You might have heard the saying, “In today’s world, if you’re not online, you’re invisible.”
This might explain the frenzy and the huge billions companies spend annually on the services of digital marketers like yourself.
With a projection of a 6% growth rate(Forbes) in digital marketing jobs, several people have sought a career in digital marketing.
Due to the high competition, having the right combination of digital marketing skills is one way to stand out from the crowd.
In this blog, we will be discussing the 10 essential digital marketing skills you need to succeed in 2024 and beyond.
What Are Digital Marketing Skills and Why are they Important?
Digital marketing skills are those abilities you need to create and manage marketing strategies online.
Today, almost every business relies on the internet to connect with their customers, hence making digital marketing a highly demanded profession.
The skills required in digital marketing help you to effectively reach your target audience, track your efforts, and use tools like email and social media to build stronger connections
For instance, when you know how to create ads on Facebook, gives you a better chance of getting your business noticed.
Related: Learn What Digital Marketing Is and How to Get Started.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Skills In-Demand
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is first on the list because, if done right it’s one of the easiest ways to get your business discovered on the internet.
It is one of the most important digital marketing skills to learn.
SEO involves making sure your website shows up on search pages whenever people search for things on Google or other search engines.
These digital marketing skills help ensure that your website ranks higher on search engine results pages, such that your potential customers can find you more easily and faster.
One of the foremost know-how of SEO is knowing how to do keyword research (these are search phrases people type into search engines whenever they need to enquire).
Likewise, you also need to make sure the pages on your website load quickly and are easy to navigate on all devices.
SEO is all about making it easy for Google to find your website meaningful so it can recommend your page to people searching for your service.
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about creating valuable and helpful content to attract and engage your audience.
It can be in the form of blog posts, videos, social media posts, and even infographics.
The goal of content marketing is to help businesses connect with their target audience and build trust and a lasting relationship with them.
It is also one of the important digital marketing skills because it focuses on providing valuable information to your audience, rather than just pushing sales.
With content marketing, you can tell your brand’s story, share useful tips, or even answer your audience’s questions.
By doing so, you will be able to build a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
By using content that resonates with people, you can build long-lasting relationships with your customers.
One of the skills needed in digital marketing for successful content marketing involves knowing how to create content that resonates well with your audience, and also how to get this content to them through various across to them.
3. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing means using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote your brand, products, or services and also get your messages across to your audience.
Digital marketing skills like social media marketing are very important especially as almost everybody today makes use of social media platforms, thus making social media the best place to connect with your customers on a real-life basis.
Social media is the ideal place to connect with your audience in real time, engage with them, and build a loyal community for your brand.
By using the right strategies, like creating engaging posts, and running ads, you can easily grow your online presence and drive more traffic to your business.
Core skills required in digital marketing for social media marketing include knowing how to create shareable content, choosing the perfect platforms to share them, and understanding how to run ads effectively.
The better you are at these skills, the more successful you will be at social media marketing which will eventually help you connect with customers and grow your business.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing helps businesses to get messages across to their audience’s inbox directly.
It can be used to help keep your customers informed about new products or important updates.
With email marketing, you can easily target people who have already shown interest in your business, knowing they are more likely to engage with the content you’re sending.
To make the most out of email marketing, the required skills include knowing how to write hooky subject lines, creating content that’s audience-specific and valuable, and most importantly, an understanding of the best times to send emails so as to get good results.
These help you build a strong relationship with your audience, increase engagement, and drive conversions through email marketing.
When you do email marketing right, you will be able to keep your customers more loyal to your brand, foster repeat purchases, and drive new customers.
5. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
You see those short ads you see whenever you search for a thing on Google, that’s PPC advertising.
Pay-per-click advertising is a method where businesses pay some amount whenever someone clicks on one of their ads.
PPC helps you to drive more traffic to your website by placing ads in front of people who are searching for your service.
Mastering PPC requires digital marketing skills like knowing how to select the right keywords, and how to create copies that are convincing.
Most importantly you need to know how to manage your budget and track the results to make sure your ads are bringing profits and you’re not just wasting your money.
Skills required in digital marketing for PPC include understanding how bidding works, knowing how to analyze ad performance, and making adjustments based on the data.
6. Web Analytics
Web analytics is the practice of tracking and analyzing data from your website to understand how visitors are interacting with your content, thus giving you insights into where to make changes.
Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and similar tools help you discover how many people are visiting your site, the pages receiving the most traction, and how long are they staying on these pages.
To be able to do web analytics correctly, you must know how to set up tracking systems, interpret the data, and understand important metrics like bounce rate, conversion rate, and traffic sources.
With this, you will be able to identify what’s working well on your website and what needs improvement.
This way, you’ll be able to make the necessary adjustments to improve your results over time.
7. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing means partnering with people who have a strong online presence and large follower base.
These influencers will then use their online credibility to promote your services to their audience.
Influencer marketing is as important as other digital marketing skills, as it gives your brand greater exposure and also helps build trust with potential customers.
To be able to do influencer marketing right, you have to know how to choose the right influencers, how to negotiate deals, and also how to network right.
You also need to know how to measure the success or otherwise of influencer campaigns and ensure that the influencers’ values are in line with your brand’s messages and goals.
8. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of those digital marketing skills that is newly gaining traction for its effectiveness.
With affiliate marketing, you earn a commission by promoting other people’s products.
This is how it works, when someone purchases through your affiliate link, you receive a commission on the sale.
This can be a great way to generate passive income while promoting products that align with your brand.
To excel at affiliate marketing, you need to have the ability to build trust with your audience, as they need to believe in the products you’re promoting, to do this, they need to trust you first.
By mastering this skill well, you will be able to effectively monetize your website or social media platform as a digital marketer and also turn your online presence into a source of income.
9. Mobile Marketing
With mobile marketing, you’ll focus on reaching customers directly on their smartphones through various mediums, like SMS, app notifications, and mobile ads as well.
Mobile marketing has become an essential skill for digital marketers, especially as the majority of the people you’ll be reaching out to access the internet using their phones.
To excel in mobile marketing, you need to be proficient in creating mobile-responsive content, targeting location-based audiences, and designing ads for small screens(mobile).
These skill sets will enable you to deliver an exciting experience for your users on mobile devices, thus improving their engagement with your brand.
10. Video Marketing
Video marketing is all about connecting with audiences through engaging video content.
It could be in the form of tutorials, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or new product demonstrations.
With video marketing, you can easily keep your audience engaged and interested, thus making it easy to build a strong brand presence.
Having digital marketing skills for video production is very important as it can help communicate information to your customers the way textual content might not.
You’ll also need additional skills like understanding the behavior of viewers, creating attention-grabbing narratives, and creating content that’s not just informative, but also visually appealing.
With video marketing, you will be able to build deeper relationships with your audience and drive increased engagement.
In Conclusion
In today’s world, where digital marketing roles are growing, but competition is becoming increasingly fierce, mastering these skills can truly set you apart.
Becoming proficient in these digital marketing skills won’t just help you stand out from the crowd—it’ll boost your value and credibility as a professional.
So, are you tired of being just another digital marketer in a sea of applicants? Are you ready to position yourself as an expert who understands the ins and outs of digital marketing?
Explore our catalog of digital marketing courses today, and let’s help you build the skills you need to succeed.
Want to Know More? Read This:
- What is Content Marketing
- Everything You Need to Know About Digital Marketing
- Digital Skills to Learn in Nigeria