Does marketing have an image problem?

The evolving world of marketing means marketers must constantly re-evaluate their communication strategies due to changes in regulations and customer behaviour and the availability of analytics. In addition, digital marketing has blurred the lines between departments, provided us with more data than we know what to do with and fundamentally changed traditional ways of working. Add the fact that many organisations do not know, or fail to define, the role they want marketing to play, and it’s hardly surprising that marketers are having to master more skills and deliver more than ever before.

Technology has altered the landscape forever

Marketing as an industry is continually changing. From fresh tactics to emerging trends, there’s always something new to learn. And with teams and budgets looking lean for most organisations, marketing has more responsibility than ever to guide a business towards growth in the face of uncertain times. As a result, there are a huge number of skills now required, making it very hard for just one person to fulfil the marketing role for a whole organisation.

One thing is certain: technology has altered the business and marketing landscape forever, and data dexterity is now essential for those who want to thrive. Research by Marketing Week entitled ‘The Future Marketing Organisation’ stated that firms are battling with a concerning lack of expertise in this area, given a quarter of marketers (24.4%) rank it as their biggest perceived skills gap. Other perceived skills shortages include research and insight, and management and leadership.

A lack of appreciation of formal training and skills

Marketing Week’s recent career and salary survey found marketers find their way into the discipline via a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds, and this breadth of experience is often valued more than formal marketing training. In fact, more than half of marketers (53%) have not studied a marketing-related academic or professional qualification of any kind. However, marketing isn’t just about ideas and experience, it requires commercial acumen, understanding of profit margins and gross margins. Uncertainty – not just over the role marketing plays within the business, but also externally, as organisations navigate issues like Brexit – means marketers must be able to demonstrate the value and return of any investment to the rest of the business; CIM’s recent research with PwC found that the UK marketing industry generates £36.5 billion in annual Gross Value Added. All of this means that being creative isn’t simply the be all and end all of marketing, it’s essential that modern markets can take a metric-based approach to proving ROI.

Become part of the solution

Every marketer today must therefore be comfortable with numbers and be able to use whichever tools a company has invested in to analyse them. A degree in marketing can equip you with the theoretical knowledge to develop this metric-orientated approach and show measurable outcomes for your marketing strategies and tactics.

With the rise of marketing specialisms and non-linear career paths, ensuring your skills are up to date with knowledge of the core marketing principles, skills and best practice can maximise the impact you can make to your organisation.

Wrexham University’s unique 100% online Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Marketing degree gives professionals the opportunity to develops key skills required of senior marketers, including strategic marketing, integrated communications planning, creativity, innovation and an understanding of consumer behaviour.

The programme will helps students improve their communication skills, create and execute best-in-class integrated marketing strategies, deepen their understanding of consumer motivation, and develop a robust set of marketing and leadership skills.

With six starts per year, you can start within weeks and the course’s flexible design means you can study at your own pace, around your current role. There are flexible payment options and postgraduate government loans to cover the full programme cost, for those that are eligible.

For more information, or to apply, visit https://online.wrexham.ac.uk/mba-marketing/