Digital Marketing continues to grow rapidly in increasing numbers globally. Understand what it takes to be a Digital Marketer and how you can get started.
1. Goal/Motive
It could be because you want to improve your skills, be updated with trends, get a more rewarding job, or marketing your business online. Just simply understanding why you want to learn digital marketing will help you stay focused and make the most of the skills you will acquire.
Making a list of reasons you are studying digital marketing as a guideline is a way to get the most out of the experience and be aware of your progress. If you are already aware of what you want to achieve with the skills, you have a head start. If not, do not worry, these example questions will help you to start thinking:
- Why do you want to learn digital marketing? Is it for yourself, your business, or for a job?
- What do you want to achieve in the process of learning digital marketing? Is it to bring value to a job, start allows get more customers for your business, or understand and implement digital strategies to gain more exposure?
Understanding what you want to achieve and acquire will help you see the bigger picture and stay determined even when the information can be overwhelming.
2. Get Back to Basics
“Stories make it easier to understand the world. Stories are the only way we know to spread an idea. Marketers didn’t invent storytelling. They just perfected it.”
Seth Godin, All Marketers Are Liars.
To comprehend what digital marketing is all about, you have to understand what marketing is. Digital marketing is simply one form of marketing, not to mention it consists of other components such as social media marketing, content marketing, and so forth.
The fundamentals of marketing are important for you to grasp and help you along the way when it comes to marketing online. Although marketing online is completely different from traditional methods e.g flies and door-to-door sales, the principles are fairly similar: making the customers satisfied with products and services, a customer-oriented mindset. In this way, you will effectively be able to market services and products if you know and understand their needs and wants.
Reading and watching videos about digital marketing techniques is one way to get an understanding of marketing and ultimately digital marketing altogether:
- Books
- All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin: The underground classic that explains how marketing works – and why authenticity is the best marketing of all.
- Kotler on Marketing by Philip Kotler: How to create, win, and dominate markets.
- Videos:
- Seth Godin on YouTub.
- TED talks on Marketing.
3. There’s Something For Everyone
The beauty of marketing is that it is not limited. There is something for everyone from the creatives to tech-savvy that is available for anyone to specialize in digital marketing.
a. Content Marketing:
- Creating: writing articles, designing social media content, recording videos.
- Publishing & distributing: Although the following components stand on their own, they form part of the channels used.
- Social media marketing such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Email marketing- sending updates and trends of business
- Mobile marketing- specifically customers on their phones such as short messaging services (SMS), multimedia messaging services (MMS), callback, on-mobile ringtones, and more.
b. SEO, SEM, and Website Analytics:
The main idea is to analyze the business presence, web pages, and their visibility to customers. How accessible and relevant a business is in the eyes of its customer.
- Search Engine Optimization: The first five web pages that appear on the search engine of what you searched on Google, Yahoo, and so forth is an example of great optimization for a business.
- Search Engine Marketing: To increase more traffic or users and visibility to the website, paid advertising is used.
- Website Analytics: Analyze website performance and get insight on how the website is working.
4. How and Where to Learn
Blogs, tools, articles, certificates, and other resources are available for either paid or free access, the choice is up to you and what you prefer. The key is to pinpoint the right resources that work for you, helps you learn.
a. Self-paced learning:
You have to find and choose wisely the right resources that are relevant. Researching the right course and information that suits you and benefits you the most can be tricky.
The most popular places to learn is:
- Google Skillshop: Google ads
- Udemy (free and paid)
- Wordstream’s PPC University: free beginner-friendly course
- YouTube: a wide variety of videos on digital marketing topics.
b. Digital Marketing Course Certification:
Certified courses to distinguish yourself even more either by specializing in a particular aspect of digital marketing or gaining comprehensive strategies. Some of which are:
- Licensed Digital Marketer: Learn what digital marketing is and how you can reach customers.
- Licensed Digital Marketing Specialist: Get in-depth digital marketing strategies and methods and many more.
5. Learn on the Go
The best advice you can get when it comes to learning something new is to start. Digital marketing is a skill that you can start today and learn along the way. Planning and organizing as a digital marketer will save you a lot of time when it comes to the actual work.
a. Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
Practicing the skills while you learn can enhance and improve your understanding of digital marketing. An example of this is creating posts and captions on your social media twice a day or starting a blog and writing about a topic. It allows you to apply the methods and actively learn.
- Be consistent and persistently working on the skills.
- Commit to the process because you won’t know everything overnight.
- Realistically determine how much time you will allocate each day to learn and practice the skills.
6. Technical Skills? Yes or No
No coding or computer programming is needed to start, however, if you do it’s a plus when working with website personalization. You may need to get familiar with programs and digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Canva, Twitter, and more.
Some of the Digital Marketing Tools that will help you are:
- Canva: designing social media post
- Milanote: an easy-to-use tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards. Add notes, images, links, and files, organize them visually, and share.
- Keyword Everywhere: get content ideas for a blog or video for YouTube.
- Heropost: schedule your post for multiple social media platforms.
- Frase: content optimization tool and many more.
7. Concrete Prove
a. Portfolio Website
A portfolio website or profile of your work that serves as evidence of what you can do. Most of the time, clients or companies want something proving your ability to do the work. A profile website showcases your skills professionally which spikes your chances of working with clients.
Once you start working at a job or with a client, you will need testimonials and other aspects for credibility. Profile websites include bio, examples of work, contact details, resume, and more.
b. LinkedIn
A social media platform that can enhance your chances of being noticed by potential employees and clients. After all, it allows them to view how you engage with others and your involvement online.
c. Trademark Yourself
Personal branding goes a long way for a digital marketer, especially if you would like to be a freelancer. The same way businesses have established a brand of who they are is how you should distinguish yourself.
Countless individuals seek to be digital marketers, but if you put yourself in a position where you bring value to clients or a company, it can completely set you apart from the rest. Be consistent in your work and let your work reflect what you promise.
Takeaway (Conclusion)
Finally, there’s no formula on how to begin because it is a skill that continues to develop and still is. It’s always wise to keep in mind the trends as customers find new ways of shopping, there may be new strategies to implement. There’s more to know about digital marketing but understanding these seven things will get you started.
As a result, learning digital marketing will benefit you in the long run for your career, business, and personally.
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