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Despite the setbacks brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, digital content creation for social media marketing is seeing an exponential rise and is set for a market value of $38.2 billion by 2030, with 12% growth from 2020 until then 2030—according to a report from InsightSLICE—bringing a corresponding demand for expertise.
Content demand increases by 71%
The secret to content marketing success is a combination of correct hiring, dedicated skills, and activating the most effective tools available. Content creation refers to the act and tools used to generate textual, video, audio, and graphical marketing material, and there are any number of software applications and platforms for this function.
The demand for content remains healthy, as evidenced by U.S. content creation consultancy Verblio’s 2021 digital agency survey, which found that demand has increased by 71% this year, with most digital agencies surveyed expecting revenue from content marketing to surge in the next year.
Most desirable digital marketing skills
The clincher, however, is hiring the right people for the job, says a marketing recruitment agency. A corresponding increasing demand for generalist permanent and temporary marketing professionals equipped with specialist skills such as search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) makes partnering with a specialist marketing recruitment agency the smart move.
The Verblio survey puts SEO skills (71%) as the most desirable marketing skills required by job candidates, followed closely by SEM. Other essential skills, ranked by desirability as a percentage, according to survey respondents, include creative thinking and ideation (65%), copywriting (58%), data analysis (42%), paid-for social media advertising (27%), sales (26%), email marketing (22%), customer relationship management (CRM) (10%), and mobile marketing/digital public relations (PR) (joint 8%).
67% of the agencies probed by Verblio said they have hired during the pandemic, but 51% said they had a hard time sourcing employees with the desired skills. 52% battled to appoint skilled contractors, while 39% expressed concern about a skills gap.
Nevertheless, prospects for new hires remain positive, as agencies said they have gained more than nine new clients and lost less than four this year so far, and 75% are expecting further growth in the online marketing industry.
Social media posts, email newsletters, and outreach are the most popular digital promotion tactics, rating at 79%, 65%, and 27% respectively, while blog posts, landing pages, and social media posts are cited as the most profitable content types.
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