Digital marketers have been polled for a study completed by Smart Insights. The study looked at how digital marketers see their own skills as well as what type of skills they are hoping to work on for the upcoming year. While much of the report was unsurprising, many were not expecting that affiliate marketing would be the #1 skill that digital marketers were hoping to improve.
The report found that a full 40% of digital marketers are hoping to improve their skills in affiliate marketing over the coming year. This ranks higher than mobile marketing (39%) and SEO (36%). You can see the full chart of the results here:
As you can see there were many skills that were evaluated in the study. There were undoubtedly many factors that had digital marketers looking to improve affiliate marketing. One of the factors may be that most of them thought their skills in this area were quite low. In fact, the study found that only 13% of respondents said that affiliate marketing was currently one of their talents.
Given the rapid growth in this type of marketing it is easy to see how and why people would want to focus on this area going forward.
The report also found that digital marketers were most confident in their strategy and integrated planning skills, which 52% of people said they were strong in. Customer service came in second at 48% and social media marketing got 45%.
Whether you feel like affiliate marketing is currently a strong point or not, it is always good to learn more. Whether this is through self-learning, taking a class or attending a conference millions of marketers will be putting in efforts in this area in the near future.
