Last week, our CEO, Maneeza Aminy, kicked off our virtual Digital Transformation Journey for business and marketing students at Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This journey will run throughout the summer with a variety of hands-on digital marketing courses and some MarTech training events to arm these students with the superpowers they’ll need to compete and succeed in the industry.
Early in the conversation, Maneeza asked the question that many students were probably wondering, “Why do I need to go on this journey?” Most of the attendees are studying marketing and business now, or have recently graduated with a degree.
Her answer, “so you are not left behind.”
Knowledge is power.
That goes for the greenest young marketers to the most experienced senior leadership. Whether it’s reading blogs, attending virtual events, listening to podcasts, taking online classes, or just talking to people in the industry, the goal is to always be learning. If you’re staying stagnant, you will fall behind. And you will fall behind quickly.
LinkedIn had already shared research suggesting an upskilling and reskilling revolution was coming in the next three to five years. Their 2020 Workplace Learning Report, released in early March, found that 51% of learning and development professionals surveyed had planned to launch upskilling programs in 2020 for team members.
What about COVID-19’s impact?
COVID-19 may have slowed down company training rollouts, but the disruption of business only highlighted the need for digital skills. Marketing professionals recognized it.
Hubspot, Marketo, Pardot, and Salesforce have all seen increases in online communities and on-demand training. Udemy saw a 425% increase in consumer enrollments since the start of the pandemic with interest in copywriting, digital marketing, social marketing, and related software like Adobe Creative Cloud. Even organizations like the American Marketing Association and the Data & Marketing Association have had to expand their on-demand training offerings to meet member demand.
Here at Marvel Marketers, we’re seeing the need to expand our Professor M’s Academy on-demand training. In addition to our current Marketo Bootcamps and Account Based Marketing course, we’ll be adding a Digital Marketing Certification Program in August. We’re also getting ready to launch our Executive Digital Transformation Journey for business leaders across the UK.
Maybe it’s the downtime or boredom or the fear of not being marketable, or a mix of it all. Whatever is driving marketing professionals to reskill and upskill during this pandemic, here’s hoping that it becomes a habit, so no marketer is left behind.
