In 2018, I met a small business owner in the fashion industry struggling to build her online presence. She had few hits on her website and was inactive on social media. Unimpressed by her overall performance, she became upset and almost quit, but she decided to learn digital marketing instead. Fast forward to 2024, Jane has become incredibly famous, or rather, her brand has boomed. She has a bustling, home-based, retail business, a strong presence on social media, and $100,000 + in annual sales. This made me wonder how she pulled off this specific accomplishment.
In this article, I’ll explain 10 top in-demand digital marketing skills you should know and every marketer should be aware of in 2024. These skills are essential for those seeking jobs, and growth or who are already in a position in digital marketing, whether in the ownership of a business, as a marketer, or as a starter.
Key Points
- 10 in-demand digital marketing skills include SEO, content marketing, social media management, email marketing, PPC advertising, data analysis, CRO, video marketing, influencer marketing, and marketing automation.
- SEO is crucial for organic traffic and involves using the right keywords and optimizing on-page and off-page factors.
- Content marketing is essential for creating high-quality, relevant content for target audiences.
Digital Marketing Skills
Digital marketing skills relate to a large extent of knowledge and experience in areas like search engine optimization, social media marketing and management, content marketing, web analytics, and reporting, as well as conversion rate optimization.
#1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Anyone venturing into digital marketing must understand the basics of SEO. It involves using many strategies to help your website rank highly on search engine result pages, thereby increasing organic traffic. Knowledge of the correct keywords to use and the ability to optimize both on-page and off-page factors are important aspects to consider.
Related: Explore Proven White Hat Link-Building Strategies to Boost Your SEO
#2. Content Marketing
For Web 2. 0 communities, generating high-quality, target audience-relevant content is necessary. Basically, it comprises content writing skills, content marketing strategy formulation, and evaluation of content marketing metrics. Like the famous saying, ‘Content is king’!
✍️The features that define Web 2.0 include the users' capacity to generate content, communicate with other users, and collaborate on different tasks. Social networking networks like Facebook and Twitter, video-sharing websites like YouTube, and blogs and discussion boards like Reddit are a few examples. The first generation, or the "read-only web," also known as Web 1.0, did not allow for the exchange of information, finding people, or interaction.
# 3. Social Media Management
It includes creating good content, launching paid advertisements on platforms, and monitoring the impressions rate. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok are altogether, different in terms of policies and even the algorithms are different for each social media platform.
#4. Email Marketing
Even now, with social networks being part of our daily lives, e-mail marketing cannot be considered ineffective. Customer interactions also require skill in creating appealing email invites, directing their delivery, and achieving both open and click-through rates.
Related: 15 Creative PR Email Templates to Boost Your Outreach Success ( Plus Tips on Writing One)
#5. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
PPC advertising means using selected keywords, writing titles, displaying ads, and calculating conversion rates. It’s a good way to bring lots of targeted traffic to Your website if you do it properly and quickly.
Related: Advertising vs. Marketing: Which Should Your Business Focus On More?
#6. Data Analysis and Reporting
Understanding data is essential for digital marketing since vast amounts of information about consumers and target groups are gathered there. Similar to how knowledge of web traffic monitoring tools such as Google Analytics to monitor traffic, logins, and conversion rates is beneficial and advantageous in marketing.
#7. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
CRO includes optimizing and improving a website by increasing the proportion of visitors who finish a particular task or objective, like making a purchase. These skills include A/B testing, the design of the user experience, and the ability to optimize landing pages.
Achieving a higher conversion rate can significantly enhance a business’s profitability. This checklist provides practical steps to optimize conversion rates effectively.
By following this CRO checklist, businesses and brands can streamline their efforts to convert visitors into loyal customers, ultimately leading to increased revenue and growth. For a real-life example, check out how LampHills helps businesses optimize their conversion rates by visiting our lamphills.com page
#8. Video Marketing
The popularity of sites like YouTube and TikTok has increased demand for those with experience in video marketing. This covers shooting, editing, and creating engaging video content for your target audience.
