Why smart marketing leaders invest in skills, not just courses
New platforms emerge quarterly, customer behaviours change overnight, and AI tools revolutionise how we work. Amidst all this chaos, one thing is clear: if you’re not investing in developing your team’s skills, you’re falling behind.
Which is why we are developing our business to help you stay ahead.
As a marketing leader, you are not merely running campaigns but building capability. This entails far more than merely enrolling individuals in a few training courses. You are working to reduce attrition, enhance performance, retain talent, and create award-winning teams, all while managing diverse learning styles, personal ambitions, and availability constraints.
So, where do you start?
Your skills toolbox: More than just training
Forward-thinking leaders are moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. They are embracing a combined strategy that includes personal and team skills, analytics, knowledge and action training, and ongoing coaching. This trio fosters genuine performance, adaptability, and hopefully a commitment to continuous learning.
And to do it well, you need insight. What are your team’s learning styles? What motivates them? What are their ambitions? Understanding this allows you to provide flexible, appealing learning options that align with current attitudes in the workplace. A Gen Z is not a millennial and has a different learning attitude.
Step one: Training lays the foundation
Training is where it all begins. Microlearning, masterclasses, boot camps, and qualifications are designed to enhance knowledge and confidence. Whether it’s refreshing skills in SEO, launching Meta Ads, or mastering automation, training ensures that your team stays current.
Why it works:
Delivers up-to-date, industry-relevant knowledge
Standardises skills across your team
Builds confidence with structured how-to guidance
But let’s be honest – training alone may be insufficient.
Step two: Practical learning builds confidence
This is where action-based learning comes into play. The best training is handson-live briefs, simulated challenges, and platform walkthroughs. Your team learns by doing, not merely observing. This serves as the bridge between learning and execution, and it’s where your team can test, experiment, and develop aptitude in a safe environment.
Step three: Coaching turns knowledge into momentum
Effective coaching bridges the gap between theoretical understanding and practical application. It transforms newly acquired knowledge into actionable skills, enabling team members to approach real-world challenges with confidence and agility. Coaching doesn’t just reiterate; it reinforces learning through application, creating a continuous improvement and growth cycle.
Coaching aids marketers in applying new skills to real-time situations. It fosters reflection, enhances confidence, and offers consistent feedback. It is tailored, personal, and essential.
Why coaching matters:
Helps embed learning in real work
Promotes problem-solving and smart decision-making
Encourages accountability and continuous improvement
Supports creativity, resilience, and professional growth
Coaching isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about asking the right questions and guiding your team to discover their own. When done effectively, it helps learning to stick and evolve. Add training and coaching together, and you will benefit from real, tangible growth
The Leader’s Role: From instructor to enabler
In this new learning culture, your role changes too. You’re not the expert in everything (and you don’t need to be). You’re the enabler who builds the environment where learning thrives.
Your job is to:
Identify skills gaps and curate relevant training
Create space for practical application (not just courses)
Facilitate access to coaching and peer support
Foster a culture of experimentation and feedback
Most importantly, trust your team. Empower them to take ownership of their development and make learning an integral part of the everyday rhythm of work.
Enter SkillsPartner™
That’s where SkillsPartner™ from nesma becomes essential – your vital leadership tool for enhancing marketing team capability.
We offer over 100 live, online, and on-demand programmes from reputable marketing educators and practitioners. Whether your team seeks bespoke training, qualifications, bootcamps, day courses or lunchtime learning, we have it covered.
We work with you to:
Understand your team’s goals
Create tailored learning pathways
Offer flexible, cost-effective, and self-directed options
Moreover, our SkillsPartner™ programme provides free and discounted places, on-demand coaching, and even leadership mentoring-all customised to suit your team’s unique requirements.
Final thought: Build a team that grows as well as knows
In marketing, knowledge from yesterday becomes obsolete quickly. The best teams are innovative, adaptive, resilient, and dedicated to continuous learning.
If you want your team to keep up and lead the way, start with skills. Combine structured learning with coaching and action, making curiosity contagious and the driving force of your team’s success.
Ready to build your future-ready team?
Contact Jen Lorimer or Veronica Swindale at 07734 222 254 or jen.lorimer@nesma.co.ukand, and let’s start the conversation.
Because the best marketing teams don’t just know more, they do more, better.