How to Become a Digital Marketer in 2022

What does a Digital Marketer do?

Digital marketing is a form of marketing that uses all traditional sales and marketing efforts coupled up with technology in a more modern approach. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing understands the needs of a potential customer and hence focuses on providing value rather than selling to the customer. The digital space is a fast-paced field that is constantly evolving and presenting new roles just as often and with a huge gap in digital skills. If you’re analytical, creative, and can implement marketing campaigns, then you should consider a career as a digital marketer.

What skills do you need to become a Digital Marketer?

The digital space is an ever-changing one and you will need as a digital marketer to up your game and stay ahead of your competition. Digital marketing in itself is not a single discipline and uses techniques and methods that you need to be knowledgeable in, to call yourself a digital marketer. These skills include:

•  Have the ability to analyze data: The advantage of digital marketing over traditional marketing is the ability to measure the outcomes of marketing campaigns. A good digital marketer is able to monitor and report on data about consumer behaviour, and use it to apply new solutions to boost traffic and conversions. You have to be able to prove to your employer that you’re not only able to read data, but also use it in innovative ways to improve the business strategy. Be familiar with tools such as Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Google Search Console, and Facebook Ads Reporting.
• Be knowledgeable in Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A good digital marketer understands the importance of organically ranking a website on search engines like Google. You MUST possess the skill of integrating keywords into content and other essential parts of SEO like backlinks to make showing up on the first page of search results possible. SEO isn’t easy to achieve and it takes skill, persistence, and time to rank high in search engine results, which are qualities you will need to possess.
• Be knowledgeable in Social Media Management: It is arguably impossible to build a brand today without social media. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn are crucial for brands to market their goods and services. A good digital marketer has the ability to research what appeals to their audience right now and use creative storytelling techniques to drive social media campaigns. SMM also uses targeted ads to enable businesses to target specific groups by age, location, or interests.
• Be knowledgeable in Pay Per Click (PPC): A good digital marketer has an adept understanding of keyword bidding, their market, audience, and competitors in order to succeed in search engine marketing. PPC is much more than paying for ads- it is about driving traffic to the website where there’s an action for the customer. Again, here you will be required to be a good data analyzer.

What are the responsibilities of a Digital Marketer?

• Optimizing website structure and content for SEO and SEM to ensure it is easily found
• Creating and implementing the content strategy to ensure online objectives are met
• Designing, implementing, and monitoring company website and SEO campaigns
• Collaborating with internal teams to optimize the user experience in order to convert website visits into online sales
• Designing, managing, and maintaining the online presence and brand of a company
• Brainstorming new and creative growth strategies

A day in the life of a Digital Marketer

How a workday looks highly depends on the size of the company you work for, whether it is a B2B or B2C company, the area of digital marketing you specialize in, your position, and company goals.

• Check emails: The first thing you want to do when you get to the office is to check on emails. This will give you a look at SEO performance reports and what needs to be tweaked to increase efficiency.
• Multitask on monitoring and responding to everything: Check Google Analytics for performance data and determine consumer patterns. You’ll later use the data to increase customer satisfaction, engagement, and sales. Observe social media for activities and respond where needed. Engage those who are talking about your company online by thanking positive feedback and addressing negative feedback. While at it, keep an eye on your competitors’ strategy and opportunities you can benefit from.
• Create content and manage campaigns: This is where all media outlets work together to meet the goal of the digital marketing strategy. Here you produce original written and graphics content, plan and schedule social media posts and email marketing campaigns, develop bidding strategies, build effective landing pages, engage in the creative process, and measure campaign effectiveness.
• Collaborate: This is the part of the day where you get to work with other teams in meetings to align and implement the marketing strategy.

Career prospects and job outlook for Digital Marketing.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which categorizes digital marketers in the overall employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers, job growth is projected at 6 percent from 2019 to 2029. A growth that is above average for all other occupations.
The Online Marketing Institute projects the demand for marketing professionals to be for internet and website marketing, search engine marketing, and social media marketing and engagement.
The following are some job prospects you should consider when choosing a career in digital marketing:

• Social Media Manager: Your role here will be to help businesses reach followers on social media platforms by coming up with attractive and engaging text copies, visual designs, videos, infographics, images, and more to increase engagement.
• Content Strategist: This role requires you to create compelling content based on business objectives and the needs of the target audience.
• Digital Marketing Manager: Your responsibility here will be to plan and execute digital marketing campaigns. You must have a good grasp of the latest marketing strategies and tools.
• SEM and SEO Specialist: An SEO/SEM specialist is more focused on getting websites to rank high in search results and drive more traffic through organic and paid strategies. You must be a constant learner and have the ability to keep up with trends since search engine algorithms and best practices change constantly.
• Email Marketing Specialist: Your primary duties include running end-to-end email marketing campaigns, managing the database, and coming up with newsletters.

Top 5 Digital Marketing books you MUST read!

• Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk:  This book focuses on the importance of social media marketing and creating an engaging community online, by offering value before selling to them.
• Digital Marketing Strategy: An Integrated Approach to Online Marketing by Simon Kingsnorth:  This one is an ideal road map for marketers to streamline a digital marketing strategy for measurable and optimized results.
• Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley: This book exposes you to the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing. It guides you on how to attract and retain customers through good online communication.
• Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott: This book provides a unique perspective on marketing, building, and nurturing customer relationships in the digital world backed by neuroscience facts. It will help you boost your customer strategy.
• Building a Storybrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller:  This book helps you create content that makes your customer the hero of your story.

5 Best online courses for Digital Marketers

Digital courses help you improve both your academic and practical knowledge. There’s no better time than 2021 to invest in your knowledge and boost your digital marketing skills by utilizing the readily available resources. Below are five of the best online courses for you to learn digital marketing:
⦁ The Complete Digital Marketing Course – 12 Courses in 1: https://www.udemy.com/share/101Wa8/
⦁ Digital Marketing Specialist: https://www.simplilearn.com/advanced-digital-marketing-certification-training-course
⦁ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/seo
⦁ Intro to Ad Platforms: Google Search Engine Marketing (SEM/PPC)
⦁ Lynda’s Intro to Ad Platforms: Google Search Engine Marketing (SEM/PPC)
⦁ Become a Digital Marketer: https://www.udacity.com/course/digital-marketing-nanodegree–nd018_variant_a

Conclusion

Technology is now and the future and so is digital marketing! Technology is evolving by the day opening up opportunities in the field of digital marketing.

We have shared a comprehensive article that covers the most basic information you need to know about digital marketing. Online resources are abundant, from books to courses that will help guide in becoming the best in the industry. Companies big or small can no longer ignore the importance of this role, so now is the time!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you.