and identifies a range of
skills gaps and challenges that need to be overcome in order for businesses
to thrive. The benchmark combines raw data on where skill levels currently lie,
whilst also providing insights and opinions on what this means in practice. The
aim of the benchmark is to help UK industry make informed decisions about
improving skills, and to reinforce the need for a culture of ongoing learning in
all organisations. The benchmark, now in its 2nd edition, also compares how
skills have changed in the last 2 years, and analyses what we can learn from our
progress (and lack of it in many cases).
METHODOLOGY
The initial benchmark asked nearly
4873 individuals a series of questions
on 12 core digital marketing related
topics. The latest iteration adds 3876
results and allows us to compare the
progress made over the last 2 years.
The questions were taken from a
bank of questions on each topic that
tested both tactical and strategic
knowledge. These questions were
weighted according to difficulty/
level of specialism, and a percentage
score was calculated out of a possible
100%. The benchmark was tested in
a range of commercial organisations
before being made more broadly
available. This was to make sure
the results aligned with the reality
of an individual’s skills. Questions
are regularly updated to reflect the
latest industry best practice and are
aligned with the Chartered Institute
of Marketing professional standards
and qualifications.
INDIVIDUALS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS THAT ASSESS TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH BEST PRACTICE AND ALIGNED WITH THE CIM PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS.
THE AIM OF THE BENCHMARK IS TO HELP UK INDUSTRY MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT IMPROVING SKILLS, AND TO REINFORCE THE NEED FOR A CULTURE OF ON-
GOING LEARNING IN ALL ORGANISATIONS.
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
HERE WE CAN SEE THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE BY TOPIC AREA BY INDUSTRY. EACH INDUSTRY HAS COMMENTARY ON KEY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND WHAT THIS POTENTIALLY MEANS IN CONTEXT.
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
Here we can see the level of knowledge by topic area by industry. Each industry has commentary on key strengths and weaknesses and what this potentially means in context.
HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY FINDINGS
A full breakdown of the benchmark results
can be found later in this report, broken
down by topic area, industry and seniority.
However, beyond the core measures, when
we look at particular questions and read the
data in context of general industry trends,
some clear challenges emerge:
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Lack of progress in the last two years (which hides a deeper problem)When we look at a comparison of knowledge levels now
against two years ago, when the Digital Skills Benchmark
was first compiled, we can see only small percentage
increases in some areas, and no change at all in others. At
first inspection this indicates little or no improvements in
knowledge in some disciplines, but also bear in mind this
hides some very significant shifts across different levels
of seniority. We should also factor in that these different
digital disciplines are changing quickly and many are
growing in complexity, indicating we need to be constantly
learning just to stand still.
Social, SEO and Usability are getting more complexSocial Media, Search Engine Optimisation and Usability
have all seen slight decreases in scores since the initial
report two years ago. This is indicative of the increasing
complexity of these disciplines and level of knowledge
required to achieve similar benchmarked scores.
Less reliance on email marketingAlthough email marketing remains one of the highest
scoring digital disciplines, its score has dropped
significantly (particularly in some industries) from where it
was two years ago. This is indicative of the lower reliance
on email in many industries and the realisation that email
marketing is becoming increasingly challenging.
Analytics knowledge is improvingAcross many industries and levels of seniority, analytics
knowledge is improving. This is particularly true in
more junior roles where analytics knowledge has grown
significantly in the last two years.
Content marketing fundamentals are more broadly understoodKnowledge of the fundamentals of Content marketing have
improved, and quite considerable in some industries and
levels of seniority. However we should remember these
are fundamentals, meaning we are probably getting more
content, but not necessarily content that follows absolutely
best practice.
Junior roles have significantly increased their knowledge levelsAt the intern, assistant and executive levels we have
seen very significant levels of improvement across a
wide range of digital disciplines. This shows considerable
improvement in training and education for entry and junior
level positions and potentially a clearer knowledge of the
importance of these skills in this group.
Mid-senior level managemvent knowledge has drifted across many digital disciplinesAlthough management level roles skills seem to be fairly
static, in many head of department level roles, knowledge
has slipped over the last two years. Thus indicating that
their may be a growing mid/senior-management level
skills gap in many organisations.
Directors are getting a little better,Two years ago we highlighted a skills gap at director level.
This has improved slightly in some cases, but the small
level of improvement indicates the need for continued
focus in this area.
