Today’s Digital Marketer is required to have a diverse skill set that allows them to use various media channels, leverage new technology and balance creative/critical thinking skills to achieve success for their clients. New technologies are now available that can automate key task and analyse data.
2018 was a big year for Digital marketing, while digital advertising is spend expected to reach 51% of all US ad spend by 2021. A recent report by LinkedIn stated that hard skills in data and marketing will be in demand from many companies in 2019. However, it’s difficult for marketing leaders to find great marketers, as 95% surveyed by TEK Systems Digital revealed that they’ve been negatively impacted by a poor talent pool.
Here are the most in-demand skills every Digital Marketer should possess in 2018:
Rich Data Science
Betsy Rothbart from global tech company, Pitney Bowes, believes that marketing relies on targeting, while good targeting requires strong data. Your data won’t offer a competitive advantage if it comes from a generic list that is available to everyone else. A marketing gem should be able to enrich data, cross-reference sets and utilise native data.
Digital analytics
If your goal as a Digital Marketer is to create the best strategy, you must understand how to interpret data on platforms such as Kissmetrics, Google Analytics, and HubSpot. You should also be able to track the data over time and report on the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
Data-driven marketing
Data is perhaps the most essential asset for a Digital Marketer. Sadly however, it can’t deliver results as a single entity. A Digital Marketer should also know how to:
Measure market performance
Collate data, as well as interpret and recognise good data
Understand cross-functional management
Paid social media advertising expertise
All digital marketing experts should be adept in paid social media advertising – especially on platforms where most of the client’s audience is based. They should be able to implement Facebook insights and analytics; create a custom audience; test creative images and campaigns; and have a general knowledge of how to use marketing tools across the major social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Tell a compelling story using video
Digital video experienced its highest user volume in 2018, as mobile social media channels such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook continued to prioritise mobile-friendly content and video.
Here are some interesting statistics from the Digital Marketing Institute:
87% of online marketers use video
82% of Twitter users watch video on this platform
92% of mobile video viewers share the content they’ve watched with others
YouTube is the second largest search engine and has over a billion users
It’s important for Digital Marketers to have a creative side and know how to tell a story in a way that connects with the audience. When experimenting with storytelling through video, they should be able to understand what works for your brand.
Converging Digital with Experiential
Digital Marketers must understand the best way to combine digital into offline experiences, as brands are moving towards tech-driven experiential marketing, such as augmented reality and virtual reality. It’s a powerful way to break through the noise and connect with your audience. This is an important skill for brands which struggle to attract the attention of their target audience. A Digital Marketer can utilise emotional experiences that drive 90% of purchase decisions to create an emotional brand experience.
Omnichannel Communication
Technology in the digital era has enhanced communications at unprecedented levels. Therefore, it’s important for Digital Marketers to engage global customers via an omnichannel presence. According to Robert Rolls, Head of Online Business at Freeparking: “Today’s brand can target and access the ideal customer via a plethora of touchpoints, making it crucial for marketers to provide a seamless, personalised and consistent customer experience”.
Required skills include the ability to use cross-platform and cross-channel tools; interpersonal skills; an ability to see the bigger picture; and effective communication skills across social media, web, email and voice channels.
Content creation
Writing has always been a great tool for marketing and PR professionals. It offers companies the chance to take charge of their storytelling through whitepapers, leadership pieces and blogs. ‘Content is King’ has been the mantra for the last five years, while almost every company spends a good portion of their marketing budget on Content Marketing. A top Digital Marketer will know how to deliver great content and market it in a way that ensures maximum visibility in SERP. If you can’t create content, outsource this task to talented individuals who are gifted in content distribution and optimisation.
Behavioural analytics
To understand the value of content, it’s important you understand how it fits into the customer’s interaction with the brand. A good marketer can pick up red flags, such as poor CTR on a CTA, poor open rates, and high bounce rate. They should also be able to map meaningful strategies that correct all anomalies, as well as drive engagement and healthy interactions with the target audience.
Soft skills
Research has shown that the soft skills of a Digital Marketer can increase the company’s revenue by over $90,000. These skills include leadership, adaptability, emotional intelligence, communication, and problem-solving. Deloitte stated that by 2030, two-thirds of all jobs will be soft skill intensive.
Professional SEO skills
SEO is a crucial element of any digital marketing campaign. 93% of a user’s online experience begins with a search engine, which handles over 6.5 billion queries a day. A Digital Marketer should have an expert level understanding of SEO, as its ability to put the client’s website on page one of the rankings makes it instantly attractive. It’s also important to understand SERP and rich snippets, whilst being able to analyse ranking and identify threats to your ranking.
Conclusion
The role of marketing has evolved to mirror engineering and business analytics, so you must get onboard to succeed. A professional marketing executive should know how to recognise and nurture ideas, understand design-based thinking and planning, implement best practices for responsive web design, have a grip on modern technology, and be forward thinking and highly persuasive.
The post 10 Skills Every Professional Digital Marketer Must Have in 2019 appeared first on Digital Media News & Training.
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