#9. Influencer Marketing
Using influencers in your marketing can be a very effective strategy. Fundamental knowledge about choosing the most suitable influencers, choosing the best partnership strategies, and even how to work with the selected influencer campaigns is crucial.
Related: How to Leverage on Influencer Outreach: Strategies for Brand Growth (+ Templates)
#10. Marketing Automation
Automation tools are friendly and can optimize the processes used in marketing. Digital marketers must have skills in creating auto-email campaigns, implementing and managing CRM systems, and linking up different marketing platforms.
Digital Marketing Skills List
This is a table comprising different digital marketing skills
Digital Marketing Skills | Meaning and Importance |
1. SEO (Search engine optimization) | Increase visibility on search engine results and achieve organic traffic. |
2. Content Marketing | They involve developing and sharing helpful content to attract and retain your targeted viewers. |
3. Social Media Management | Social media management involves strategically planning, implementing, and monitoring social media activities to achieve corporate goals and objectives. 1. Engage and expand your audience. |
4. Email Marketing | Email marketing is a type of direct marketing in which business messages are sent to a list of potential clients via electronic mail. 1. Establishes and maintains customer relationships. 2. It allows businesses to reach a large audience with minimal cost. 3. It offers targeted communication, targeting specific clients based on demographics, interests, and previous interactions. |
5. PPC Advertising | Use sponsored ads to get targeted traffic. 1. It allows firms to reach a highly focused audience by displaying advertising at the top of search engine results pages. 2. It delivers fast results and helps businesses track their campaigns’ efficacy, allowing them to optimize their ad spend for the best return on investment. |
6. Influencer Marketing | Collaborating with influencers to promote your brand. 1. It enables businesses to use the trust and influence of key individuals to reach a larger audience. 2. It can produce high-quality leads, raise brand awareness, and boost sales. |
7. Marketing Automation | Use automation tools to streamline your marketing procedures. 1. It empowers firms to automate monotonous operations, thereby allowing time for more strategic marketing endeavors. 2. It enables organizations to personalize marketing communications based on customer behavior and preferences, which results in increased engagement and conversion rates. |
High-Paying Digital Marketing Skills
Let me begin by posing the following query: Is there any relationship, if any, between digital marketing and high-income skills?
Digital marketing is rapidly expanding, and proficient individuals can quickly find work. Current research established that global spending on digital marketing alone is estimated to be $870 billion in 2027.
Although digital marketing salaries – based on experience, area of specialization, geographical region, or industry may differ significantly, some of the highest-paid digital marketing skills can attract top dollar.
The answer is yes!
Digital marketing is a high-income field, provided individuals are willing to begin their careers in low-paying jobs.
Read also: Understanding The Benefit of Digital Marketing Strategies
#1. SEO Expertise
There are many jobs in SEO and this profession is popular now; the experts in SEO usually receive good money. Everyone wants experts in the field to boost their ranking and, subsequently, their organic traffic, which is why businesses will pay a premium for it. Comprehending these search algorithms and keywords will eventually result in a sturdy income-producing capability.
#2. PPC Management
It is also important to highlight the fact that, currently, there is a high demand for PPC managers. Especially those managers with vast experience in managing intricate advertising budgets and creating outstanding campaign returns for businesses.
Google Ads and other PPC platforms can lead to better job offers when anyone has the proper expertise in these areas.
#3. Content Strategy
Lead generation and content engagement strategists, capable of developing an understandable and exhaustive content plan and strategy, are priorities today. Because of their ability in content evaluation and storytelling, they are an integral part of any marketing team.
#4. Data Analysis
Hiring data analysts who can evaluate the data and offer perceptive interpretations is crucial. This knowledge may create opportunities for high-paid positions in organizations that require knowledge of analytical tools and measurement parameters.
#5. Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is more helpful in minimizing the time and effort required and helping professionals do it in a better way that reduces cost. Their skills in installing and controlling automated systems make them quite useful.
#6. Social Media Strategy
Specifically, social media campaign planners and implementers capable of designing comprehensive campaigns that apply to different social media channels are highly sought after in the current market.
Being a social media strategist means creating and implementing an action plan for running campaigns on different platforms. This knowledge of engaging with audiences and building brands opens the gates of promotions and high wages in relevant job profiles.
