1. Programming Languages
At the very least, every digital marketer should be very comfortable with basic HTML and CSS. HTML and CSS provide the physical structure and design to a web page. Both of these markup languages allow you create basic documents like blog posts and landing pages, which are essential to a digital marketing strategy.
If you want to be a digital marketing superstar, try becoming familiar with PHP and MySQL. Why PHP? PHP is a general purpose scripting language and is used to create dynamic web pages. MySQL, or Structured Query Language, is an open-source database management system that is often used in conjunction with PHP to store and retrieve data. Both are often implemented into HTML pages, transforming a web page from static to dynamic.
Why would a marketer need to know such technical information? Understanding these languages and databases will help you synthesize big data, but it will also make more efficient, saving your company time and money (something your boss will love).
For example, Annie Cushing, owner and operator of analytics blog Annielytics.com, says learning SQL helped her serve her clients better. Her overall efficiency improved, stating, “You’ll be able to query data then import into an Excel spreadsheet,” which saved her company time and money.
Learning programming languages like PHP and SQL allows any digital marketer to build powerful and impressive dashboards right into Excel, without the hassle of waiting on an analytics or web development team.
2. Analytics
Speaking of analytics, every digital marketer should be well-versed in this category. “Analytics” as a word, has lost it’s lingual command with the growth of the digital marketing. A majority of the time it’s paired with soft stats like page views, number of newsletter subscribers, followers on social media, and visits to the site. Forget those.
Wikipedia describes analytics as an “extensive use of math and statistics” and the “discovery of meaningful patterns in data.” If you want to be a successful digital marketer, you need to look at who is coming to your site, what channels are driving buying customers, what conversions are growing your customer relationships, and the lifetime value of your customers.
Being able to maneuver through these types of quality stats will lead to more tailored campaigns and serve as guide for future marketing decisions. As Neil Patel, founder of KISSMetrics would say, “Measure what matters.”
3. Storytelling
So much of digital marketing today involves creating quality content. With that comes knowing how to truly connect with your target audience. Using your skills in programming languages and analytics, you can then begin to craft campaigns and stories that will resonate honestly with people.
In my experience as a digital marketer, data from analytics shows conversion rates of site visitors to customers are higher when the content driving the visitors is centered around a story. What do I mean by story? It doesn’t mean creating fairy tales or fables: It means using your brand’s unique voice in a unique and creative fashion. Whether that means creating a video, a helpful blog post, or a Pinterest board, it all should align with your audience’s statistics and preferences. To be a successful digital marketer, you need to be able to be creative and dynamic with how you present your content.
So there you have it, 3 things every digital marketer should know. What digital marketing skill is essential to you? Comment below!