DIGITAL DISCIPLINES BREAKDOWN
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 35% +2
Content Marketing 28% +4
Digital Strategy 34% -
Ecommerce 37% -
Email Marketing 48% -4
General Marketing 47% +2
Mobile Marketing 29% -
Online Advertising 31% -
PPC 31% -
SEO 34% -1
Social Media 34% -2
Usability 28% -1
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data As we can see, only email marketing
and general marketing knowledge still
scored above 40%. All other skills ranged
between 20%-40% with some small
changes in some areas versus 2 years ago.
This still indicates a generally low level
of knowledge in digital marketing and a
workforce struggling to stay up to date.
At first inspection the changes indicate
little or no improvements in knowledge
in some disciplines, but also bear in mind
this hides some very significant shifts
across different levels of seniority (see
later in the report.) We should also factor
in that these different digital disciplines
are changing quickly and many are
growing in complexity, indicating we
need to be constantly learning just to
stand still.
Although email marketing remains one
of the highest scoring digital disciplines,
its score has dropped significantly
(particularly in some industries) from
where it was 2 years ago. This is indicative
of the lower reliance on email in many
industries and the realisation that email
marketing is becoming increasingly
challenging.
Social Media, Search Engine Optimisation
and Usability have all seen slight
decreases in scores since the initial
report 2 years ago. This is indicative of the
increasing complexity of these disciplines
and level of knowledge required to
achieve a similar benchmarked scores
Knowledge of the fundamentals of
Content marketing have improved .
However we should remember these
are fundamentals and knowledge levels
overall are still very low.Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Target Internet
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN
Here we can see the level of knowledge by topic area by industry. Each industry has commentary on key strengths and weaknesses and what this potentially means in context.
Although skills gaps vary from industry to industry, some key insights are
common. We have shown how skills have changed since 2 years ago and have
also added a range of new industries to the list we cover.
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AGENCY
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 41% -3
Content Marketing 31% -4
Digital Strategy 40% -5
Ecommerce 43% -3
Email Marketing 59% -2
General Marketing 48% -
Mobile Marketing 35% -3
Online Advertising 40% -2
PPC 36% -2
SEO 42% -7
Social Media 37% -2
Usability 35% -5
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data As you would hope, agencies’
general level of knowledge of
digital was better than most
other industry sectors. However,
we have seen declines in
overall knowledge levels in
most disciplines in the last
2 years, again indicating the
challenge of staying up to date
in an increasingly complex and
fast changing world. Bear in
mind the benchmark includes
a wide range of different
agency types, and specialist
digital agencies actually saw
improvements in the majority
of disciplines.
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Target Internet
The automotive industry shows
further growth in email skills,
reflecting anecdotal evidence
of over reliance on this channel
still in the industry. Analytics
skills have improved, which is
reassuring due the low level
in this sector being noted in
the previous benchmark. Like
many industries however, skills
have dropped slightly in many
areas as some disciplines have
become more complex and
the pace of change continues.
Mobile and usability skills
have grown slightly, again
reassuring as a lack of focus
in this area was noted in the
previous benchmark, especially
as consumer device usage
changes.
AUTOMOTIVE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 35% +6
Content Marketing 22% +1
Digital Strategy 34% -1
Ecommerce 34% -
Email Marketing 49% +7
General Marketing 40% +2
Mobile Marketing 25% +6
Online Advertising 36% -8
PPC 38% -2
SEO 41% -4
Social Media 36% -
Usability 25% +3
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
BEAUTY AND COSMETICS
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 32% -
Content Marketing 23% -
Digital Strategy 30% -
Ecommerce 39% -
Email Marketing 48% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 27% -
Online Advertising 30% -
PPC 34% -
SEO 30% -
Social Media 39% -
Usability 22% -
This is the first time the Beauty
and Cosmetics industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The
industry is scoring poorly
overall against average, but
does slightly above average
in the Ecommerce and PPC
disciplines. This makes sense
against anecdotal evidence of
a limited numbers of brands
moving toward online direct
sales, but is indicative of an
industry behind the curve in
most cases.
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Target Internet
Charities seem to still be very
focused on email marketing
skills but thankfully knowledge
has increased in Digital
Strategy and Social Media.
This reflects an industry that
is making better planned use
of the opportunities of social
media. However there has been
in a dip in Analytics skills and
the industry is slightly behind
average in this area, meaning
that any improvements in
digital strategy may not be
best informed.
