Being a digital marketer

Being a digital marketer means understanding the nuances of the new web paradigms and how they interact. It’s about knowing how each of the social and digital channels operate and interact with each other and synergies that they create.

This makes it imperative to select the right candidate for the digital marketing position, so as to capitalise upon, as well as optimise the opportunity that exists today in the digital space. Here are 5 such opportunities which a digital marketer can explore.

1. Content management

Content, as a digital marketing strategy, is a deep well of career development. These skills are needed to create and distribute engaging content across a variety of platforms. At the same time content must be designed to attract specific target audience and drive them to take measurable actions (like to opt for a specific brand of clothing, for example). The actionable items entail:

• Blog posts that segment potential audiences.
• Podcasts that educate and create brand awareness.
• Social media updates, infographics, and even books that introduce people to your company and offers.
• Educational resources, surveys, and webinars that help a lead evaluate their choices.
• Customer stories and spec sheets that help push prospects over the edge and decide to purchase.

2. Social media marketing

Social media marketing is one of the most in-demand skill sets for organisations seeking to implement digital marketing strategies. Social media has evolved into an unstoppable force that companies have harnessed to drive brand awareness and website traffic, generate leads and sales, and connect directly with audiences.

What it entails:

• Knowing the best way to position content,
• Knowing the right piece to put in front of the right audience.
• Curating networking with other industry leaders whose influence can move the needle for your company.
• Listening to your audience and translating needs and pain points into relevant content and products.
• Creating offer awareness that doesn’t feel intrusive.
• Dynamically connecting with your audience and building a tribe around your brand.

Social media marketing is all about listening, networking, influencing, and yes – selling. It’s about taking a company’s content assets and making sure that the message is accessible, engaging, and translates across different channels.

3. Video marketing

Video marketing is a niche of the content marketing strategy, but make no mistake – nothing tells a story quite like video. And companies know it. That’s why video marketing is a specialised skill that will never go out of style, because nothing tells a story quite like showing a story.

New features like YouTube Cards and Facebook Videos make video more engaging and accessible than ever; knowing the strategies around video marketing are a must for digital marketing efforts.

Video marketers:

• Leverage interviews, testimonials, demos and other storytelling styles to fit meet the needs of the target audience.
• Strategically examine available platforms and apps to ensure the content is on the right channel.
• Optimise videos for search engines using keyword-enriched descriptions and tags.
• Knowledge of video editing, production, and animation to tell stories in the most engaging way.

Video marketing is one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies out there, and technical, analytical and creative know-how is in demand. Knowing how to leverage visual storytelling to strengthen emotional connections, engagement levels, and how it all fits in a content marketing funnel is a valuable skill set with some serious staying power.

4. Media buying/traffic acquisition

Media buyers negotiate, purchase and monitor advertisements – in the digital marketing space, that means knowing how to generate the most leads and sales at the best possible price. 

Media buying includes:

• Understanding that paid traffic is a system that builds relationships before it sells.
• Familiarity with in-depth market research techniques, so that you can place your ads on the right platform for your audience.
• Well-versed with a variety of adjectives that are often placed in front of the word advertising, including ‘search’, ‘display’, ‘native’, ‘mobile’, ‘video’, and ‘third-party’.
• Knowing how and when to use ‘pixels’ in advertising.
• Taking a variety of raw data and turn it into valuable metrics like Average Customer Value, Cost per Transaction, and more.
• Designing campaigns that work in conjunction with content marketing efforts.

Media buying is therefore the bread and butter of making money online, so companies invest a lot in this area of their business. A successful paid advertising strategy is key to making the wheels of ecommerce turn.

5. Email marketing

Email marketing isn’t anything new, which speaks to its staying power. This is another skill set that gets you very close to how a business is profitable, which means the more skilled the marketer, the more future-proof the career.

This skill set would mean:

• Understanding the strategy behind email automation at each stage of the funnel.
• Knowing the importance of things like headlines and hooks.
• Measuring and analysing click through rates, open rates, conversions, deliverability, engagement, trends, and anomalies.
• Coordinating email schedules and campaign assets such as graphics and copy.