What Are the Soft Skills Required to Succeed in Social Media Marketing?

Being a mature student in my thirties (the early end, I’d like to make clear from the outset) can seem like a daunting prospect, especially when benchmarking against other people my age and comparing my current position on career timelines.

Studying for a degree in Media and Communications alongside Creative and Professional Writing has opened up a series of opportunities for me as I pursue my career in the writing industry. I’ve found contacts who share my writing enthusiasm, production professionals who want to help me create my working portfolio, and quite crucially, work opportunities that I may not have been able to experience had I not been studying.

However, with Covid-19 dismantling plans for us all this year and redundancies (and furloughed staff) at an all-time high, the uncertainty creates a short and long-term future filled with anxiety and apprehension. For students who face the prospect of entering a potentially jobless market, this is something we’re very much aware of. 

So, the questions flow: How will the job market look when I graduate next year? Do I have the necessary skills that employers are looking for? (This also applies to anyone looking to upskill in a fast-moving, largely digital world. Don’t worry - you’re not alone!). And if not, how can I get those skills? 

What are ‘hard’ skills and ‘soft’ skills?

The most important aspects to consider initially are: what types of skills there are available and what specific skills employers are looking for, particularly in new graduates. 

In short, there are two main skill types - ‘soft skills’ and ‘hard skills’. Soft skills are interpersonal or personality-based traits that make people more employable and can be transferred between jobs. However, unlike hard skills, which offer employers an idea of technical skill sets and educational/training history, soft skills are harder to evidence on a CV or resume.   

It cannot be underestimated the number of soft and hard skills that are required by individuals to work in the creative and digital media industry in 2020, but by knowing what basic soft skills employers are looking for, it can greatly increase the chances of job opportunities when combined with the more technical and digital hard skills required to do the job. 

What in-demand soft skills are employers looking for?

Creativity

Creativity is always a skill employers look for (and it’s no coincidence it’s been rated as the number one soft skill requirement in 2019 and 2020). There are manufactured ways of doing things and many companies will continue to complete tasks because it’s the way they have always done so. But creativity offers a freshness of ideas and a spark of excitement which is welcomed by many employers, particularly in digital media, where marketplaces are crowded and uniqueness stands out. 

And the beauty of creativity is it all comes from your own imagination, so get those thinking caps on and look at things a little differently to everyone else!

Persuasion

Everyone has ideas, but not everyone can pitch and sell their ideas creatively to employers, colleagues or directly to consumers. This is all about persuasion, a soft skill which is highly-rated and valued. It builds confidence in you as a person, but also as a working individual who can lead and see good ideas through. You can have all the technical, hard skills to qualify for a role, but to be able to reason why your ideas will help the company succeed and have employers trust you will make you more valuable.

Collaboration

Recognising your colleagues’ strengths against your own weaknesses can help you perform better as an individual and as a team member. Using your own hard skills and knowledge to complete a project may work for you, but identifying where others can have an input and help produce the best possible output will show good collaborative strength and individual skill.

Adaptability

Possibly the most appropriate soft skill of the year. How many of us have had to adapt to change because of Covid-19? Being able to deal with change positively and embrace it openly is a quality many employers would welcome. And workplaces move faster in the digital world. Change is a daily occurrence. Being able to move seamlessly and transition without any resistance is a great skill to possess.

Emotional Intelligence

This is new to the top 5 soft skills list for 2020, but no less important than the recurring 4 listed above. An effective team is built on knowing when your emotions are heightened and equally when your colleagues’ emotions are changing. Understanding this demonstrates your levels of emotional intelligence. Being able to read, evaluate and react to these emotions will add value to you as an individual and as an employee. It is harder to develop this skill without experience, but you can learn the fundamentals of how to become more in tune with your emotions and those of the people around you. Linkedin Learning offers some great online classes covering the topic of emotional intelligence, ranging from the basics through to development.   

Are there any other top soft skills to consider?

Although the 5 soft skills above make the top of the list, there are many others that you can bring to a company to compliment your own digital and hard skills.

Honesty

‘Honesty is the best policy’. We’ve all heard that saying and it rings true as another top soft skill employers will look for. No-one wants to make mistakes, no one wants to forget an important deadline and no-one wants to be in the wrong, but it does happen sometimes. Being honest and open creates a sense of trust within organisations that builds stronger and more well-connected teams. 

Critical Thinking

Being able to look at a problem and critically analyse and develop a suitable solution is a difficult skill. It requires sound logic and reasoning which requires consideration of both positive and negative points of different approaches before offering an answer. Employers will value someone who can step back, think, and offer a new perspective. 

Judgement and Decision-Making

You don’t have to be at the top of the tree to quantify the making of decisions, but being able to demonstrate assertiveness and sound judgement when dealing with day-to-day work streams is key. The digital world churns up masses of data and content that needs to be assessed and reacted to and being able to identify important information, make a judgement on an action and take a decision can be a very valuable soft skill.

How do you acquire and improve soft skills?

Aside from taking specific courses and masterclasses in soft skills, you can upskill in other areas in order to develop your soft skills more organically. By learning digital skills like social media management and digital design and gaining experience in the industry whilst doing so, you can develop some of the core soft skills you require, such as creativity and critical thinking. Having an understanding of multi-device capabilities and the different audiences using each of the main social media platforms can demonstrate adaptability in a digital world that moves so fast. You can learn to collaborate with team members and other companies when you work with social media marketers. You can use persuasion when you use your advertising and content marketing skills. 

The range is very broad and it can feel a little daunting at first, but there are some free suite courses online that can help you get started, alongside university and higher education accredited courses that can bring you up to speed with essential digital skills. You can join skill sharing communities like Digital Women.

Why is it important to have soft skills alongside ‘harder’ digital skills?

To put it plainly, the future is digital, and higher education institutes are already backing plans for more digital training to be taught as part of students’ curriculums. There has been recognition that digital technologies such as AI could replace people in routine roles where performance and accuracy are factors. Manufacturing and transportation will become more automated as we move forward. But companies like Google still believe soft skills are the most crucial qualities in their top-performing employees, including critical thinking and problem solving. Soft skills help you apply your knowledge of technologies and digital markets into day-to-day work.

Conclusion

Whether you are having a career change (like me) or you are just looking to upskill during the pandemic ready for the future, soft skills are an area you should seriously consider evaluating and improving where you can. Think of how the digital world will develop in the next few years, considering how fast it has developed already, and what skills you can learn to adapt with it. 

Remember, soft skills can develop organically as you learn new digital and hard skills - so come on, it’s time to upskill!   

Key points

• The 2 skill sets commonly identified are soft and hard skills. Soft skills are more interpersonal / personality-based, while hard skills are more technical with some qualification-led learning.

• 2020’s top 5 soft skills are: creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence.

• There are a range of places that you can access specific soft skills training, including Linkedin Learning, Open University and Future Learn.

• Upskilling through digital skills can enhance and develop your soft skills organically.

• Soft skills will always be needed in balance with hard and technical skills - personality and knowledge is the key.

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