Looking for a new marketing job? Harry Joiner of Marketing Headhunter.com in a recent article by Marketingsherpa, listed the top 5 marketing skills in demand by CEO now.

o Niche market development
This includes knowing how to research and identify them. Reliable niche market research breeds an understanding between the marketer and different customer subcultures. When marketers don’t have these skills, they can’t discover how customers make purchase decisions.

o Analytical bias
Marketing managers who don’t have an analytical bias and a multichannel orientation are at a disadvantage, Joiner says. The ability to accurately analyze campaigns can make or break a marketer.

o Classic direct marketing skills
As marketing skews toward new media, long praised for its “accountability,” marketers with traditional direct marketing experience are in strong demand, because they have been trained in catalog merchandising, list selection, copywriting, campaign analytics — all skills necessary for success in new media. “Even in B-to-B,” says Joiner.

o Search marketing
Seems like everyone on both agency-side and client-side is searching for “experts” in search optimization and PPC ads. Problem is, this estimated $4.5 billion marketplace barely existed a few years ago, so there aren’t that many experienced marketers out there yet. Most of the old-time experts are running their own shops helping clients who can’t find anyone to handle this in-house. You may need to lower your expectations about experience requirements, and instead hire an intelligent marketer who loves numbers and copy, and who’s a proven fast-learner.

o Humility
Yes, it’s a “soft” skill, but in a changing marketplace, Joiner says the most successful marketers are “channel agnostic,” which, he says, requires humility.