Even though marketers have more tools, data, and screens than ever before, we’re losing touch with the very thing that makes marketing work: connecting with real people.

You can see the change. A junior executive, for instance, is an expert in Google Ads but has no idea how to present an idea with conviction. Someone in charge of a brand knows how to segment an audience but not how to read the room. Likewise, a whole team might be obsessed with open rates yet doesn’t care about how angry customers are sounding in their comments. The soft skills are indeed getting worse.

From Insight to Instinct: What’s Missing?

Sales has always been a mix of science and magic. These days, however, the scales have tipped. We are only hiring people who are technically fluent and not emotionally fluent. This has led to teams that can do the numbers but fail to understand the people behind them.

Let us break down what is getting missed:

• Real Empathy: Not the fake kind of empathy, but the genuine kind. This is the kind that lets you know why a customer paused or how a cultural moment will truly fit in.
• Active Listening: This is especially important online, where groups tell us what they care about. But we only hear them if we stop looking for meaningless measures long enough to truly listen.
• Creative Persuasion: Templates are taking the place of stories. Consequently, there is no longer any way to move people, so brands sound the same.
• Internal Communication: Soft skills aren’t just for the public. Instead, they help teams get along, work together better, and build trust among themselves.

Why It’s Happening

There’s a reason we’ve arrived here. It’s not because marketers don’t care; rather, the system doesn’t reward something it can’t readily assess.

When ROI is important, soft skills are often seen as “nice to have.” Emotional intelligence, sadly, does not show on performance dashboards. What about its absence? It manifests in dull ads, superficial brand love, and talent fatigue. As AI advances, moreover, it becomes simpler to imagine that emotional work is optional.

Spoiler: It is not. Care cannot be automated; nevertheless, content can.

The Soft Skills Gap Hurts Everyone

To be clear, this isn’t a problem with Gen Z or with the way people are leading. It’s a problem for the whole business.

When clients receive pitch decks that are just stats but no soul, they can feel it. People feel it when a campaign speaks AT them instead of TO them. Teams know it when their opinions aren’t taken into account or when their views aren’t heard. New hires, furthermore, feel it when no one mentors them on how to lead with empathy.

READ ALSO: Stop outsourcing emotion to brand, start leading with it

So, What Can We Do?

It’s time to put together new marketing teams that are both technically and socially smart.

Consider the following thoughts:

• Focus on attitude, not just skills, when you hire.
• Offer classes on humanity, not only AI trainings.
• Reward people for listening as well as talking.
• Make emotional work clear and worthwhile.
• Push for leaders who can feel as well as grow.

Soft skills aren’t weak. They make brands seem real. They are, in fact, the only thing that truly sets them apart in a sea of technology.

So, ask yourself, and your team: Where have all the soft skills gone? And what would it take to bring them back?

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