CHARITY
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 34% -5
Content Marketing 23% +1
Digital Strategy 32% +10
Ecommerce 34% +6
Email Marketing 57% +2
General Marketing 41% -1
Mobile Marketing 27% -3
Online Advertising 30% +7
PPC 28% -1
SEO 29% +5
Social Media 34% +9
Usability 24% +7
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 35% -
Content Marketing 22% -
Digital Strategy 32% -
Ecommerce 30% -
Email Marketing 53% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 30% -
Online Advertising 29% -
PPC 27% -
SEO 33% -
Social Media 35% -
Usability 21% -
This is the first time the
Construction and Property
industry has been analysed
independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring poorly overall against
average in all disciplines
except email marketing. This
is indicative of an industry
behind the curve in most
cases, with over reliance on
the increasingly challenging
email channel. However, it also
indicates that organisations
in this sector that address
their digital skills gap have
an opportunity to stand out
amongst their competitors.
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13
Target Internet
Generally, the Consultancy
sector improved its scores in
most digital disciplines but
actually still scored quite
poorly against averages. This
is heavily impacted by what
type of consultancy these
organisations offer, but since
digital impacts almost all
areas of business, it should
be a key area of focus for
the Consultancy industry to
improve their digital skills.
CONSULTANCY
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 33% +7
Content Marketing 25% +8
Digital Strategy 36% +3
Ecommerce 37% +9
Email Marketing 48% +5
General Marketing 48% -
Mobile Marketing 30% +2
Online Advertising 26% +6
PPC 30% +5
SEO 31% +7
Social Media 33% +1
Usability 30% +7
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
Consumer Goods organisations
saw improvement across
the board since the previous
benchmark, but were pretty
much inline with overall
averages except in some key
areas. Email, Ecommerce,
Mobile and Display skills were
all above average which is a
positive sign for an industry
generally moving toward
direct to consumer ecommerce
offerings. However, social
media skills have dropped
and are poor against averages,
leaving a great opportunity
for brands to stand out in this
area.
CONSUMER GOODS
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 33% +2
Content Marketing 26% +6
Digital Strategy 34% +12
Ecommerce 48% +5
Email Marketing 57% +11
General Marketing 40% -
Mobile Marketing 34% +7
Online Advertising 36% +1
PPC 31% +2
SEO 38% +3
Social Media 30% -1
Usability 35% +4
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Target Internet
The Ecommerce/Online sector
was well above average in
the previous benchmark, but
worryingly we have seen skills
drop back across the board and
results actually being much
lower than average across
most disciplines. However,
it should be noted that the
number of respondents in this
category grew dramatically
as new businesses enter the
market and existing businesses
moved to have online offerings.
Combined with greatly
increased use expectations,
the ecommerce industry has
much to improve and live up
to. It should also be noted
that there were a number of
high scoring outliers that were
clearly doing an exceptional
job of delivering ecommerce
experiences.
ECOMMERCE/ONLINE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 26% -11
Content Marketing 18% -2
Digital Strategy 25% -10
Ecommerce 34% -11
Email Marketing 44% -9
General Marketing 38% -
Mobile Marketing 27% -2
Online Advertising 28% -8
PPC 27% -11
SEO 30% -16
Social Media 32% -
Usability 22% -16
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
Education was one of several
sectors that scored well
previously in traditional
marketing techniques and
email marketing, but struggled
in all other aspects of digital.
That trend has continued with
little improvement in many
areas. This is in line with
the industry as a whole and
interestingly, new entrants to
the sector were more likely to
classify themselves as ‘online
services’ than education
businesses (mainly apps
offering educational services).
This is indicative of an industry
changing radically and
potentially being disrupted by
new market entrants.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 33% +1
Content Marketing 22% +2
Digital Strategy 35% -2
Ecommerce 37% +1
Email Marketing 50% -4
General Marketing 47% -
Mobile Marketing 28% +5
Online Advertising 29% -
PPC 30% -
SEO 33% +4
Social Media 34% -
Usability 27% +6
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Target Internet
ELECTRONICS AND ENGINEERING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 33% -
Content Marketing 21% -
Digital Strategy 31% -
Ecommerce 36% -
Email Marketing 50% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 26% -
Online Advertising 32% -
PPC 31% -
SEO 33% -
Social Media 32% -
Usability 29% -
This is the first time the
Electronics and Engineering
industry has been analysed
independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring poorly overall against
average in most disciplines.
This is indicative of an industry
behind the curve in most cases.
