Digital marketing is becoming the most popular and imperative marketing method, though traditional marketing approaches like signage and printed flyers continue to have their place. From a professional perspective, digital marketing is attractive because it pays well, and you can work almost anywhere. But what can you do if you already work in the industry?
Here are 5 ways to boost your digital marketing career.
Keep Up with Industry Trends
Know how the next search engine algorithm change will affect your website and marketing content rather than wondering what you should do after your traffic and conversion rates drop. When an algorithm update occurs, be sure to reflect and document how it affected your website’s SEO. Learn about the tools that make digital marketing more efficient, so that you can save time and money.
Understand what the competition is doing but also realize when their strategies won’t work for you. This does mean you need to know about the trends in the industry your customers and clients are in, too. For example, someone handling digital marketing for a manufacturer needs to understand the changing terminology and expectations of the end-user as well as know the ins and outs of the best-selling CRM software.
Become a T-Shaped Marketer
Digital marketing touches a lot of different areas and is always change. It is impossible to know everything. Yet you can’t afford to lack knowledge of SEO basics if you work in social media marketing, and you shouldn’t be working with digital ads if you don’t know what search engine results page rankings are.
The solution is to become a T-shaped marketer.
This is where you know the basics of every area of digital marketing and the related regulations but specialize in one area. Whether you specialize in pay-per-click ads or social media marketing depends on your preferences. Master one or two areas, and you’ll be able to sell yourself as an expert in those areas.
Become a Master Manipulator of Data
Businesses are collecting a massive amount of data. This includes customer interactions with websites from the moment they click on the link to the moment they finish checking out with the items in their cart.
The data is increasingly granular. For example, marketing firms are using heat maps to see what people literally see first and what they stare at the longest and then adjusting their digital ads and overall website accordingly. But how can you gain this knowledge? One of the most efficient ways is to earn a data analytics degree. An added benefit of expanding your professional education is that you walk away with a universally recognized credential demonstrating this knowledge.
Build Your Personal Brand
Every professional should have a professional web presence. In the case of digital marketers, you need a strong personal brand. This starts with professional social media profiles that include links to your portfolio and references for your services. If you start a blog, keep it focused, professional, and on-target.
Maintain a consistent image across sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. Use relevant keywords and hashtags to ensure that your profile shows up when people search for your name or professionals with a similar skill set to yours.
Network the Right Way
Digital marketers need to approach networking the right way. For example, you should be sharing relevant content with a call to action and related hashtags. This won’t just draw attention to your profile but also generate positive feedback from those whose content you’re sharing. Be opened to mentoring younger professionals, as you’ll often learn a lot while you’re teaching them about the marketing industry.
Network with people in sales, professional development, and customer service. You don’t know what you don’t know until you start valuable conversations.
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