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Marketers Say Social Media Skills Are Overrated in 2023

Marketers debate the relevance of social media skills in 2023.

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Real Internet Sales

Real Internet Sales is a digital marketing agency located in Columbia, South Carolina. We specialize in website design and development, SEO, social media management, online advertising, AI integration, and workflow automation. Our services also include affiliate marketing and digital strategy.

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News Summary

According to a recent survey conducted with over 3,500 marketing professionals, social media has been labeled the most overrated skill in the marketing industry for the third consecutive year. While social media, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing are seen as overrated, they continue to be in demand. This discrepancy highlights a gap between marketers’ perceptions and recruiters’ needs.

Marketers Say Social Media Skills Are Overrated in 2023

Have you ever wondered what skills are truly in demand in the marketing world? Well, according to the latest survey results, it seems that expertise in social media might not be as highly regarded as one might think. For the third year in a row, marketers have identified social media as the most overrated skill in the industry. Can you believe that?

The Numbers Speak: Social Media Tops the List

In a recent Career & Salary Survey conducted with over 3,500 marketing professionals, a whopping 25.2% of respondents labeled social media as overrated. That’s a significant portion! Following closely behind was knowledge of artificial intelligence, with 20.1% of marketers considering it the second most overrated skill. If you thought digital marketing cast a wide enough net, think again—19.1% of respondents pointed fingers at it too, along with 18.5% who felt the same about performance marketing.

Interestingly, it seems the viewpoint is shared across different domains. In the 2023 survey, over 3000 marketers weighed in, and 22.9% of them still held firm in identifying social media as the top overrated skill. Among the B2B crowd, 22.4% agreed, while B2C marketers were even more inclined, with 24.2% feeling the same way.

Performance and Digital Marketing Join the Overrated Club

Moving beyond social media, it’s worth noting that performance marketing ranks second on the overrated list with 16.1% of respondents indicating this, followed by digital marketing at 15%. What do you think? As an essential tool for many businesses, are marketers simply becoming disenchanted with it, or are they realizing that just relying on these skills is not enough?

Some more skills were also dubbed overrated, such as advertising and marketing technology, which 13.7% of marketers consider overrated, while content marketing received a 13.1% rating, and SEO rounded it out at 13%. Data analysis and user/customer experience skills were identified as overrated by 7.1% and 6.1% respectively.

Demand vs. Perceived Value: A Curious Discrepancy

Now here’s where things become really interesting: there seems to be a disconnect between what marketers think is overrated and what recruiters are actually looking for. Social media is currently viewed by LinkedIn as the most in-demand skill for 2023, with digital marketing closely following as the third most in-demand skill. It makes you wonder why there’s such a gap!

When diving into the B2B and B2C divide, we see that advertising and marketing technology is regarded as overrated by 14.6% of B2B marketers. Notably, a difference in perception regarding performance marketing emerges, where 14.1% of B2B respondents and nearly 19.7% from B2C agree it’s overrated.

Changing Times and Concerns

A scenario recently captured a lot of attention, involving Lego’s F1 partnership, where a staggering 85% of participants were new to the brand! This signifies that companies can engage new customers in unique ways, even when many believe social media skills are overrated.

But there’s more to the story. With all this chatter about overrated skills, there are growing concerns that an obsession with digital skills might inadvertently exclude valuable talent, especially women returning to the workforce after maternity leave.

As marketers try to navigate these changes in consumer behavior, many are upskilling in various areas, focusing on social media, e-commerce, and data analytics. The landscape is ever-evolving, and staying ahead requires flexibility and continual learning.

In conclusion, as the marketing world continues to change, one thing is clear: understanding public perception versus actual job market demand is essential. So what skills do you think are overrated?