However, it also indicates that
organisations in this sector
have an opportunity to embrace
direct to customer routes and
stand out from competitors if
they can improve their digital
skills.
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
EVENTS AND CONFERENCES
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 31% -
Content Marketing 19% -
Digital Strategy 26% -
Ecommerce 38% -
Email Marketing 46% -
General Marketing 45% -
Mobile Marketing 26% -
Online Advertising 25% -
PPC 24% -
SEO 26% -
Social Media 32% -
Usability 19% -
This is the first time the Events
and Conferences industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The industry
is scoring very poorly against
average across the range
of digital disciplines. In an
environment where physical
events and conferences are
unlikely to return to normal for
some time, the industry needs
to urgently improve its skills
and change its approach if it is
to service.
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Target Internet
FASHION
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 34% -
Content Marketing 23% -
Digital Strategy 24% -
Ecommerce 37% -
Email Marketing 42% -
General Marketing 45% -
Mobile Marketing 35% -
Online Advertising 24% -
PPC 26% -
SEO 29% -
Social Media 23% -
Usability 23% -
This is the first time the
Fashion industry has been
analysed independently in
the benchmark. The industry
is scoring poorly overall
against average in most digital
disciplines. This is perhaps
surprising bearing in mind the
huge growth in online fashion
retail, but perhaps indicative
of the majority of the industry
being in ‘catch-up’ mode. In an
environment where physical
retail is struggling, there is
clearly much that can be done
in the industry to embrace
digital more effectively.
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
Financial services’ reliance
on email marketing, due to
the traditional nature of the
industry and risk-aversity
(with email allowing for long
compliance statements), is
reflected in the skill-set of the
industry. However, progress
since the previous benchmark
has been significant, indicating
an industry that has begun
to embrace its shortcomings.
Digital Strategy scores have
grown significantly, but these
needs further progress with
Analytics and Data to be truly
effective.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 32% -
Content Marketing 25% +4
Digital Strategy 40% +3
Ecommerce 37% +5
Email Marketing 53% -4
General Marketing 55% -
Mobile Marketing 32% +4
Online Advertising 35% +7
PPC 32% +4
SEO 33% +12
Social Media 34% +7
Usability 30% -2
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Target Internet
FOOD AND DRINK
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 28% -
Content Marketing 21% -
Digital Strategy 33% -
Ecommerce 32% -
Email Marketing 46% -
General Marketing 49% -
Mobile Marketing 28% -
Online Advertising 29% -
PPC 27% -
SEO 33% -
Social Media 35% -
Usability 21% -
This is the first time the Food
and Drink industry has been
analysed independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring poorly overall against
average in all disciplines
except traditional marketing
and very slightly above average
in social media. This highlights
a great opportunity for general
improvement in digital skills
and to further enhance the
use of social media in what
is generally a highly engaged
industry online.
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
GAMING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 28% -
Content Marketing 25% -
Digital Strategy 27% -
Ecommerce 34% -
Email Marketing 46% -
General Marketing 48% -
Mobile Marketing 27% -
Online Advertising 32% -
PPC 31% -
SEO 33% -
Social Media 30% -
Usability 24% -
This is the first time the
Gaming industry has been
analysed independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring poorly overall against
average in most disciplines,
which is perhaps surprising for
a generally technical industry.
It should be noted that there
were a number of very high
scoring outliers, doing a great
job of marketing their offerings.
However, many appear to
be reliant on their channel
partners to deliver great
digital marketing experiences.
A clear opportunity to embrace
their own marketing activity to
grow business.
Benchmark up to 10 members of your team for free. Email [email protected]
23
Target Internet
HEALTHCARE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 32% -
Content Marketing 25% -
Digital Strategy 31% -
Ecommerce 36% -
Email Marketing 52% -
General Marketing 49% -
Mobile Marketing 27% -
Online Advertising 31% -
PPC 34% -
SEO 37% -
Social Media 36% -
Usability 32% -
This is the first time the
Healthcare industry has been
analysed independently in
the benchmark. The industry
is showing a mixed picture
with its highest scores in
traditional marketing an email,
and poor scores in many digital
disciplines. However, social
media, PPC and SEO were all
slightly above average. Scores
across the industry were
also very varied, indicating
uneven adoption of digital as
a primary approach, with some
exceptional and some very
poor results.
