Is Coding A Skill I Need As A Marketer?
As a digital marketer, I'm aware how much programmers and developers do for me in terms of supporting my efforts in reaching customers and creating conversions.
Thanks Dev Ops. As a result of this, I decided it might bid me well to at least attempt to understand what it is computer scientists are doing every day. This blog will detail my initial experiences with a few well-known coding platforms, and why becoming familiar with them (but by no means an expert) can be beneficial to marketers.
Why Learn At All?
After all, there is a whole department dedicated to code - why not just have them continue doing their jobs? It isn't that simple.
I actually love the way my digital marketing professor summed up the answer to this question: a metaphor for learning why to understand code. Imagine a client asks for a logo to be bigger on the landing page of a website. Or, perhaps, they ask for an A/B test with two pages with different sized logos. A developer can have this out quickly, quicker than you certainly, but what if they're out to lunch? Or in an all-hands meeting? Or otherwise occupied?
You won't be tasked with changing the source code..that is a job for dev ops. However, being able to execute on these smaller things, can really make a difference in the service you provide to clients. Or the abilities you have for your boss - if they don't have to email three different people to accomplish what is a six-minute task, that's wonderful.
More and more marketing positions entail technical skills. Being able to modify webpages with HTML, operate efficiently, and even learn the technical limits of platforms to better understand what features and actions are possible is infinitely useful to a digital marketer. Examples include HTML, CSS, and SQL.
So here's what I've done so far in my own journey:
Throughout this blog, I'll include some examples of what it looks like to work through these. But first, let me introduce each one, and attempt to differentiate between each one's use case.
The Platforms
I played around with four: HTML, WordPress, SquareSpace, and Pineapple Builder.
HTML and Wordpress are the two most common places to create websites. HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) is the harder one to learn, it is a static language that you code from the ground-up to create pages and content. The limitations are nearly endless, making it very flexible for integrating features, and can run on a less costly server. WordPress eliminates the need for coding and syntax - it is much easier to learn, with seemingly unending page options, themes, plugins, add-ins, and is in constant development.
Here is an example of one of the lessons provided by CodeAcademy for free. They take you through the HTML concepts, introducing vocabulary and showing you in real-time what your code looks like for each exercise.
As you can see, this still isn't easy. And it takes a long time to become comfortable with (it is learning a new language after all!). WordPress really picks up the slack here..compared to HTML, you'll likely have something running much quicker.
WordPress will hurt more as your site becomes more advanced - knowledge of it's building blocks, MySQL and PHP, will become necessary if features you want aren't available through plugins or other WordPress options. It also requires more frequent maintenance (though if done regularly, shouldn't be too difficult) than a site built on HTML. HTML will force you to learn it all in the beginning, and it is an undertaking, though the control it provides you is incredibly useful and the ever-annoying updates won't plague you nearly as often as WordPress.
As you'll see below, I actually built a WordPress site for myself! And it isn't very good! To be clear - WordPress is absolutely teachable, but it still isn't easy. At least, I and many in my prior classes didn't find it to come without a learning curve. If you feel you're in this camp, introduce SquareSpace!
SquareSpace is my favorite of these four. It is slightly more costly, but is absolutely easier to build a stunning website in as a newbie than Wordpress or HTML. HTML will require serious coding endeavors, into things like Java, to really make the website gorgeous. With SquareSpace, it's all right there, ready to go.
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SquareSpace is a drag-and-drop website builder, with UX in mind for it's users. Templates are included to make functionality very strong, with constant updates, new feature implementations, security is taken care of by SquareSpace for you, and there is very little maintenance needed. In almost every way, it is just easier than WordPress, as this article comparing and contrasting the two illustrates.
A key foundational piece of WordPress I failed to mention earlier was the entire structure is built on what they call "blocks". You add or remove blocks to add or take away things on the website - images, headers, videos, blocks of text, logos, hyperlinks, etc. If you're familiar with this idea, SquareSpace also uses blocks to structure content.
You're even able to port your WordPress site to SquareSpace! Both platforms are also great for enabling SEO: WordPress offers plug-ins and SquareSpace has features built right in.
If you're working with a vast amount of rich data and advanced software, utilizing HTML to understand coding, to then take full advantage of WordPress's capabilities as a good foundational platform with excellent potential for coders could really level up your digital marketing game.
Or, if you are working for a startup or a smaller company that just needs an attractive, user-friendly, beginner-level website: SquareSpace is a great place to start. Feel free to reach out to me to discuss more about both if you're interested in learning one or the other for some venture!
And then we come to Pineapple. Pineapple Builder is a no-code, website builder that utilizes AI to create a website. No servers, no back-end developing, no hassle. It comes loaded up with everything you need to create a gorgeous website in minutes.
Pineapple is an example of no-code website development. Rather than writing code from scratch, it uses pre-built templates and features (and in Pineapple's case, AI) to generate your website. Having an understanding of things like logic structures, user interfaces, and digital nativity (what works well online and what doesn't) will help you make the most of what Pineapple has to offer without needing to learn how to formally code.
This is different from low-code web development, where you can take purely text code and bring it to the visual level, like utilizing Java in conjunction with HTML. The idea is both novices with low technical skills and pro dev's can find success with low-code developing.
It's worth mentioning, however, that actually developing a website from the ground up or just knowing how to edit HTML on the fly is still a good skill. Pineapple would not work for a company like Starbucks with tons of advanced integrations and large data structures - this tool is most adept for smaller, beginning-level firms and likely would evolve to a WordPress or more advanced structured site as the company grows.
Pineapple is REALLY fun, though. AI generation is so cool right now, and within five minutes, I found I generated a really cool preview for a theoretical detailing shop I could start.
And as you can see, I was able to continue adding iterations and features to my website. The UX is really wonderful, never have I had so much fun playing around and designing a website.
My Concluding Thoughts On These 4 Platforms
In terms of ease of use - the code platforms we looked at, such as HTML and WordPress, definitely aren't as such. The learning curve is steep and they do take some real time to become comfortable with. However, the capabilities of these platforms are nearly endless, and in theory, you won't be the one in charge of all of this. My argument is becoming familiar with some basic languages like HTML and Java is useful to the savvy digital marketer, but not exactly necessary.
If you are building from scratch, are entirely in charge of the website, and don't know how to code - start somewhere easier like SquareSpace, or certainly Pineapple Builder. These websites can be evolved as needed, or reworked if a developer does eventually join your team.
A lot of skilled coders likely won't want to succumb to the limitations of no-code or even WordPress.
Learning the basics of coding isn't something I think any marketer would regret. We would all love to never think about <'s, binary, blocks, and domains. How realistic is that? In a 40-year career, probably not so.
Let me know your thoughts on coding for digital marketers!