Ask Keith Weed: How much marketing budget should be spent on upskillng marketers?
Each week, revered marketer and president of the Advertising Association Keith Weed, who will be one of the speakers at The Drum's Can-Do Festival, will take questions from marketers around the world in an attempt to help solve their problems through is experience of a long, and highly successful career that has seen it all.
Keith Weed discusses how much marketers should spend on training up their teams.
Jan Gooding: Given you think marketers are not as well educated as you think they should be about media – what proportion of marketing budget do you think should be invested in developing the skills and capability of marketing people in any given company?
Hi Jan,
What I am calling for is a mindset shift from sporadic training days on particular issues to a commitment to ongoing learning. That will require a blend of company led formal training and ongoing self-help. The challenge is that marketing has changed so much in recent years. With all the many opportunities to engage with consumers through multiple different channels which require multiple different approaches, it’s not surprising that marketers are finding it hard to keep up.
The flip side is marketers who build their capability muscles will be more and more in demand. So yes, leaders do need to invest in their people with training but individuals need to also invest in themselves. While marketing’s transformation is being largely driven by technology, technology also offers development opportunities. There are some great high value, low price online training options out there. For example, the online Schoolofmarketing.co (which I must add, I liked so much I became an investor in it). This enables individuals to build their skills in different areas for a low entry price. I raise this as a practical example, as too often
businesses get caught up in high cost solutions when in fact there are now real low-cost opportunities. So, if your business isn’t providing sufficient training, you can afford to train yourself. Investing in yourself to improve your skills is probably one of the best returns on investment available. I encourage all marketers to prioritise their own learning and development... or change their career aspirations.
Weed will be one of a number of speakers at The Drum's forthcoming virtual Festival; The Drum's Can-Do Festival. To receive details on the event can be found at the registration page.
If you want to ask Keith Weed a marketing question to consider in a future installment, email stephen.lepitak@thedrum.com