Under order to “stay at home” or “shelter in place,” millions of business professionals are now working remotely. For many, this new virtual work environment has immediately altered the baseline of digital acumen required to do their jobs. In this environment of uncertainty, one way we can help our companies, our employees, and ourselves is to use this time to invest in learning new skills—upskilling. Upskilling can help us to not just survive, but thrive in times of volatile change.
Keeping up to speed on the latest skills—given the pace of technological change—is paramount to one’s employability. Consider the field of marketing. The proliferation of digital and increasing landscape of disruptive technology is changing the face of marketing. As an example, brands are using a variety of technology applications to create, publish, and distribute content to drive audience awareness, emotional connection, and demand. Application of technology is changing how brands interact with customers and create unique experiences. As well, technology is changing how brands use data to create personalized relationships with their customers and measure results.
What are the skills that you and your team members need to have to ensure that you are able to thrive in a volatile environment? What skills are needed to derive maximum benefit from the technologies your organization already has in place? Below is a list of some of the skills and technology tools that are becoming more commonly used in business practice and links to resources that provide free online training and credentialing.
MARKETING SKILLS AND TOOLS
Web Development | HTML | Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) | WordPress | Content Management Systems (CMS) | Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | Paid Search Advertising (PPC) | Display Advertising | Google Tools | Marketing Automation | MailChimp | Marketo | Hootsuite | HubSpot | Adobe Creative and Experience Cloud | Customer Relationship Management CRM) | Salesforce | Constant Contact | Social Media Management | User Experience (UX) | Marketing Attribution | Project Management | Data Analysis | Data Visualization | Microsoft Word and PowerPoint | Microsoft Excel: Pivot Tables, Statistical Functions: Statistical, Database Finance | Microsoft Access, Publisher, and Project | SPSS | SAP Business Objects … etc.
FREE ONLINE TRAINING LINKS
WordStream PPC University | WordPress | HubSpot Academy | Constant Contact
Hootsuite Academy | Microsoft Office Tools | Microsoft Excel Learning |
SalesForce Trailhead | Google Skill Shop | Google Webmaster | Google Webmaster
Marketo Education | Vertical Measures
Now might be a good time for upskilling. We invite your comments on other skills and resources—for marketing, as well as other discipline areas. Let’s ignite a #PEPupskillmovement.