What They Don’t Teach in Business School: The Hard Marketing Skills You Need to Succeed

Universities are falling short—not just because of overloaded debt or extravagant student unions, but for a deeper, more critical reason that often goes unmentioned: they’re failing to teach relevant, practical skills. Business school, for example, lays a solid foundation in finance, strategy, and marketing theory, but there’s a hard truth about entering the workforce: the skills taught in school rarely align with what employers actually need.

This disconnect is why so many managers demand work experience, even for entry-level roles. They know the skill level of recent graduates often doesn’t meet the demands of the workplace—even when internships are on the resume. Managers understand that students, even with academic accolades, often lack the real-world expertise needed to hit the ground running.

Sure, students may excel at SWOT analyses or deliver polished presentations, but what about proficiency in the technical tools and platforms that drive modern business? Tools like Google Ads, TikTok Ads Manager, Amazon Seller Central, or any CRM program. As someone who has been both a Professor and a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), I’ve seen this gap up close. I quite frankly find it embarrassing what business schools are teaching.

I bring a unique perspective to this discussion, shaped by over two decades in marketing and business leadership. With a Ph.D. in Marketing and minors in Psychology and Statistics, as well as an MBA and BBA in Marketing, I’ve navigated both the academic and corporate worlds. My career spans roles as a tenured professor, researcher, Fractional CMO, and consultant for industries including healthcare, consumer electronics, and digital marketing. I’ve led seven-figure omnichannel campaigns, built advanced analytics frameworks, and developed marketing strategies for both Fortune 500 companies and startups. My hands-on experience with platforms like Google Ads, TikTok Ads Manager, and Salesforce has shown me exactly where academic theory falls short—and what it takes to succeed in today’s fast-paced business environment.

To truly thrive in your career, it’s essential to go beyond the classroom and develop real-world hard skills. These are the tools, platforms, and competencies that every entry-level employee should master—but they won’t be found in any syllabus. The sooner you bridge this gap, the sooner you’ll be ready to make an impact in the workplace - or the sooner industry ready employers can be minted.

Missing Soft Skills

Let me start out by saying there’s a lot of soft skills missing in the way universities prepare students. Critical thinking is a big one. Sure, you might learn how to analyze case studies or debate abstract scenarios, but being able to break down real-world problems, evaluate incomplete information, and make decisions under pressure is a whole other ballgame. Employers need people who can think on their feet, adapt quickly, and solve problems without a step-by-step manual.

Then there’s communication—an essential soft skill that’s often underestimated. Writing essays and giving classroom presentations don’t prepare you for the nuanced ways businesses communicate. Whether it’s a one-on-one client pitch, a persuasive email, or a high-stakes executive meeting, the ability to tailor your message to different audiences is invaluable. Corporate communications are leaps and bound different than small business communications.

Time management and collaboration also make the list. In school, you’re juggling deadlines and group projects, but real-world collaboration means working with diverse personalities, navigating workplace dynamics, and ensuring that the whole team delivers—not just you. Can you handle a work load when your schedule gets filled to capacity by other people while you're sleeping? And let’s not forget emotional intelligence, the skill that helps you manage relationships, resolve conflicts, and build trust. Furthermore, there could be a whole major devoted to playing politics.

These gaps in soft skills are just the beginning. Universities may preach their importance, but I've never seen a course to address these issues. And without real-world practice, graduates leave with a theoretical understanding instead of actionable abilities. Once we layer in the hard skills missing from the curriculum, it’s no wonder managers are hesitant to hire fresh grads without hands-on experience. Let’s take a look at where business schools truly miss the mark.

Hard Skills Missing from the Business School Curriculum

Digital Advertising Mastery

Running a Google Ads or TikTok campaign is about more than just setting a budget and letting it run—it requires a structured, analytical approach that moves beyond simple execution. The process starts with mastering the fundamentals: conducting keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to identify high-ROI opportunities, crafting ad copy with compelling headlines and CTAs to drive clicks, and setting up campaigns with well-structured ad groups and precise audience targeting.

