The 8 Marketing Skills Employers Want You to Have

Jobs in business and finance are growing — in fact, they’re growing faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Along with this spike comes a growing need for employees with savvy marketing skills.

Which ones do employers want most? We sat down with Martin McDermott, DBA, faculty member at Purdue Global, to learn the most in-demand marketing skills in today’s economy.

Hard and Soft Marketing Skills

A combination of soft and hard skills is key in marketing. What’s the difference?

• Hard skills are teachable, job-specific abilities with measurable outcomes, such as knowing how to use Photoshop or proficiency with marketing automation tools.
• Soft skills are the personal qualities that describe how you work. These include how well you communicate and collaborate as well as your teamwork and listening skills.

If you’re looking to launch or expand a career in business, here are some of the hard and soft marketing skills to help you succeed:

• Interpersonal skills
• Writing skills
• Listening skills
• Teamwork skills
• Social media and AI skills
• Ability to analyze data
• Competency with numbers and measurement
• Critical thinking skills

1. Interpersonal Skills

When Gallup asked workers to rate the significance of nine skills someone might need to be successful in the workplace, 85% said interpersonal skills are extremely or very important.

“Interpersonal skills are people skills — empathy, diplomacy, conflict resolution,” says McDermott. “These are increasingly relevant today, especially since we have distinct generations in the workplace: Gen Z, the millennial generation, Generation X, baby boomers, and even traditionalists.

“Each of these generations has different values, opinions, learning styles, customs, goals, and aspirations. Strong interpersonal skills are vital in such an environment. Every successful marketing team is built on trust and rapport.”

>>Learn More: Generational Differences in the Workplace [Infographic]

How to Improve Your Interpersonal Skills

• Take an interest in others
• Watch your body language
• Show compassion and empathy
• Be an active listener
• Build trust — be honest and open in what you say and do

Both the American Management Association® and Dale Carnegie® offer interpersonal skills training programs.

2. Writing Skills

Written communication skills are a key attribute sought out by 77.1% of employers, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE®) reports.

Solid writing skills enable you to express yourself clearly and project a more polished image. If your writing is sloppy and filled with errors, people may assume that you take the same approach to your work.

“Writing skills are critical to success in marketing,” McDermott says. “Much of communication between employees, customers, and vendors typically takes place through email. Sometimes creative writing is necessary when you're communicating with a prospective customer, and sometimes more formal or professional language may be needed.

“Marketers are often responsible for writing brochures, newsletters, and blogs. The quality of the writing must be top-notch for the message to be well-received.”

>>Learn More: 7 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block

How to Improve Your Writing Skills

• Read and write more frequently
• Seek feedback
• Edit and revise
• Sign up for a free course or join a writers' workshop
• Keep a copy of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White handy
• Refer to sites like Grammar Girl and Merriam-Webster

>>Read: 5 Steps to Improve Writing Skills

3. Listening Skills

If you want to be seen as a trusted leader, good listening skills are vital. A 2024 survey found that leaders who were ranked as poor listeners were at the 15th percentile in trust, while those who had excellent listening skills reached the 86th percentile in trust.

Having good listening skills means giving your full and active attention to the people who are speaking to you.

“In marketing, listening is even more important than speaking,” says McDermott. “Marketing, at its core, is about listening to the customer and identifying a need. The best marketers and salespeople I've ever worked with have been exceptional listeners.”

How to Improve Your Listening Skills

• Be attentive — focus on the person who is speaking to you, not your laptop or phone
• Make eye contact
• Don’t interrupt
• Ask questions only to clarify
• Practice your listening skills with a trusted friend or family member

4. Teamwork Skills

NACE lists teamwork as one of its eight career readiness competencies. The organization defines teamwork as being able to “build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.”

“It's rare to find someone working alone on a marketing project,” McDermott says. “You not only work with members of your own team but with other departments within the organization, such as sales, finance, and accounting. The ability to cooperate and collaborate is a crucial marketing skill.”

How to Improve Your Teamwork Skills

• Communicate more, share ideas, and be open to feedback
• Don’t clamor for credit
• Celebrate others’ accomplishments
• Use collaboration tools such as video conferencing and chat/messaging tools

5. Social Media and AI Skills

Employers are increasingly using both social media and artificial intelligence (AI) in their marketing, and being adept at both is a must.

