Digital marketing is everywhere; in fact, you can call it the new norm. With the technology-oriented companies evolving, digital marketing experts can now expect a fixed salary and enjoy the perks of working from home.
If you are interested in learning digital marketing and try it as a new job, you’ve landed on the right page, as I am now going to reveal some basic skills that you need to have to excel and become a digital marketing expert.
Skills a Digital Marketing Expert Should Possess
- Writing & Editing
Writing is one of the most mandatory skills that you need to learn as a digital marketing expert. You might have heard of content marketing, right? If so, then you would realize how important writing a high-quality blog is for content marketing.
- Search Engine Optimization
I am sure you do know how important SEO is for ranking high on the search engines, and for you to become a digital marketing expert you need to realize that organic search results are 8.5 times likely to be clicked than SEM. 2020 belongs to white hat SEO, which includes, guest blogging, link building using social media, writing quality content, and then marketing it. However, having said that, technical SEO, like, how to update title tags, H1, and H2 tags, and inserting keywords are as important too.
Before I forget, as a digital marketing expert, you should also know ways to research keywords, including them in the website content, blogs, and PPC so that it drives the right traffic.
- Design Skills
Much of the digital marketing these days includes visuals, and the content you post on social media is incomplete without images. Therefore, as a future digital marketing expert, knowing how to create and edit visuals yourself has become important.
If possible, try learning Photoshop for creating email banners, banner ads, etc, or else, at least have some knowledge of Canva and Postermywall tools as they are easy to use.
- Paid Ads on Social Media
Yes, you have read that right. Everything good comes with a price. The best way to reach more people on social media is by using paid campaigns. Besides, ensure you know how to write long copy on social media, monitor, and edit your bids to customize your ads.
- WordPress
Did you know that more than 25% of the sites is now made using WordPress? It has become one of the most famous CMS across the world. Since you will be working for clients around the world, it is always safe to learn how to use WordPress and its plugins.
- Social Media Marketing
Now, almost 1/3 of the total population of the world uses social media platforms. Social media marketing is much more than posting on Facebook. Knowing how to generate engagement on all platforms is as important. You should know how to create visuals, build ads, copywriting, and know how to use analytics tools.
- Email Marketing
Email marketing has been there for ages, and it is here to stay. People do read emails the first thing in the morning, at least I do, and chances are, people like me, do so too. When starting a new business, people need to spread awareness and for that, email marketing is a successful strategy. So, ensure you know how email marketing works
- Google Adwords and SEM
Most of the businesses are now relying on search engine marketing or PPC for raising brand awareness. In fact, as a digital marketing expert, if you excel in SEM you can snag some high wages on your account. To know the right PPC tactics, you need to think strategically and scientifically too. You must have the knowledge to create, optimize, and report effective campaigns using Google Analytics and Google Adwords simultaneously.
- Conversion Rate Optimization
CRO is the point where a digital marketing expert checks the traffic that has converted into customers. It is the art of testing different web pages, emails, and CTAs to check which one of them is converting. Understanding how to perform an A/B test is crucial as well.
- Marketing Automation
The term simply means creating automated tasks for the visitors of the website that will save your time as a marketer. With increased business comes an increase in traffic and that requires an automated system from the digital marketing expert to keep up with the pace. You should know how to trigger drip campaigns, setup forms, build landing pages, and so on. This will ensure the visitors are converting.
- Influencer Marketing
Most of the brands are now turning and looking for influencer marketing as it can show drastic results. Understand how to use tools like Traacker that will help you find and track online influencers, believe me, you will be doing a great job for yourself.
- Analytical and Creative Abilities
Lastly, remember, to become a digital marketing expert you should have both creative (writing, designing) and analytical (CRO, Google Analytics, and marketing automation) skills. You must be able to use the right tactic at the right time.
Conclusion
As a digital marketing expert, you should be able to adapt to changes quickly and keep learning as the Google algorithm keeps changing. Be prepared to work with a range of clients and teams, make sure you know how to communicate well with all.
To date, there is no college degree for becoming an expert in the field, but, the many different online courses are enough to begin. With time, you need to keep learning, and improving your soft and hard skills.
If you are unsure where to begin, I recommend using Google to search for courses like, ‘digital marketing expert course beginners, ‘ and once you attain the basic knowledge, my say would be to start with in-depth training for SEO, SMM, and so on. When you learn each course separately, you learn better. However, to begin your career as a digital marketing expert, start with copywriting and SEO.
