Mapping the digital marketing hard skills of university students in the visegrad region

The growing role of digital marketing and the increasing importance of data-driven tools are reshaping the labour market's expectations. Identifying the differences between labour market requirements and students’ skills is essential for advancing university courses. Despite the increasing presence of digital marketing content in study programmes, there is still a lack of comparative empirical research assessing the level of digital marketing skills among students in Central Europe. The aim of this paper is to investigate and map the digital marketing hard skills of university students in the Visegrad region, with particular emphasis on their ability to use digital tools, their perceived proficiency and areas requiring further development to meet modern labour market expectations. Using purposive sampling, data were collected via an online survey administered between June 2025 and January 2026, among Hungarian, Polish and Slovak students. The total sample size consisted of 1200 respondents (400 from each country), aged 18 - 30, enrolled in study programmes incorporating marketing-related courses. The questionnaire included items regarding digital marketing skills and students' perceived proficiency in specific digital tools. The findings reveal a clear concentration of skills in domains that are highly visible within students’ environments, like social media and AI, while automation and analytics skills remain comparatively underdeveloped. At the level of specific digital marketing tools, self-reported proficiency ranged predominantly from beginner to intermediate level. Significant differences between countries were also observed. These findings underscore the need to more closely align curricula with the requirements of the labour market.