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Top Skills for Digital Marketing Jobs
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There are several highly needed skills for digital marketing jobs or for advancing a digital marketing career. If you are not yet working in a digital marketing job, the career outlook for 2016 and beyond is good. All types of businesses and organizations now realize that digital marketing is an essential component of their overall marketing efforts. An online presence and the use of digital marketing channels is a requirement, not an option in an increasingly competitive marketing space. So what are the top skills that digital marketers will need to possess to lay claim to a position in this field or contribute more value to their organizations, thereby advancing their professional goals and that of their companies as well? Several key digital marketing skills will be needed in 2016 and for years to come.
UX and web design skills in demand for digital marketers
As websites and landing pages are often the first in-depth encounter for any company or brand, they need to impress instantly and be accessible on a variety of devices. Marketers must make certain that websites are well-designed, visually impactful, easy to navigate, current, and mobile friendly – a long list of must-have items. Keeping current in design principles and the tools used for web design and development plays an important role for digital marketers. Having an understanding of the User Experience Design process or the ability to create a landing page using HTML or WordPress is becoming essential. Digital marketers can learn these skills through individual workshops, such as UX classes or HTML courses and WordPress workshops, or by taking a comprehensive approach and enrolling in a Digital Marketing Certificate program. Learning these skills helps to create campaigns including websites, landing pages, and apps that work seamlessly on all platforms, including desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices and provide the best brand experience for the consumer.
Data Analysis an essential skill for digital marketers
Another key digital marketing skill is data analytics. Analytics will continue to grow in importance in the coming years as it enables marketers to make data driven decisions about marketing efforts and to measure success of digital marketing initiatives. According to internet live stats, Analytics helps marketers understand who is visiting their site, how long they are visiting, which pages they are looking at, and much more. This information allows companies to know which marketing efforts are working and which ones are not. It can help organizations target different markets or demographics, while emphasizing successful campaigns and quickly ending or revising those that are not successful.
Google Analytics a key tool for digital marketing
With Google Analytics serving as the most widely used analytics tool, the ability to use Google Analytics is one of the most important skills a digital marketer can possess. Whether you learn it on your own, or attend a Google Analytics training course, you can use this tool to gain in-depth knowledge of the traffic to website along with specific pages on a site. Google Analytics helps digital marketers discover how users found your site, what they did at your site, what the “bounce rate” is, and what is working well at your website, along with details of what isn’t.
Advancing Digital Marketing Skills
With web design, UX design and data analytics crucial to most organizations’ digital marketing efforts, workers with these skills are in-demand and able to help their organizations succeed in 2016 and for many years to come.
About the author
Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute. He is the co-author of Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies and more than 10 other books on design and digital publishing. He served as publisher and editor of the Digital Classroom book series, which has sold more than one million books on topics relating to InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and other Creative Cloud apps. At American Graphics Institute, he provides strategic technology consulting to marketing professionals, publishers designers, and large technology companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and HP. An expert on web analytics and digital marketing, he also delivers Google Analytics classes along with workshops on digital marketing topics. Christopher did his undergraduate studies the at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark, Inc. prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for more than 20 years.