Are you looking to build a career in digital marketing?
You are on the right track!
According to Grab Jobs, digital marketing specialists are among the top in-demand jobs in the US.
Which skills do you need to become a successful digital marketing specialist?
Digital marketing is a broad feld that includes lots of customer-attraction tactics and platforms, so the list of required skills may be diverse.
Here are top marketing skills that will be in high demand on 2023:
Search Engine Optimization
Organic visibility is the most sought-after marketing channel out there. In fact, if you search Linkedin Jobs for “Digital Marketing”, the results page is dominated by SEO job openings:
And it is understandable: Every brand, big and small, is seeking traffc from organic search for two main reasons:
- It is highly relevant and intent-driven: People typing queries in Google’s search box are there to fnd answers and solutions
- It is not interruptive. Unlike just about any other channel, SEO does not interrupt browsing journeys: Search users are there to fnd you, they are not browsing feeds or checking emails.
On top of that, organic traffc is likely to keep coming even if a company stops active campaigns. It may slow down unless a company maintains it, but it doesn’t require active daily budgets, only a strong team to support what is there.
For all those reasons, having SEO knowledge and experience is likely to be a strong boost to your resume. You can start building that skill now by actively researching, taking SEO courses and volunteering to help charitable organizations achieve their SEO goals.
Content Planning
Content is fundamental to most digital marketing campaigns. You need a good copy for just about anything, including organic or PPC landing pages, social media updates, email marketing, etc.
Good writing is a skill that can be developed. It helps if you have a well-written blog or contribute to well-known publications.
If you are looking to build a career in digital marketing, start by applying for paid blogging gigs. You may also make some income while setting up your writing resume.
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Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is a fast-growing field that can make any marketing strategy more productive and effective. Marketing automation can boost just about any tactic:
- In SEO you can achieve better results by setting up automated alerts and reports
- In social media marketing automation helps create better-timed updates and responses
- In email marketing it makes personalization possible: You can set up smart user fow to reach your customers at the most suitable moment. Cart abandonment email automation is a great example here.
- In sales, automation can streamline follow-ups and lead nurturing.
Having experience in using marketing automation software is often required for high profle digital marketing positions. You can get some basic automation skills by using email marketing services which all come with some level of automation features.
No-Code Development
Most brands are looking for digital marketers who are able to use their content management platform independently. The most common CMS is WordPress but there are a few alternatives to be aware of as well. When it comes to WordPress, it is always a plus when you are familiar with most popular plugins, like Yoast and Akismet.
The good news is, you don’t need much technical knowledge to use any of those content management platforms which are designed for no-coding experience. In most cases, it takes a week or so to fgure out a new CMS.
Besides, all of those platforms have extensive knowledge bases and all of them provide free trials or free plans that come with free domains. So it helps if you start exploring the top CMSs to be able to claim basic knowledge of all of them in your resume.
Graphic design is another essential skill that will turn out to be quite useful for an effective digital marketer because visual marketing is on the rise these days. Again, no need to learn
to use any professional graphic design software though. There are quite a few online tools that will help you create images and videos to use across multiple visual marketing channels. Canva is the best known one.
Community Building
Most brands realize the value of having a community of loyal customers and brand ambassadors that can drive sales and trust signals.
Community building can come in a few distinct forms:
- Infuencer outreach and relationship building
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Journalistic and blogger outreach
Community building is not a skill you can claim unless you have real experience but you can volunteer for online community building opportunities and gain real experience while making an impact.
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Communication and Collaboration
Digital marketing is often well integrated into an organization. It is well connected with sales and customer support teams, product development department, IT, etc. You need to be able to clearly communicate your goals to those teams, explain why certain things and changes to a site are important and collect feedback.
On top of that, digital marketing is not easy to report, so you need to have good communication skills to “sell” it to the management.
It is a good idea to note in your resume what kind of cross-team and collaborative working experience you have, even if it’s limited to working with freelancers.
Project Management
Any digital marketing strategy consists of lots of pieces. Some of those tasks are quick, others can take weeks to complete, and most of them are on-going.
Getting things done is a key skill required for an effective digital marketing process. A good project manager has the ability to articulate even the most complicated messages via email,
phone, or in-person meeting. They know what communication method is the most effective and what will work best for their audience, based on the situation. Successful project managers know when to keep silent and listen.
They are able to understand not only the clients’ needs but also how to meet those needs by taking into account the suggestions of their team. There are quite a few tools and apps helping teams manage projects and get things done. Getting to know some of them is a good frst step to mastering this skill.
Remote Working
If there was one distinct and long-term way COVID impacted business lives is that remote working has become much more widespread and popular.
Prior to worldwide lickdowns, many companies were shying away from letting employees work from homes. The pandemic has changed that: These days lots of organizations have realized that they don’t have to invest huge budgets into relocating employees and covering offce costs. Remote employees can be just as productive.
An ability to work effectively from home is essential to virtual career paths, like digital marketing.
Data Literacy
You don’t need to be a professional data analyst to be a good digital marketer. In fact, a data analyst is a separate profession that is in high demand now.
However, you do need to be able to effectively use web analytics platforms in order to measure results and adjust your strategy accordingly. The most common web analytics platform you’ll come across these days is Google Analytics, so start using it for your own site if you haven’t done that yet.
It is also helpful to familiarize yourself with cross-platform digital marketing tools that can consolidate several data sources (Google Analytics, Search Console, Facebook Insights, etc.) These will help you create professional reports, monitor your channels and analyze your marketing data.
Conclusion
While developing your various digital marketing skills is important, don’t wait till you excel in all of them. At the end of the day, your unique personality is your biggest asset. Start working on your personal brand, keep an eye on relevant job opportunities and never stop learning!