#7. CRO Specialists
The need for skilled CRO specialists who can optimize websites and enhance conversion is instrumental in increasing sales and revenue. Due to specializing in various niches of A/B testing and user experience design, they are among the highly paid professionals in digital marketing.
#8. Video Production
Video creation ranks highly among high-paying digital marketing skills because talented professionals who captivate the audience’s attention are sought after. It enhances their ability to tell stories via video and makes them understand the various trends in video marketing.
#9. Email Marketing
Technological skill enthusiasts seeking jobs should consider email marketing positions to get campaigner positions that will enable them to create outstanding and appealing campaigns. They can easily get well-paid careers by utilizing skills in segmentation and customization.
#10. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a potentially lucrative option for anyone with a strong online presence who can boost traffic and conversions. Affiliates can receive a cut of every sale made via their special referral link by collaborating with brands relevant to them and marketing their goods and services to a specific audience. Online content creators looking to monetize their platforms and increase their reach, such as bloggers and social media influencers, are increasingly adopting this low-risk, high-reward approach.
What skills are required for digital marketing?
Copywriting, search engine optimization (SEO), email campaign management, conversion rate optimization (CRO), time management, pay-per-click advertising, social media control, and consumer awareness are crucial skills in digital marketing.
🎯Key Takeaway: Copywriting remains a crucial digital marketing skill to this day as it entails the creation of effective communication and content that can be deployed in web pages, blogs, social media platforms, and email marketing among others. It is important to understand that good copywriting can easily make a business popular in a given market, create more demand for its products, and generate more sales. In light of this trend towards content marketing, it seems that professional copywriters are still in demand and will continue to be rewarded with decent salaries and great jobs.
Is digital marketing a hard skill?
Launching a career in digital marketing demands a variety of digital marketing abilities. These may comprise both marketing hard skills and marketing soft skills. While you may eventually decide to specialize in a certain marketing topic, start with a strong foundation of hard and soft skills.
Check out this interesting article on How to Start Digital Marketing: A Beginner’s Guide for 2024
What are the top 7 types of digital marketing?
Here are the seven types of digital marketing:
- Content marketing.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Email marketing.
- Social media marketing.
- Mobile marketing.
- Pay-per-click.
- Affiliate marketing.
What Is an Example of Digital Marketing?
Case Study – A Short Digital Marketing Example
In 2023, the brand “Sweet Treats,” a small local bakery could not bring new customers to their door and incurred losses. Wanting to give the business another chance, Sarah (the CEO) turned to digital marketing. She created a lively and attractive profile for Instagram, where she began to post pictures of her delicious cakes.
Once Sarah realized customers were finding her bakery through social media and sharing, she created a targeted Facebook campaign for new visitors with a discount. This generated a lot of traffic, which she channeled to her website. The advertisements led to a lot of traffic to her website, this traffic was collected in the future to promote her further.
Transitioning smoothly, Sarah released personalized email newsletters that contained weekly specials and baking information, which led to a base of dedicated customers. Her attempts resulted in a bakery that was busy with happy customers and a significant increase in revenue.
Through strategic digital marketing, Sarah converted her business into a powerful online presence, highlighting the importance of connecting with customers online. As Bill Gates said;
“If your business is not online, then your business will be lost in the shuffle.”
BILL GATES
Key Digital Marketing Techniques Used:
- Social Media Marketing: Engaging customers through visually appealing posts on Instagram.
- Targeted Advertising: Utilizing Facebook ads to reach new customers.
- Email Marketing: Sending tailored newsletters to build customer loyalty.
Conclusion: The Future of Digital Marketing
The digital marketing field looks more promising than ever before. Developing these in-demand skills can help you stand out in a competitive market and create pathways to exciting career prospects. Whether you own a business or are a newbie in the industry, honing these skills is crucial for success.
Remember the words of Steve Jobs?
“THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CRAZY ENOUGH TO THINK THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD ARE THE ONES WHO DO.”
STEVE JOBS
Embrace the ever-changing field of digital marketing, incorporate it into your field of expertise, and see it work wonders for your business!
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