Various studies show that information technology (IT) skills are needed in nine out of ten jobs. What IT and marketing knowledge and skills are needed for a modern marketing specialist was clarified in a study conducted in Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Portugal at the beginning of the 2020 year.

Representatives of various stakeholders in this study singled out the following key competencies of a digital marketer: strong communication, digital strategy, strategic creativity and consumer loyalty, and website user experience management, optimization, and more (Figure: Digital Marketing Specialist Competencies Top 10). All the competencies highlighted relate both to the strategic aspects of marketing as a professional activity and to the modules in marketing as a study program and in the field of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Specialist Competencies Top 10

The analysis of professional competencies revealed that the skills that a digital marketer particularly needs (Figure: Digital Marketing Specialist Skills Top 10), related to IT tools, are directly related to a specific marketing area and its goals, e.g. with social media, mobile, email. email, search engine and optimization marketing, etc. These professional skills can be conditionally divided into two groups: professional skills tailored to the needs of digital marketing and professional skills tailored to the needs of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Specialist Skills Top 10

"A modern marketing specialist must not only be a professional in his field, but also constantly monitor the environment, follow trends and social issues. In this age of video and social networking, digital skills are more important than ever. After all, it is very important that a marketer knows how media channels work, is able to convey the desired message to the audience in a short, persuasive and clear way, using the correct language, both text and video or image, ”says L. Križinauskienė,  director of association "Langas į ateitį" and Coordinator of the National Digital Coalition. She also emphasizes that it is very important for such professionals to critically evaluate information, be able to work and communicate in a team.

These insights are supported by dr. Giedrius Romeika, director of the Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics of Vilnius University Kaunas faculty, one of the main developers of the international project “FuseIT: Future competences pathways for marketing and ICT education”. According to him, the results of the research were surprising, and at the same time quite plausible: “On the one hand, the TOP 10 of digital competencies included competencies in different areas and categories: knowledge of the user and his needs representing the basics of marketing; user-friendliness / design of the website, whether business intelligence or digital strategy linked to business strategy, or strategic creativity more  linked to personal competencies. On the other hand, given the diversity of marketing as a discipline and the dynamism and applicability of ICT, such a broad and diverse mix of digital competencies seems reasonable and logical."

The broad top 10 professional skills range from proper knowledge of "Excel" to mobile marketing or search engine marketing (SEM). "Creating such a wide range of competencies and professional skills and at the same time effective training program will be a serious challenge for the project team," admits "FuseIT" project manager dr. Giedrius Romeika. However, he ensures that an international team of complementary professionals and colleagues will succeed in this task.

Already the first intellectual results and recommendations of the “FuseIT” project became guidelines for further development of an effective digital marketing competencies training module based on the needs identified in the study.

The “FuseIT” (Future competences pathways for marketing and ICT education) project is implemented by VU Kaunas Faculty (coordinator), together with project partners from Portugal, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania. The aim of the project is to analyze, create and implement a curriculum with e. learning materials, a blended learning environment, self-assessment of ICT knowledge and skills, and a certification system that responds to the needs of the European labor market.

Project duration: 2019 October 31 - 2021 October 31

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This material reflects the views only of the author, and the National Agency and European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.