On September 14, 2015 an interesting report got published in the UK. Based on a survey conducted collaboratively by Smart Insights, eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing & Advertising it polled more than 1,000 marketing professionals asking them “about their current digital skills, how they wanted to develop and what trends they saw in the industry.” You may download the full “Developing Digital Skills 2015” report here, but today I’d like to draw your attention to one particular chart from this research-based report — the chart that reveals the most sought-after digital skills.
Surprisingly to many (myself included) among the top three you won’t find search engine optimization, content marketing, or conversion rate optimization. Here is how that chart looks:
The top three most desired skills are affiliate marketing, mobile marketing, and digital strategy & integrated planning.
The study concluded that these were the “skills that the fewest marketers possessed.” Hence, they are the ones “that marketers would most want to improve.”
As an affiliate marketer I am especially encouraged to see affiliate marketing top the list. It is good to see marketers realize (and vote for) its importance.
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This roughly translates as “I would prefer to work for myself, rather than do other people’s marketing for them”.
Interesting thought, Chris! Honestly, I haven’t thought about it this way (assuming that they want to improve this skill for the benefit of the companies they are working for). But you’re likely very right.
Case in point: when in 2013 I presented at American Marketing Association’s Washington DC chapter, even though I spoke to an audience full of marketers working in corporate environment(s) and took an angle of starting an affiliate program for your business(es) to get more business, the most common question after my speech was: “So, how do I turn into an affiliate myself?”
It’s always nice to see affiliate marketing getting the recognition it deserves. However, on the flip side, I’m sure that 90% of the people who attempt to make money with it (and try to go full time) will fail, as they continually read about all of the “easy” success stories online and think it’s a breeze.
What everyone should be aware of is that while some make it look easy, it’s definitely one of the most competitive industries to stay successful at. Anyone can make a few dollars online, but to make it in affiliate marketing full time, you need to have the dedication and responsibility of knowing when, where and how your next check is coming from.
All in all… “go affiliate marketing!” 🙂
Great points, Zac. I couldn’t agree more!! There is nothing “easy” or “passive” (for that matter) in affiliate marketing. It is an extremely interesting, demanding, and dynamically developing sphere. And this makes it all the more exciting to be a part of it!
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Hi, Geno!
Maybe you know which companies in the US needs customers and orders from Russian internet. We cooperate with many companies in Russia, have a lot of traffic here and would like to find partners in US. Maybe you worked with any one of them, maybe they have a affiliate programs?
Anton, any advertiser that is open to orders from Russia would be a good match (so it seems). We manage a number of affiliate programs that may be a good fit. Email me and let’s discuss the details.