Digital Marketing Width is Expanding, but is Skill Set Breadth?

Being a jack of all trades can be advantageous especially in a digital marketing role for a small or medium sized company.  But that also means that the versatile digital marketer is master of none, so it’s important to analyze suitability and skill-sets before undertaking a digital marketing activity outside typical competencies.

A past client recently asked me for input on a replacement hire for a departed marketing coordinator.  They liked their previous marketing coordinator but had identified a few areas where they would prefer greater technical competency.  I was shocked to see an extensive skill set list.  It included basic skills like Microsoft Office but then went into a laundry list of programs and platforms like Photoshop, Premiere, WordPress (or related CMS), Google AdWords, Google Analytics, InDesign, Acrobat Forms, SharePoint (Workflows), UX Design, Web development (JavaScript and PHP), eight social media platforms, and content creator (writer).  The programs weren’t just listed, they had requirements for years of experience for all of them.

In short, they wanted their marketing coordinator to be a seasoned graphic designer, web developer, video editor, photo editor, advertiser, desktop publisher, data analyst, social media marketer, application/workflow developer, and writer.

Best of all, they had a candidate that seemed to meet all the needs and was in the ballpark of their compensation package.  In the interview they had asked the candidate to rank his skill level on a scale of 0 – 10 with each program/skill set.  The candidate had placed an 8, 9, or 10 next to each line item.  In all honesty, I wouldn’t feel comfortable placing a rating that high for myself for all of those items across the board, so I was skeptical that a perfect candidate just so happened to be available for hire.  Furthermore, the candidate’s online presence didn’t seem to reflect the advanced proficiencies that his resume stated.

My suggestion was to have the candidate do a small test project that utilized as many of the skills as possible without being an extensive time commitment.  The candidate agreed and, unsurprisingly, the result of the project didn’t rate any higher than a 4 on any of our rating scales. Some of the elements showed a skill level of 1 or 2.

The surprising take away for me was not that a job candidate was exaggerating their abilities but that all of the skill sets listed could be considered digital marketing in some form or fashion.   The width of digital marketing seems to keep expanding and the skills to execute it professionally grow with it.  However, it’s almost impossible for a single individual to have sufficient breadth in all of these disciplines to consistently execute a professional product.

As the width of digital marketing grows it’s important that digital marketers have a realistic view of what they can and cannot execute.  Sometimes a basic skill level is sufficient but some initiatives require a polished professional campaign and “basic” just doesn’t cut the mustard. Partnering with a colleague or external provider with true expertise is sometimes necessary.  When hiring an employee or going through day-to-day marketing initiatives, analyze whether the resulting campaigns are sufficient.  It’s not uncommon to find a deficiency.  Rather than settling for a sub-par result, find a partner with suitable skill set breadth to create the professional product you are looking to achieve.