How Rapid Re-skilling Can Address the Digital Marketing Skills Gap

Digital marketing is a quickly evolving industry that is becoming a coveted career for many. While the interest in these roles is there, a recent Canada-wide survey, done by Jelly Academy and sponsored by Innovate BC, demonstrates that there is a skills gap in the digital marketing industry. The survey was conducted by gathering insights from hiring professionals in industries such as marketing, service-based businesses, healthcare, hospitality, and education, across Canada.

According to the survey, respondents who found Digital Ads Management to be the most difficult role to hire for also stated that it was the most important role to hire for. 

Why is the most important digital marketing role the most difficult to hire for? That’s likely due to a lack of training within this sector of marketing as 23.2% of respondents found digital ads management to be a key skill missing from resumes.

To address this skills gap, we need to find ways to make digital training more readily available and build awareness about the existing programs and organizations that offer this type of training. As a new wave of marketers enter the industry it is crucial that they have the skills and education that is expected from employers to land jobs and thrive in their roles.

Rapid re-skilling is the process of gaining new or different skills to shift your current job role and much like the name suggests – the process is quick, making it ideal for both working professionals who are looking to make pivots or move forward in their career, and post-secondary students who can’t take on much more in terms of course-load. This type of training is beneficial for digital marketing professionals who can cross-train in different skill sectors in order to fill a gap many companies are looking to fill. 

Combined with traditional post-secondary education, rapid res-killing through micro-credentials offers a solid foundation and wide breadth of knowledge for students that help them enter a given industry. Rapid re-skilling comes in as a secondary form of education to really amplify and hone in on specific skills that apply directly to their job roles, such as developing campaigns and strategies, and monitoring results with commonly used tools i.e. Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Business Manager, etc.

Following ads management skills, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media were identified as the most important skills that respondents are looking for in new hires with 15.16% noting social media and 12.4% SEO. Within these particular sectors of digital marketing, most post-secondary courses cover the subject matter in a very broad sense but in reality, these are the types of skills that need more specific training using industry-accepted platforms and tools. Rapid re-skilling is the ideal supplementation for these skills that can amplify new marketers’ knowledge in a timely and applicable manner.

Rapid re-skilling training is a viable way to bridge the skills gap in digital marketing by quickly training professionals with the in-depth knowledge to either land a new job or amplify their existing role. This type of training is incredibly valuable to apply to in-house marketing teams to increase morale and simplify the process of hiring additional professionals. As a bonus, those who complete these courses often end up with micro-credentials that certify they are equipped to work as a digital marketer. These include micro-credentials for Google Ads, Google Analytics, Facebook Blueprint, and more.

For ads management specifically, it is important to find re-skilling courses that use the most prevalent tools today such as Facebook Blueprint. Some other great courses that cover a full scope of digital marketing and dive deep into ads management training include Jelly Academy, BrainStation, and Lighthouse Labs.

As the industry continues to grow, it is important that the professionals striving to advance their individual careers are equipped with the training required to fill the gaps. The time is now, more than ever, for rapid re-skilling courses to play a large role in addressing both the current skills gap and minimizing future gaps by keeping digital marketers certified and prepared.

Read The Digital Marketing Skills Gap in Canada Survey results.