However, the real challenge begins after the campaign is live. Success hinges on the ability to analyze performance metrics such as CTR (Click-Through Rate), CPC (Cost Per Click), and conversion rates to diagnose what’s working and what isn’t. With this insight, you can refine bids, adjust creative, or reallocate budgets to improve results. For marketers faced with limited client budgets, prioritizing high-ROI channels and continuously optimizing ensures every dollar works harder. A small, strategically managed campaign can outperform even the largest, mismanaged budgets. I am amazed that software providers don't provide sample accounts full of fake data for students to use. This would be a better tool than any textbook for undergraduates.

Social Media Platform Expertise

Social media marketing, especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, combines creativity with precision. Success starts with creating engaging short-form video content that captures attention in the first few seconds and resonates with platform trends. From there, mastery of tools like TikTok Ads Manager or Meta Business Manager allows marketers to design highly targeted campaigns that leverage the unique algorithms of each platform. Once campaigns are live, the work isn’t done. The next step is analyzing audience behavior and content performance: Are engagement rates meeting expectations?

Are you reaching the right demographics? This analysis informs the final step—iterating and scaling successful strategies while pausing or tweaking underperforming ones. Tight budgets can make social media campaigns seem daunting, but focusing on proven content formats and high-impact strategies ensures even limited resources deliver meaningful results.

Gen Z has grown up with social media - surely they understand how to use it? But, utilizing social media to carefully fit into a corporate brand's guidelines is a nuanced dance. How should social be used, with what frequency, in what industry? This is yet another area that is lacking from curricula and entry level employees.

Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for nurturing leads, but its power lies in personalization and precision. Success begins with segmenting audiences based on behavior, demographics, or purchase history and using tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, or Klaviyo to automate workflows that guide subscribers through the sales funnel. Once campaigns are live, the key is to diagnose and optimize performance. If open rates are low, test subject lines. If click-through rates are underwhelming, refine CTAs or adjust email content. A/B testing is invaluable for finding small tweaks that drive big improvements. The final step is implementing changes based on insights—focusing efforts on high-performing segments or introducing variations to capitalize on success. For clients unwilling to provide robust budgets, prioritizing high-value customer segments and leveraging automation ensures email campaigns still deliver significant ROI, even with limited resources. Have you ever seen an undergraduate program set up an automated email journey or learn how to segment customer databases? I haven't.

CRM and Sales Tools

Effectively managing customer relationships is critical in today's data-driven market, requiring proficiency with CRM platforms such as Salesforce and HubSpot. These systems are invaluable for marketers as they automate lead scoring and prioritize prospects based on their engagement with the brand. Furthermore, CRMs facilitate the development of nurturing workflows that deliver targeted messages tailored to specific customer behaviors or milestones. This capability ensures seamless integration with other marketing tools, enhancing campaign efficiency and providing comprehensive tracking of customer engagements.

Business schools should incorporate practical exercises and projects into their curriculum that focus on setting up and managing a CRM system using real customer data for a hypothetical company. This approach would provide students with valuable hands-on experience in automating lead scoring, segmenting customers, and developing detailed customer personas based on actual data patterns. Additionally, students would learn to create and manage nurturing campaigns and integrate CRM platforms with various marketing tools. This realistic simulation prepares them for the complexities of customer relationship management and equips them with the skills to handle similar tasks effectively in a professional environment.

Basic Coding and Analytics

In the evolving landscape of marketing, an understanding of basic coding and analytics is increasingly essential, even for non-technical roles. Proficiency in HTML and CSS is crucial for making quick adjustments to websites or landing pages, ensuring marketers can rapidly implement changes without dependency on technical staff. Furthermore, a deep understanding of Google Analytics and GA4 allows marketers to monitor user behavior and measure campaign effectiveness, transforming raw data into actionable insights. Additionally, expertise in data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI is vital for presenting complex data in a clear, accessible manner, making it easier for teams to make informed decisions based on real insights.