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Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
INSURANCE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 36% -
Content Marketing 30% -
Digital Strategy 39% -
Ecommerce 38% -
Email Marketing 59% -
General Marketing 60% -
Mobile Marketing 37% -
Online Advertising 32% -
PPC 27% -
SEO 37% -
Social Media 37% -
Usability 31% -
This is the first time the
Insurance industry has been
analysed independently
in the benchmark. The
industry is scoring above
average across the board
in all digital disciplines,
but with exceptional scores
in traditional marketing
and email. This indicates a
strong reliance on traditional
methods still but with very
good adoption of digital
channels as well. It should be
noted that there were some
outliers with very poor scores
that represented some of
the better known and larger
industry brands.
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Target Internet
IT/Technology/Telecoms have
traditionally been behind the
curve in digital adoption and
still remain slightly below
average in many digital
disciplines. However, this is in
the context of great growth
in skills across the digital
disciplines.
IT/TECHNOLOGY/TELECOMS
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 36% +7
Content Marketing 23% +3
Digital Strategy 38% +6
Ecommerce 38% -8
Email Marketing 51% -6
General Marketing 45% -
Mobile Marketing 29% +7
Online Advertising 31% -6
PPC 32% +6
SEO 33% -1
Social Media 35% +1
Usability 30% +2
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26
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
Leisure, Entertainment and
Sport have fallen back from
an industry that was above
average in most digital
disciplines to actually being
well below average in most
areas. This drop has fallen in-
line with significant growth in
respondents in this industry,
perhaps indicative of many
late adopters not having the
appropriate digital skills.
LEISURE/ENTERTAINMENT/SPORT
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 30% -13
Content Marketing 20% -13
Digital Strategy 29% +2
Ecommerce 33% +5
Email Marketing 54% -5
General Marketing 38% -
Mobile Marketing 26% -6
Online Advertising 31% -2
PPC 31% -3
SEO 26% -10
Social Media 34% -13
Usability 24% -10
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27
Target Internet
LEGAL AND ACCOUNTANCY
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 36% -
Content Marketing 20% -
Digital Strategy 24% -
Ecommerce 34% -
Email Marketing 50% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 33% -
Online Advertising 26% -
PPC 25% -
SEO 41% -
Social Media 36% -
Usability 23% -
This is the first time the Legal
and Accountancy industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The
industry is scoring poorly
overall against average in
all disciplines except email
marketing. This is indicative
of an industry behind the
curve in most cases, with over
reliance on the increasingly
challenging email channel.
However, it also indicates that
organisations in this sector
that address their digital
skills gap have an opportunity
to stand out amongst their
competitors.
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28
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
LUXURY GOODS
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 36% -
Content Marketing 24% -
Digital Strategy 18% -
Ecommerce 45% -
Email Marketing 59% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 26% -
Online Advertising 35% -
PPC 43% -
SEO 41% -
Social Media 34% -
Usability 31% -
This is the first time the
Luxury Goods industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The industry
scores well in many digital
disciplines against average, but
with very high scores in email
marketing, perhaps indicative
of reliance (and anecdotally
still good engagement for this
channel in this industry) on
this channel. Paid search and
SEO where also high compared
to average indicative of great
tactical adoption, but digital
strategy scores where low
from almost all respondents.
Clearly an industry with great
opportunity to embrace more
robust approaches to strategy
which could lead to even more
success.
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29
Target Internet
MANUFACTURING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 21% -
Content Marketing 21% -
Digital Strategy 30% -
Ecommerce 30% -
Email Marketing 44% -
General Marketing 45% -
Mobile Marketing 29% -
Online Advertising 27% -
PPC 27% -
SEO 20% -
Social Media 30% -
Usability 20% -
This is the first time the
Manufacturing industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The industry
is scoring poorly overall
against average in all digital
disciplines. This is indicative
of an industry behind the
curve in most cases, but also
indicates that organisations
in this sector that address
their digital skills gap have
an opportunity to stand out
amongst their competitors.
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30
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
MEDIA AND PUBLISHING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 31% +11
Content Marketing 21% -
Digital Strategy 33% +10
Ecommerce 41% +14
Email Marketing 51% +11
General Marketing 40% +2
Mobile Marketing 25% -6
Online Advertising 36% +16
PPC 30% +6
SEO 33% +12
Social Media 35% -4
Usability 26% +6
Media and publishing have
seen strong growth across
most digital disciplines since
the last benchmark, but are
still below average in most
areas. The sectors strongest
areas are in email, which was
also historically the case, but
interestingly there has been
good growth in ecommerce
and display advertising skills.
