The Future of Digital Marketing Skills Training: 2023 Insights from Tech Leaders

The digital marketing industry is in a constant state of flux, meaning marketers must stay up-to-date with the latest skills, tools and trends. 

To gain a glimpse into the future of digital marketing skills training, we interviewed four esteemed tech leaders who shared their predictions. 

From artificial intelligence (AI) to the demise of third-party cookies, these insights provide valuable guidance for marketers alike. Join us as we reveal the key trends that will shape the future of digital marketing skills training and simultaneously equip ourselves for success in an ever-changing industry.

Pablo Listingart

Pablo Listingart, Founder and Executive Director of ComIT, predicted that digital marketing skills training will teach students the careful navigation of AI, which will prevent the tool from disrupting natural creativity and human skills. 

“Digital Marketing is being disrupted by AI, with many people utilizing these tools to create content. As AI is a powerful tool that should be used to enhance our work, then the future of Digital Marketing Skills Training should focus on the best way to do this,” Listingart said. “As a society we should avoid replacing our skills and creativity as then we will be easily replaced by AI and ML, but instead of that, we must learn how to boost our own qualities through the usage of these technologies. My prediction for the near future is not only that AI will be a primordial part of our skills training but that it will also bring us to a new level of quality work, allowing us to better understand our audience and produce targeted content for them, with a greater impact.”

Avery Swartz

Avery Swartz, Founder and CEO of Camp Tech, also spoke about the power of AI, predicting that training companies will play a pivotal role in preparing marketers to work with the tool. 

“Artificial Intelligence will cause a paradigm shift, and upskilling will be essential. It's impossible to predict exactly how artificial intelligence will change every aspect of our lives. All I can say with certainty at this point is that it will. This paradigm shift will have big implications for marketing and communications, and how brands interact with their customers and clients. Training companies have a pivotal role to play as marketers look to upskill in this fast-changing environment.

Swartz also recognized the importance of quality over quantity. 

“Digital marketing skills are in high demand, so it's only natural that the number of training options will increase. This is a good thing, and more choices will allow learners to pick what type of training is right for them (such as live online, in-person, asynchronous, written, video, experiential, or social),” she said. “No matter what the format of the training, the most important part will always be the quality of the instructor, and their abilities to not only deliver the content of the training but also to connect with and encourage each student.”

Sarah Stockdale

Sarah Stockdale, Founder and CEO of Growclass, predicted that the extinction of third-party cookies and AI will turn digital marketing skills training upside down—in an exciting way. 

“The demise of third-party cookies is making marketing attribution harder than ever, and AI is about to make content marketing and existing channels a lot noisier. A lot is about to change—so the next wave of marketers will need to be more creative, strategic, and customer-focused than ever before,” Stockdale said. “They'll need to deeply understand customer psychology, community building, and positioning. They'll also need to stay ahead of the curve on generative language models and how chatbots will ultimately remake how we think about SEO. Marketing is getting a shakeup, and it's about to get very exciting.”

Chris Penner

Chris Penner, Academy Operations Manager at Jelly Academy, predicted that training will become more influenced by industry expectations and that—you guessed it—AI will play a crucial role. 

“Training will become more and more influenced by industry expectations: this not only means keeping up with the latest trends, tactics, strategies, and tools in the industry, but also paying close attention to the skills hiring employers need their digital marketing team to have to support the growth of their business. Training institutions will need to be in tune with industry in order to remain relevant,” Penner said. “And this one might be obvious, but AI will play a big role in the training environment. Whether it is the use of tools to better support a student's journey through a training program, from intake to job search support. Or, articulating how AI influences and supports the roles of digital marketers. All training providers need to start thinking about how AI will play a role in their courses.”

So there we have it! 

It’s predicted that the future of digital marketing skills training will be largely influenced by the integration of AI and the need for quality marketers and quality training. Training companies play a crucial role in upskilling professionals amidst the paradigm shift caused by AI and marketers should prioritize creativity, strategic thinking, and customer focus. 

It can be challenging to keep up with evolving tech, but skills training certainly makes it easier.