The Biggest Threat To Digital? ??

What do we think the biggest threat to digital is, you may ask??

Well, for the majority of digital marketers, it’s a lack of knowledge or skills in certain specialist areas combined with the rapid changes in the industry — at least that’s what keeps us awake at night. Because of this, it’s more critical than ever for companies to put in place appropriate training and continuous learning to support their teams.

In this blog, we’ll be outlining the most common digital marketing knowledge gaps for businesses and why digital marketing training is key for the success of both internal teams and clients.?

Read on for more.

How is digital marketing changing?

To risk stating the obvious, here: the internet is not what it once was. Since the beginning of the World Wide Web in the 90s, the digital marketing industry has evolved from simple internet advertising to more advanced strategies, incorporating sophisticated techniques such as social media and influencer marketing along the way.

According to an article from Medium in 2023, the digital marketing trends for the next five years may include:

• The rise of personalised and hyper-targeted marketing
• The growth of voice search
• And an increased usage of video marketing.

But how equipped are you to deal with those changes?

These constant changes pose significant challenges for marketers. It’s not only time-consuming for marketers to train themselves up on new tools, platforms, and strategies, but it also diverts resources away from tasks and activities that generate revenue, potentially adding extra pressure on the team.?

Common marketing knowledge gaps in companies

In Marketing Week’s 2023 Career and Salary Survey, the most common knowledge gap within digital marketing teams was a lack of data and analytical skills, although content, copywriting, and social media skills were not too far behind.?

With data and analysis becoming more important within marketing practice and strategy, it’s no surprise that marketing teams are slightly lacking in confidence with this skill set. As for content and social media, these areas are constantly changing, so it can be hard to keep up.?

That’s why, now more than ever, it’s important to implement and develop knowledge and skills through digital marketing training.

The importance of training teams on digital marketing

Within an agency environment, digital marketing training is key for both internal teams and clients.?

From an internal perspective, all teams should have a reasonable understanding and knowledge of digital marketing - not just the marketing team themselves, but commercial and administration teams, too. If the commercial team selling the services knows their stuff about digital marketing, it instils confidence and trust with the prospective client.?

On this, our Head of Education, Lizzi Hill, says:

“We truly believe that it is so important to train the teams we work with on digital marketing. When our clients understand more about what we do, amazing things can happen. It’s a win-win for us and that’s why we are so passionate about educating people to awaken their potential!”

And, for clients, digital marketing training benefits them because it enhances their in-house capabilities.? Lizzi goes on to say:

“Training our clients brings us into a true partnership, which means that we benefit from:

• Closer working relationships with each other.
• Aligned ways of working, using one shared vocabulary.
• Personal development of both our teams & our clients’ teams.
• Increased performance across the accounts and better ROI.

For clients, improving their digital knowledge means that they become a much more well-developed resource that is able to move with the fast pace of the digital landscape. This has an impact on so many areas of the business but most notably means that they become much more agile and adaptable, can drive more leads, and ultimately improve the business’ bottom line.”

What does good digital marketing training look like?

Putting time and resources aside to upskill your team is key. But, how do you know where to start? What training does your team require?

We’d recommend starting with a comprehensive analysis of your training needs.

On this, Lizzi says:

“Good digital marketing training should always start with a training needs analysis. This is a systematic process used to identify gaps in knowledge, skills, and competencies within an organisation, to identify where the education opportunities are for the learner. As a result, you end up with more robust learner profiles and better targeted learning objectives, which leads to much more effective learning interventions.”

Once you have your training needs analysis completed and a list of learning objectives for team members, training can begin.?

This could involve practical, classroom-style training delivered in-person or virtually by a marketing specialist. Our expert team at Sleeping Giant Media are experienced in delivering bespoke training courses or packages, tailored to your team’s needs.

Lizzi continues:

“Our digital marketing training is delivered by practising marketers - those who are currently on the job, so they can provide real-world insights and case studies to help ground the theory in something meaningful. Whether sessions are delivered virtually, in the classroom or as experiential or E-learning, they should also always include interactive components to ensure that participants can apply what they have learned.”

As well as this, your teams should have access to other learning opportunities, such as online courses and resources. The upside is that there’s a wide range of training providers offering courses on a variety of digital marketing topics. On the other hand, you now have to sift through that list to uncover which courses are the best fit for your team.?

A good starting place is to explore learning providers such as Hubspot and Semrush who have an extensive library of courses. Plus, they’re free to enrol! However, if it’s reliable, high-quality, customised training content you’re after for your team, we recommend reaching out to our expert team at Sleeping Giant Media. We can provide a bespoke package to meet your requirements, on topics including SEO, content, social media, or PPC.?

Reach out for digital marketing expertise

We can’t stress enough the importance of developing your teams and giving them the training and resources they need to thrive. In a constantly changing industry, it’s key for teams to continuously learn and upskill to benefit the company and their clients.?

And, in the meantime, check out the resources on our website that include marketing how-tos, webinars, and of course, our trusty blog.