By Don StanleyPresident & CEO, 3Rhino Media

Faculty Associate, Communications, University of Wisconsin

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

― Alvin Toffler, digital revolution pioneer

ONLINE LEARNING: THE KEY TO CLOSING THECONTENT MARKETINGKNOWLEDGE GAP

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PREFACE: I USED TO BE GOOD AT MY JOB!

Once upon a time, to be a successful marketer, you were expected to excel in one significant skill — writing or designing, for example — and other people on your marketing team or at an agency

would take care of the rest. In those days, I was very good at my highly-specialized marketing job.

Those days are long gone. Winning marketing professionals now must have a diverse skill set that includes writing, editing, design, video production, social media sharing, content promotion and data analysis.

And the requirements for those skills are changing all the time.

Consider these statistics from Adobe’s 2014 report, Digital Roadblock: Marketers Struggle to Reinvent Themselves: 58% of marketers say marketing has changed more in the past year than in the previous five years. 37% of marketers worry about their ability to keep up with these rapid changes. 43% of marketers worry about their company’s ability to keep pace.

That’s a lot of worrying.

In The Marketing Agency Blueprint: The Handbook for Building Hybrid PR, SEO, Content, Advertising, and Web Firms, author Paul Roetzer calls for the development of “hybrid” marketers: “Hybrid professionals are trained to deliver services across search, mobile, social, content, analytics, web, PR, and email mar-keting. They provide integrated solutions that used to require multiple agencies and consultants.”

Think about it: If automobile companies can engineer hybrid vehicles, scientists can grow hybrid fruits and vegetables, and musicians and authors can create hybrid genres, incorporating hybrid marketing into an organization’s operation doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

Marketing professionals have no choice but to adapt. The skills gap is creating a growing threat to content marketing and digital marketing success. The unprecedented pace of change in our industry requires the need for an abundance of innovative, exciting and — most importantly — effective training for marketers.

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MARKETING’S CHANGING ROLE

Adobe’s Digital Roadblock study highlights the challenges marketers face today:

64% of marketers expect their role to change during the next year. 40% say the want to completely “reinvent” their role. The problem? Only 14% admit they know how to do this. They need help.

In addition, lack of training in new marketing skills (30%) and organizational inability to adapt (30%) are cited as key obstacles to becoming the marketers they aspire to be.

This is why education — conducted online under the umbrella of continuing education — will become the cornerstone of our industry. After all, time, knowledge and resources are at a premium. Online learning is the most feasible and professionally responsible method of closing the skills gap and fostering relevant and significant growth and development. It is how we all will become successful hybrid marketers.

Simply put, the most beneficial thing you can do is supplement your marketing activities with structured, fast and actionable training provided on-demand by industry experts who have made a career out of staying ahead of the curve.

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THE “OFFICE OF THE FUTURE”

In an ideal scenario, every marketing professional would have access to what I like to call an “office of the future.” This office would operate solely as an R&D headquarters in which industry changes would

be tracked and proven sales and marketing tactics would be abundantly shared. In other words, it would be an incubator of emerging marketing ideas. Staff members in this office would be focused on: Researching and tracking new ideas in a given industry. Training themselves in the implementation of new ideas. Putting those ideas to the test to determine their value to their organization. Reporting the results and bringing the best, most actionable ideas to their team members for full implementation.

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HOW TO MAKE THIS APPROACH A REALITY

OK, time to stop dreaming. How many businesses can afford to implement an office of the future? Well, if we do it right, we all can.

Here are my recommendations to turn this marketing idea incubator concept into a reality for your marketing department:

Take time to review the selection of continuing education course offerings available from organizations such as the Content Marketing Institute. CMI offers everything from ideas for building a content marketing business case and thinking like a storyteller to engaging in social conversation with customers and optimizing Google Analytics. The education of the future isn’t limited by classrooms and semesters. Learning must be viewed as an ongoing effort conducted in real time. The best way to keep up is to let the industry experts be your R&D team.

Take online classes taught by people with experience and expertise in the skill sets you seek to improve. They are considered thought leaders and visionaries for a reason. Use them as your “office of the future” team and learn from them the strategic and tactical information that will help you excel at your job.

Look for classes that are updated regularly. The content marketing industry won’t slow down for anyone. Not even you. So if you plan to keep pace — or even run ahead of the pack — you’ll need to take classes that focus on the latest technologies, strategies and implementation tactics. What was fresh six months ago may not be as effective today.

Look for classes that offer proof of completion that can be used to bolster your career.

The best way to keep up is to let the industry experts

be your R&D team.

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AN EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR KEEPING PACE

I’m a big proponent of e-learning. I use it myself and am fortunate enough to teach e-learning courses. They offer the ability to learn on demand without the need to reserve a training room or

travel to another city. You can review the course material at any time and develop skills based on valuable insight from industry leaders who work in the same field as you. These classes are usually affordable, and many training providers offer certificates of completion.

The best way to keep pace in our evolving world — and move ahead of the competition — is via e-learning. If you’re like me, you might even consider supplementing this kind of education with workshops and conferences.

The foundation of today’s hybrid marketer begins with establishing an office of the future as de-scribed above. Online learning is the key to open the door to that future.

To find out more about the Content Marketing Institute’s online learning program, click here.