expand your digital marketing horizons

Digitization and digitalization are the only way to go nowadays. With the technological advancements, accompanied by the fast-paced lifestyle, people are becoming overly dependent on mobile phones in their day-to-day lives and business growth. The pandemic has also influenced the rise of doing everything online to keep everyone safe and healthy, such as shopping, schooling, paying bills, and working.

Gone are the days when companies rely only on traditional marketing strategies such as print ads, television, and radio commercials. Now, since everyone is glued to their computers, mobile phones, and tablets, the avenues should be where people must feel your brand. Hence, with the power of the internet, the agencies have also shifted online and invested heavily in digital marketing more than ever.

What is digital marketing, anyway? Digital marketing is a component of marketing that utilizes the internet and digital medium, and online platforms to promote products and services of an individual, professional, small and big companies, or anything on the planet. In short, it’s advertising through digital channels such as emails, websites, social media, mobile apps, etc.

Since digital marketing is booming, so are the careers on it. Different positions such as Social Media Manager, Paid Media Specialist, SEO Specialist, Content Creator, Digital Marketing Director, and more are open. If you want to dive into the digital marketing industry, it is a perfect time!

Let us start with the skills to expand your digital marketing horizons.

  • Creativity and critical thinking: Creativity and critical thinking are essential for every marketer to stand out from competitors. There are many methods to inspire and improve creativity since you develop creative solutions to business problems.

  • Data analysis: As the famous saying goes, “What you can’t measure, you cannot control.” A digital marketer needs to be comfortable with numbers and statistics to gauge if a marketing strategy is effective or not. So, data analysis skills will help to plan and decide your strategy.

  • Writing skills: A skill to create engaging content is a must for digital marketers. One popular method of content marketing is through blogs, guest posts, and articles. Being able to write compelling posts can get you ahead in the digital world.

  • Video production and editing: Another content format that marketers can explore is video. Although it can be outsourced to video creators, knowing the basics will help you create more creative content.

  • Project management: Being a digital marketer means juggling different projects at a time. Ensure that you are equipped with the skill of managing multiple projects to not miss out on anything and supervise several tasks effectively.

  • Technical skills: As a digital marketer, you should possess technical skills and be comfortable with them. It is essential to know the latest technologies, whether it is being updated with the new Google rules for SEO or learning how email marketing automation works.

So, what can you do to upskill?

Learn from industry experts

Who says upskilling is hard? Listen or watch the industry experts’ blogs, videos, and podcasts for learning the technicalities or improve your knowledge from them. There are various contents to indulge in, from quick reads to long articles and videos on the internet. Interestingly, most of the good resources are available for free! Here are some of the industry specialists’ blogs you can check out.

  • Backlinko – Follow if you work in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) domain to learn relevant and digestible information quickly.

  • SEMrush and MOZ – Both sites have many publications to offer and discuss various topics.

  • Neil Patel – Follow Neil on YouTube if you prefer to watch videos rather than reading articles. He has covered varieties of topics, from making digital marketing plans to expanding your digital marketing horizons.

Attend conferences and marketing events

There are plenty of online conferences and marketing events that you can join to learn the latest in the industry and widen your network. See Eventbrite, Meetup, Foursquare, or similar platforms for upcoming marketing events and schedule it in your calendar.

Take online training courses

One of the best ways to upskill your digital marketing skills is by taking online training courses. It gives you the convenience of staying at home while learning. What’s good is that the courses are affordable and some are available for free also. Here are some of the top places that you can get online training.

  • LinkedIn Learning – LinkedIn, in partnership with Lynda, provides online training courses for creative, technology, and business skills. It offers basic to advanced technical aspects of digital marketing. Learn on your time and earn certificates to add to your LinkedIn profile.

  • Google Analytics Academy – Where to learn the analytics of Google than in their academy? Analytics Academy helps you learn about Google’s measurement tools that assist you in growing your business through intelligent data collection and analysis.

  • HubSpot Academy – It is a beautiful place to learn modern ways of marketing as they offer different certifications. Learn new skills and earn recognition to grow in your digital marketing career.

Key takeaway

Digital Marketing is a booming industry. Whether transitioning into marketing or improving your skills, there are several ways to upskill and expand your digital marketing horizons.