Decades ago, it was impossible to imagine a business without an offline store. Today, it’s impossible to imagine one without an online presence. If you want your company to be visible and attractive to prospective customers, you need to know which digital tools to use. Creating an online store is obviously not enough. You need to have a clear understanding of effective digital marketing strategies to communicate the positioning and benefits of your brand to the target audience. If you plan to build a career in digital marketing, you will definitely need the skills we will discuss in this article to impress any marketing agency you wish to work for.
If you realize that some of the skills mentioned in this article need improvement, it’s easy to change the situation for the better. All you need to do is find relevant information on that specific topic or hire a tutor to explain all the crucial nuances to you. It is a similar approach to searching for “how to not fall asleep in class” when you get stuck in the middle of the writing process. Don’t hesitate to get help when you need it to bring your digital marketing skills to a new level. Here are the key competencies you need to work at a marketing agency.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO might be the cornerstone of making your business popular and acquiring new clients. The first thing you need to understand is how search engines work. Even though you will not know all the intricate details of Google algorithms, you should be aware of key general principles. You will learn about keyword research and optimization concepts to get engaged in on- (title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, etc.) and off-page (link building, social signals, etc.) SEO.
Search Engine Marketing
Instead of using ATL and BTL strategies, digital marketing has its own approaches to advertising your business. For starters, you need to learn about PPC advertising on platforms like Google Ads and keyword bidding. With some practice, you will see that you will often need to use A/B testing because every little detail matters – from the Ad copywriting to the time you choose to promote your company. One of the crucial points is to gain the necessary skills for campaign tracking and analysis. Then, it will be easy for you to finetune the current settings.
Content Marketing
If you want to work at a marketing agency as a copywriter, you not only need strong writing skills but also to understand content strategy and planning. It’s not enough to know what to post online. You also need to know when and where to post your content. You might need to create high-quality, engaging content – blog posts, articles, infographics – and promote it effectively. Therefore, you need to be able to create a content plan and adjust it accordingly if the current strategy does not bring the desired results.
Social Media Marketing
One of the most popular ways clients can learn about a brand is through social media. No matter what services or products you need to advertise, using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. is inevitable. Depending on the target audience, you might not need to use all of the existing social media platforms. Therefore, educate yourself on social media advertising and paid promotions to know the right way to reach your target audience.
Web Analytics
If your client has a website, you will need to analyze website traffic and user behavior using
Google Analytics and other helpful tools. Most probably, you will need to create custom reports and dashboards. Your task will be to track key metrics – bounce rate, conversion rate, time on site – and make informed decisions using this data. Tools like Excel, Tableau, and Power BI can come in handy when you need to visualize information to analyze it faster and identify trends or insights.
Marketing Automation
Thanks to the technological advancements of the 21st century, you don’t need to manage every step of the process by yourself. Rely on marketing automation tools to streamline processes and create email campaigns. Additionally, integrating marketing automation with CRM systems will open a whole new level of opportunities to reach a company’s clients. It is possible to track customer data and segment clients to personalize marketing messages. It is one of the most effective ways to improve customer satisfaction and retention.
Video Editing
The fastest and easiest way to reach out to loyal and prospective customers is by creating appealing video content. Therefore, it will be a big competitive advantage if you have the necessary skills to edit video ads, tutorials, and product demos with relevant software – Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, etc. On top of that, you can learn how to add music and sound effects to make it even more engaging. Remember that you will need to optimize videos for different platforms because they all have different requirements.
Project Management
Having even some basic understanding of planning, organizing, and managing marketing projects can be beneficial for your career development. While you are still a student, you can polish your organizational skills when it comes to setting deadlines and tracking progress. As a future project manager, you will be responsible for managing budgets and resources as well. Strong communication skills will help you to collaborate with team members and clients while working on complex projects
Creativity
Don’t forget that marketing is all about creativity, no matter how many automated digital tools you need to use. You still need to be able to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas. Practice developing creative concepts for marketing campaigns while reading about the launch of new products. What would you do to make this advertisement even more memorable and impressive? Don’t be afraid to experiment with new marketing techniques. Sometimes, you need to break the rules of marketing to create something unforgettable.
Adaptability
The last skill we want to mention is your ability to learn new skills and adapt to new challenges. As a digital marketing specialist, you aim to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and be open to embracing new ideas.
