Current marketing student, getting a B.S. in Marketing at the University of Connecticut, USA.
Get an internship in any way possible. I applied through everything from visiting my school's marketing department office to
usajobs.gov. I applied to everything and was persistent and polite, got several offers for this summer (and I'm just a sophomore).
I personally have found that the technical and analytical skills are more valued, but this differs from job to job. I self-taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator CS6, I have been learning programming languages through codecademy (free!), and I strongly recommend that you become a whiz with Excel. Seriously, know every feature inside and out, including keyboard shortcuts and macros. You will not believe how much this has worked to my advantage; I took a class at my uni that went into the harder parts of excel and access, but I'm sure there are online resources.
Start reading industry material (e.g. blogs, magazines, etc) now. Just like a layperson wouldn't understand the Wall Street Journal at first reading, keeping up and reading every day will teach you more than you would expect.
Personally, I love marketing, but it is the most popular major at my business school; you have to work to make yourself stand out. One in two students is looking for an easy A. I have purposely chosen the best and/or hardest professors throughout. Why? Because I have quickly learned that GPA doesn't matter (so long as its not shit) as much as people skills and actual business knowledge.