For an industry that has been
struggling for some time
with monetisation, these are
perhaps reassuring signals,
but with lots of room for
improvement.
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31
Target Internet
PHARMACEUTICAL
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 29% -
Content Marketing 21% -
Digital Strategy 30% -
Ecommerce 31% -
Email Marketing 51% -
General Marketing 52% -
Mobile Marketing 31% -
Online Advertising 21% -
PPC 31% -
SEO 28% -
Social Media 29% -
Usability 30% -
This is the first time the
Pharmaceutical industry has
been analysed independently
in the benchmark. The
industry is scoring poorly
overall against average in all
disciplines except traditional
and email marketing. This
is indicative of an industry
behind the curve in most cases,
with over reliance on the
increasingly challenging email
channel. However its also
indicates that organisations
in this sector that address
their digital skills gap have
an opportunity to stand out
amongst their competitors.
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32
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 31% +3
Content Marketing 26% -6
Digital Strategy 28% +3
Ecommerce 33% -6
Email Marketing 50% -11
General Marketing 58% -
Mobile Marketing 26% -2
Online Advertising 27% -2
PPC 30% -8
SEO 34% +5
Social Media 34% -7
Usability 29% -1
Professional services skills
are still focussed on email
marketing, with very low
levels of knowledge around
social media and content
marketing. As well as scoring
below average in many areas,
the sector has also seen
many scores drop since the
benchmark’s last edition,
indicating difficulties in
keeping skills up to date. An
industry that clearly has some
particularly serious issues with
digital skills.
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33
Target Internet
PUBLIC SECTOR
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 31% -
Content Marketing 25% -
Digital Strategy 35% -
Ecommerce 40% -
Email Marketing 54% -
General Marketing 44% -
Mobile Marketing 29% -
Online Advertising 26% -
PPC 26% -
SEO 30% -
Social Media 42% -
Usability 33% -
This is the first time the
Public Sector has been
analysed independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring poorly overall against
average in all disciplines
except email marketing, and
interestingly social media. This
is indicative of an industry
behind the curve in most cases,
with over reliance on the
increasingly challenging email
channel, but with opportunity
in how they embrace social
media. It should be noted there
were some outliers doing an
exceptional job with digital
skills within the public sector.
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34
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
RECRUITMENT AND HR
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 37% -
Content Marketing 23% -
Digital Strategy 23% -
Ecommerce 40% -
Email Marketing 51% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 23% -
Online Advertising 28% -
PPC 25% -
SEO 32% -
Social Media 33% -
Usability 34% -
This is the first time
the Recruitment and HR
industry has been analysed
independently in the
benchmark. The industry is
scoring generally inline with
averages, except in digital
strategy and content where
there were quite poor scores.
This indicates an industry
with great scope for improving
business results if these
disciplines were improved,
giving the ability to stand out
from competitors.
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35
Target Internet
RETAIL
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 31% +4
Content Marketing 23% +1
Digital Strategy 35% +6
Ecommerce 39% +4
Email Marketing 52% +10
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 29% +1
Online Advertising 30% +3
PPC 31% +3
SEO 34% +3
Social Media 35% +2
Usability 27% -2
The retail industry has seen
good improvement in digital
skills since the last benchmark,
now bringing itself generally
inline with overall averages.
This is great news for a industry
that is struggling with its high-
street operations, but this is
against a backdrop of very low
bar and great opportunity for
improvement,
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36
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
TRAVEL/TOURISM/HOSPITALITY/CATERING
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 32% -
Content Marketing 28% -
Digital Strategy 36% -
Ecommerce 39% -
Email Marketing 51% -
General Marketing 46% -
Mobile Marketing 25% -
Online Advertising 31% -
PPC 30% -
SEO 35% -
Social Media 36% -
Usability 29% -
This is the first time the
Travel, Tourism, Hospitality
and Catering industry has been
analysed independently in
the benchmark. The industry
is scoring inline or slightly
above average in most digital
disciplines. However, this is
against a backdrop of radical
change and disruption and it
remains to be seen if these
new skills can be used to help
build business back after the
COVID-19 crisis.
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37
Target Internet
SENIORITY BREAKDOWN
Here we can see the level of knowledge broken down by topic area based on role seniority.