Social Media Skills Include:

• Content creation (this can include graphic design and video production)
• Analytical skills to interpret data and measure performance
• The ability to build community and engage with audiences
• Knowing the trends and algorithms
• Using scheduling software

“Employers want people who are experienced in digital and social media marketing,” McDermott says. “We have search engine marketing, content marketing, mobile marketing, and online advertising. People who are comfortable working in these channels are in high demand.”

AI Skills Include:

• Content creation and personalization
• Prompt engineering
• Process automation
• Using AI tools to assess, extract, and manipulate data

According to McKinsey, 78% of global companies used AI in at least one business function in 2024.

“People who want to thrive in marketing roles need to learn the skills required to work with AI,” McDermott says. “This will only grow more important as AI adoption increases.”

How to Improve Your Social Media and AI Skills

• Practice — the best way to learn is to do
• Set short-term goals for learning and managing specific channels
• Follow top social media resources such as Social Media Examiner, Social Media Today, MarTech, Search Engine Land, Content Marketing Institute™, and more
• Same for AI — follow the blog of your favorite tool, and stay up to date on its new features
• AI platforms have extensive “knowledge centers” that explain how to use the product; watch their videos, replay some webinars, or visit their FAQ section
• Join relevant LinkedIn groups

6. Ability to Analyze Data

Understanding what your data is telling you is essential for making sound marketing decisions and creating effective marketing strategies. Data can tell you how to improve efficiency, gain a better understanding of your customers, and track industry trends. Nearly three-quarters of all businesses use some form of data analysis.

“The ability to analyze data is a highly sought-after skill,” McDermott says. “Marketers now have access to a vast amount of data, and these raw facts and figures need to be converted into information to give that data meaning. The ability to analyze data enables marketers to identify trends and forecast demand.”

>>Learn More: Rise of the Data Analyst — What’s Behind the Boom?

How to Improve Your Data Analytics Skills

• Take a class — Purdue Global offers a Google Data Analytics Certificate and an online bachelor’s degree in analytics
• Listen to podcasts — Analytics Power Hour and The Data Skeptic are two worthwhile ones
• Join online communities that discuss data analytics
• Find a mentor who works in the field or has experience in data analytics
• Practice working on data problems, and get involved with an open source data science project

7. Competency With Numbers and Measurement

Marketers must use and understand metrics and key performance indicators to assess a campaign’s effectiveness. They need to be able to identify what works and what doesn't and pivot accordingly. In addition, proficiency with metrics can also demonstrate the impact a marketing team is having.

Clickthrough rate is a vital metric marketers use to track the success of their email marketing campaigns, according to HubSpot. Other metrics for marketers to understand include:

• Impressions
• Search engine rankings
• Cost per click (CPC)
• Conversion rate
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Return on investment (ROI)

“Comfort in evaluating numbers is one of the top skills needed for marketing,” says McDermott. “You should be comfortable with specific measures of performance in marketing, such as CPM, cost per sale, cost per lead, and cost per click. You should also be familiar with financial models, such as measuring revenue, cost of goods sold, gross margin, and, of course, profit.”

How to Improve Your Measurement Skills

• Earn a Google Data Analytics Certificate
• Practice measuring campaigns and delivering KPI data
• Define the channels you want to track, and master them
• Collaborate with peers, find a mentor, and ask for feedback regularly

8. Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is valuable across all industries, and it’s another one of NACE’s core competencies for career readiness. NACE defines critical thinking as the ability to “identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.”

“Marketing is constantly changing, and new problems occur frequently in the business environment — changes in the economy, with competition, technology, socio-cultural trends, and political and legal forces,” says McDermott. “Employers want people who can maneuver these changes with grace and solve challenges as they come up.”

How to Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills

• Brainstorm often — it’s an excellent way to develop original and creative solutions
• Engage with mind mapping tools such as MindMeister
• Work logic puzzles and games like Sudoku
• Evaluate the results and learn from them
• Check out this collection of TED Talks on the topic

>>Learn More: How to Improve Critical Thinking in the Workplace

Launch a Marketing Career With Purdue Global

A bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in digital and social media management can teach you valuable marketing skills and give you the knowledge you need to succeed in your career. Purdue Global is an accredited online university that caters to the needs of working adults.

Request more information today to learn how we can help you meet your education and career goals.