To complement these skills, knowledge of SQL and experience with a cloud-based data warehouse like Snowflake can dramatically enhance a marketer's ability to query and manipulate large datasets effectively. SQL skills enable marketers to perform sophisticated data analyses and extractions themselves, fostering a deeper understanding of customer behaviors and trends. Snowflake offers scalable storage and computing power, allowing marketers to work with real-time data across multiple sources, providing a more comprehensive view of marketing performance. This integration of SQL and Snowflake into marketing analytics allows for more precise segmentation, targeted campaign strategies, and a higher degree of personalization in marketing efforts.

Business schools should introduce a comprehensive course that covers not only basic web development, including HTML and CSS, but also advanced analytics using tools like Google Analytics, GA4, SQL, and platforms such as Snowflake. This course would involve practical projects, such as building a simple website, integrating it with analytics tools, and using SQL to query customer data for strategic insights. Through hands-on experience, students would learn to track specific metrics, segment customer data, and utilize insights to drive more effective marketing strategies. This broad approach not only demystifies the technical aspects of marketing but also equips students with the robust analytical skills needed for effective, data-driven decision-making in a professional setting.

E-Commerce Platform Management

For those in retail or direct-to-consumer (DTC) roles, expertise in e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Amazon Seller Central is essential. Effective management involves organizing product listings, optimizing for SEO, handling customer reviews, and using platform analytics to guide marketing and sales strategies. This expertise is crucial for enhancing product visibility, managing inventory efficiently, and making informed decisions based on customer feedback and sales data.

Business schools should offer workshops that simulate the management of an e-commerce platform like Shopify or Amazon Seller Central. This workshop could involve tasks such as setting up product listings, managing inventory, optimizing product pages for SEO, and handling customer reviews to enhance product credibility and visibility. Students could also engage in competitive analysis exercises to identify best practices in e-commerce management. The culmination of the workshop could be a strategic project where students use the platform's analytics tools to analyze sales data and propose optimizations for increasing conversion rates based on their findings. This direct experience would equip students with the skills needed to manage and optimize e-commerce platforms effectively in their future careers.

This list of strategies for gaining critical marketing skills might sound like common sense, but when compared to the typical undergraduate and even graduate curricula, it's clear that many essential competencies are not covered adequately in formal education programs. It's quite frankly embarrassing how disconnected universities have become from the real world.

How to Gain These Skills Before You’re Hired

If you’re frustrated that entry-level roles demand experience, take charge of your own development:

• Take Online Courses: Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer affordable training on tools like Google Ads and Tableau. Watch YouTube videos for free. These courses are often designed by industry professionals and provide practical, hands-on learning that can be directly applied in a work setting.

• Freelance: Apply your skills by managing campaigns or creating content for small businesses on Upwork. This real-world experience is invaluable and can often lead to more opportunities through building a network and portfolio.

• Earn Certifications: Add credibility to your resume with certifications like Google Ads, HubSpot, or Facebook Blueprint. These are recognized industry standards that signal to employers that you are competent and serious about your professional development.

  
  

Bridging the Gap

My career has shown me that the real-world application of marketing tools and strategies is what separates successful professionals from the pack. From leading comprehensive rebranding campaigns to increasing Return on Ad Spend by 300%, I’ve learned that technical proficiency in platforms and deep analytics knowledge is as critical as strategic thinking.

If business schools incorporated even a fraction of these hard skills into their curricula, graduates would enter the workforce better equipped to deliver value from day one. Until then, it’s up to you as a newly minted employee or as a corporate leader to identify and close these gaps. By mastering the hard skills that businesses need, you can bridge the divide between the classroom and the boardroom—and accelerate your career in the process.