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Digital Marketing Skills, Digital Marketing Training

How Can Executives Get Digital Savvy When Business Schools Aren’t Preparing Digital Leaders?

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digital leaders

Krista Neher

Jun 09 2017

Today I had the opportunity to hear Bonin Bough talk about digital marketing – he was incredibly entertaining and energetic. One small idea he shared hit home more than anything else.

Less than 1% of the course descriptions of the top business school course descriptions include “mobile”, “emerging”, “digital”, or “technology.”

In 2017 this is pretty scary.

Business leaders and executives are not getting the digital marketing training and education they need to be successful. We continuously hear from marketers, business leaders, and executives that they don’t have the digital marketing knowledge to fully comprehend how digital is transforming their business. It’s no surprise – there’s a huge gap between the formal education market and the reality of business today.

Today over 50% of attention is online and over 50% of digital attention is mobile. It isn’t just about marketing. It’s about every aspect of your marketing.

What can business leaders do to close the digital knowledge gap?

  1. Invest in Personal Digital Marketing Training – Take it upon yourself to get training in digital marketing. Set some time aside and take a formal training program. This will give you the foundation of digital and how it impacts your business.
  2. Read a Few Books – Based on your specific knowledge gaps, choose a few books to read. Sure there are plenty of blog posts and articles on almost any topic, but they typically aren’t comprehensive and quality levels will vary. Maximize your time investment by choosing a handful of well thought out books to close your personal knowledge gaps.
  3. Read Blogs or Digital News Sites – Subscribe to some digital news sites (maybe just one) that are relevant to your industry and role. Digital changes quickly and even if you only scan the headlines this will put you ahead.
  4. Invest in Organizational Digital Marketing Training – You can’t do this alone. Read that again. You. Can’t. Do. This. Alone. Get your organization up to speed so you’re all speaking the same language and on the same page.
  5. Get Curious and Pay Attention – Adopt a curious mindset when it comes to digital. Explore innovations. Look at what your competitors are doing. Look for digital experiences that speak to you. Pay attention to the world around you and see what works on you that you could also capitalize on.
  6. Attend Conferences and Events – Make an effort to attend a high quality conference or event every year to stay up-to-date on innovations and get new ideas. This will re-energize you and give you new ideas. Digital is constantly evolving so you need an approach where you’re always learning.

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