Digital Marketing is about communicating with individuals, understanding what resonates with them, and delivering this content to them in the best possible way. More than asking your audience to buy a product or service, digital marketers also work towards building a relationship in which the audience willingly chooses you. Learning the top digital marketing skills will help you become a better digital marketer and prepare you for the job market.
Soft Skills such as good communication, empathy, and curiosity are essential to becoming a successful digital marketer. However, digital marketing skills are necessary for analyzing, creating, and implementing various digital marketing campaigns and strategies. According to a report published by The Economist Group and DMI, 74% of marketing executives recognize that marketing organizations face a talent shortage due to a lack of digital marketing skills. Upskilling in the field of digital marketing can help you acquire these digital marketing skills.
Top Digital Marketing Skills
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Video Marketing
- Data Analytics
- Product/ UX Design
- Social Media Marketing
Let’s get started!
1. SEO or Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is in no way a new digital marketing skill. However, a digital marketing professional needs to know SEO. It is a powerful way to help in the organic growth of your organization. When you consistently publish valuable content, search engines such as Google can interpret if your website is essential, and it can prioritize the search engine results page or SERP.
Building effective digital marketing strategies, keyword research, valuable content, a proper structure, backlinking, and fixing site errors are all a part of the SEO process. In 2021, SEO drives an average conversion rate of 14% from organic search. SEO is a great place to start if you are looking to improve your digital marketing skills or are beginning your career in this area.
Some of the skills you can acquire under SEO are as follows:
- Proficiency in local SEO
- Ability to improve the on-page ranking
- Knowledge about on-page and off-page SEO
- Link building skills
- Staying up-to-date with the latest SEO updates
A few of the commonly used SEO tools are listed below:
- Google Search Console
- SEMrush
- Ahrefs
- Moz
- Google Trends
- Yoast
- Google Analytics
2. Video Marketing
Video Marketing has taken the digital world by storm. Videos are becoming extremely popular these days, and leveraging this to improve your digital marketing strategy can be highly beneficial in the long run. As more brands incorporate video content into their strategy, it is a creative and visual method of marketing your products and services. As Instagram launched its newest feature known as “reels”, several brands have incorporated posting these short 30-second videos to grasp the attention of a wider set of audience.
Videos are a great way to grab attention. They are more engaging and personal, which can help improve the customer experience and relationship. Video skills will continue to be in demand, as we have seen the trend on social media platforms, such as Instagram’s shift from a longer IGTV format to shorter videos on the reels section. Brands are also looking at repurposing their content and publishing it on YouTube to reach the set of people who prefer video content compared to reading a lengthy blog post.
3. Data Analytics
As the amount of content being generated daily increases, the need for making data-driven decisions also increases. Brands have greater access to tools that can help them track various metrics such as engagement, likes, comments, etc., which can help them make effective decisions. With the advent of this data-driven mentality, we need to upgrade our digital marketing skills as well.
As data science and analytics roles are being recognized as the most in-demand roles, digital marketers need to understand its influence on their jobs and leverage the benefits of data analytics. Taking up a Data Science and Business Analytics Course can help you upgrade your skills and stay on top of the changing digital landscape.
Understanding how to study the insights on various digital platforms is essential, and thus, knowing basic query languages such as SQL will also go a long way.
Some of the essential Data Analytics tools are as follows:
4. Product/ UX Design
As we see the costs of paid acquisition channels growing, brands need to move towards alternative growth channels. One of the upcoming digital marketing skills is product/ UX design. A business methodology that is product-led sees user acquisition, conversion, expansion, and retention that is driven through the product design. From the engineering team to the sales and marketing teams, everyone needs to be aligned towards building a more significant user experience and sustainable growth.
Strava is one such brand that has followed this process of implementing product and UX design to its marketing strategy. The fitness tracking done on the Strava app automatically provides insights regarding users in-app activities and creates a social asset that can be shared on social media. While the features were built by the engineering team, the marketing and product team implemented the technique to reduce their costs-per-acquisition. By harnessing the power of data and insights, brands can make well-informed decisions.
Social media platforms are used now, more than ever before. When COVID-19 hit the world, and we were forced to switch to digital media, digital marketers saw an increase in the use of social media platforms as well. Brands were forced to upgrade their social media strategies.
When we talk about digital marketing skills, having comprehensive knowledge about social media platforms and how to use them to your advantage is crucial. The social media landscape is constantly changing. New features and tools are being added every day, and thus, it is essential to upgrade your digital marketing skills with time.
Social media strategies are also based on insights and are data-driven. You now have access to several metrics on different platforms such as likes, comments, shares, clicks on links, etc. With all these aspects being tracked, digital marketers can understand which content works best for them.
Essential tools for social media marketing:
- Facebook Business Manager
- Buzzsumo
- Hootsuite
- Buffer
This brings us to the end of the blog on top digital marketing skills that you must know in 2022. As the digital world keeps evolving, it is important to upgrade your skills and stay on top of your game. You can join Great Learning’s PGP Strategic Digital Marketing Course and upskill today. You can master digital marketing strategies with live, personalized mentorship and learn from the best!
3 Source: GreatLearning Blog