At a high level we can see that more junior roles knowledge has increased
significantly since the first benchmark 2 years ago. This positive news has been
joined by a slight increase in knowledge at Board level, which starts to address
once of the biggest concerns outlined in the original benchmark two years
ago. However, this slight increase should be an indicator of our need to keep
developing and building momentum.
The most worrying changes over the last two years, however, is a significant
dip in knowledge level at the Head of Department level. This mid/senior
management skills gap can have a very significant impact on an organisation’s
ability to implement and manage any digital strategy.
38
INTERN
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 28% +13
Content Marketing 19% +4
Digital Strategy 24% +18
Ecommerce 35% +19
Email Marketing 40% +22
General Marketing 30% +18
Mobile Marketing 25% +12
Online Advertising 27% +5
PPC 27% +16
SEO 29% +6
Social Media 31% +6
Usability 22% +4
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39
Target Internet
ASSISTANT/GRADUATE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 30% +3
Content Marketing 21% +3
Digital Strategy 28% +3
Ecommerce 34% +2
Email Marketing 46% +24
General Marketing 40% +28
Mobile Marketing 27% +6
Online Advertising 27% +2
PPC 30% +5
SEO 30% +1
Social Media 31% +1
Usability 26% +4
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40
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
EXECUTIVE
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 35% +2
Content Marketing 24% -1
Digital Strategy 34% +3
Ecommerce 39% +2
Email Marketing 55% +4
General Marketing 40% -
Mobile Marketing 30% +2
Online Advertising 32% +2
PPC 33% -1
SEO 35% -
Social Media 35% -3
Usability 30% +1
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41
Target Internet
MANAGER
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 35% -
Content Marketing 25% +1
Digital Strategy 37% +1
Ecommerce 39% -2
Email Marketing 54% +2
General Marketing 48% -
Mobile Marketing 31% -
Online Advertising 34% +2
PPC 31% -
SEO 34% -
Social Media 35% -1
Usability 29% +1
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42
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 36% -6
Content Marketing 26% -
Digital Strategy 42% -1
Ecommerce 38% -4
Email Marketing 56% -1
General Marketing 44% -
Mobile Marketing 32% -3
Online Advertising 36% -5
PPC 34% -5
SEO 40% -10
Social Media 36% -2
Usability 32% -3
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43
Target Internet
DIRECTOR
Usability
Social Media
SEO
PPC
Online AdvertisingMobile Marketing
General Marketing
Email Marketing
Ecommerce
Digital Strategy
Content MarketingAnalytics and Data
Topic Percentage Change %
Analytics and Data 38% +6
Content Marketing 27% +2
Digital Strategy 41% -2
Ecommerce 40% +14
Email Marketing 58% +4
General Marketing 63% -2
Mobile Marketing 31% -2
Online Advertising 35% +3
PPC 32% +3
SEO 36% +4
Social Media 36% -
Usability 33% +4
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44
Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark
45
CONCLUSIONS
The latest results from the benchmark report are both encouraging and provide food for thought. Over the last two years we’ve continued to see the role of the modern marketer increase, combining specialisms with a wider ranging brief. The nature of marketing’s role as a business critical function has adapted significantly with digital continuing to be a key driver. Issues around data and trust
and how to navigate the complex world of technology continues to affect organisations of all sizes. Marketers must demonstrate their value in driving critical growth and organisations are more and more reliant on marketers to protect and grow their brand identity and revenues.
As highlighted by the latest results, CIM also recognises the digital skills
present in junior marketers with businesses increasingly putting their brands in
the hands of the next generation. In addition, recent changes to CIMs Chartered
Marketer programme which will allow more marketers to gain recognition than
ever before, we believe it is a marketers responsibility no matter their level of
seniority to stay up to date and engaged with the core principles ensuring a full
view of how tactics meet strategy.
Chris Daly, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Marketing
46
DIGITAL CONTINUES TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY WE BUY, MAKE DECISIONS AND INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER. THIS ENVIRONMENT OF CONSTANT CHANGE HAS LED TO A HUGE SKILLS CHALLENGE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS. THE ONLY GUARANTEE IS THAT THE PACE OF CHANGE, AND THE RATE AT WHICH THIS IMPACTS SKILLS REQUIREMENTS, WILL GET FASTER AND FASTER. ORGANISATIONS (AND INDIVIDUALS) THAT ARE ABLE TO ADOPT A CULTURE OF ON-GOING LEARNING WILL BE BEST PLACED TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THIS ENVIRONMENT.
47
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