What Do Digital Marketers Need to Know to Succeed

To succeed as a digital marketer, you need to be aware of the ever-changing landscape of social media platforms. A recent study found that 71% of online adults use Facebook, making it an essential platform to target.

Understanding your target audience is crucial, and data shows that 77% of online adults use social media to stay connected with friends and family. This means that your marketing strategy should focus on building relationships and engaging with your audience.

A well-crafted content strategy can make all the difference, and research suggests that 55% of marketers consider video content to be the most effective type of content. This is likely due to the high engagement rates associated with video content, with 85% of businesses using video content in their marketing efforts.

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Digital marketing is a form of marketing that uses digital channels to promote products or services. It's a broad term that encompasses a variety of tactics and strategies.

Digital marketing has become a crucial aspect of modern business, with 81% of businesses using digital marketing to reach their target audience. This is likely due to the fact that the average person spends over 4 hours per day online.

Digital marketing can be broken down into several key channels, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), social media marketing, and email marketing. These channels allow businesses to reach their target audience in a variety of ways.

The goal of digital marketing is to drive website traffic, generate leads, and ultimately, boost sales. This can be achieved through a combination of online and offline marketing strategies.

Digital marketers use data and analytics to track the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions. This allows them to continually refine and improve their marketing strategies.

A successful digital marketer must have a strong understanding of their target audience, as well as the digital channels they use to reach them. This includes understanding the demographics, interests, and behaviors of their target audience.

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Digital marketing channels have evolved significantly since the 1990s and continue to do so. Eight of the most common channels in use today include various digital marketing channels.

Digital marketers are responsible for designing, managing, and reviewing digital marketing campaigns across multiple channels. They use their expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), social media, backlinking, and digital ads to provide data- and demographic-driven marketing strategies.

Marketers can set up pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and Facebook to show their ads to people searching terms related to their products or services. These campaigns can segment users based on their demographic characteristics or particular interests or location.

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Digital marketing channels have evolved significantly since the 1990s and continue to do so. There are eight common channels in use today.

One of the most common digital marketing channels is social media marketing, which involves building brand awareness and establishing trust through constant engagement with consumers. Social media marketing emphasizes content creation and interaction skills, and 70% of marketers list increasing brand awareness as their number one goal for marketing on social media platforms.

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Social media platforms like Hootsuite or Sprout Social support real-time monitoring, analysis, and management of the marketing process. This allows adjustments to marketing strategies based on real-time feedback from the market and consumers.

Digital marketers use a variety of digital marketing channels to reach their target audience, including text messaging, email marketing, and search engine marketing. Text messaging allows companies to share news about products and promotions, while email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels.

Search engine marketing, also known as PPC advertising, involves the purchase of ad space in prominent, visible positions atop search results pages and websites. This can be an effective way to reach audiences on news and other websites and digital platforms.

Here are some of the most common digital marketing channels:

Each of these channels has its own strengths and weaknesses, and digital marketers must carefully consider which channels to use and how to allocate their marketing budget. By understanding the different digital marketing channels and how they work, marketers can create effective campaigns that reach their target audience and achieve their marketing goals.

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Understanding the Market is crucial for any business looking to thrive in the digital landscape. To do this, marketers can use an empathy map, a four-step process that helps them put themselves in their target demographic's shoes.

The first step in creating an empathy map is asking questions that the consumer would be thinking in their demographic. This helps marketers understand the consumer's thought process and what they're looking for.

Describing the feelings that the consumer may be having is the second step. This is a crucial part of understanding the consumer's emotional connection to a product or service.

The third step is to think about what the consumer would say in their situation. This helps marketers understand the consumer's language and how they communicate their needs.

The final step is to imagine what the consumer will try to do based on the other three steps. This helps marketers anticipate the consumer's actions and plan accordingly.

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To further understand consumers, marketers can use Web Analytics, which show the habits that people have online for each website. Predictive analytics is a form of these analytics that helps marketers figure out what route consumers are on.

Here are some key terms to understand when it comes to consumer behavior and market analysis:

Networking is a crucial aspect of digital marketing, and it starts online. You can launch your own industry-related newsletter to showcase your original content and share your work.

Developing a wide network is to your benefit in digital marketing, where the proof is in the pudding. Building out a strong online presence is essential.

There are several networking events for digital marketers, both online and offline. Toronto hosts an annual Digital Marketing Conference, which is a great opportunity to connect with others in the field.

Industry website MarketingTerms lists dozens of virtual networking events dedicated to various specializations and market sectors.

Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives, with US consumers spending 64% of their online time on smartphones and tablets.

Smartphones and tablets are now the primary devices for accessing the internet, making them a crucial channel for digital marketing.

Apps are a significant opportunity for marketers, but they also come with a challenge: getting users to download and actually use them.

Half the time spent on smartphone apps occurs on a person's single most used app, and almost 85% of their time is spent on the top four rated apps.

Mobile advertising is effective due to its ability to take over the entire screen, and voice or status is likely to be considered highly engaging.

However, mobile advertising must be done in a way that doesn't feel intrusive to the user, as this can be a major turn-off.

Limited creative capabilities and reach are also disadvantages of digital media used on mobile devices.

On the other hand, digital media offers the user's entitlement to select product information, creating a flexible message platform.

This flexibility is a significant advantage, as it allows marketers to tailor their message to the user's preferences.

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As a digital marketer, it's essential to track your performance and compare it to your competitors. Digital marketers use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives.

A click-through rate (CTR) is a common KPI used to measure the effectiveness of online advertising. It counts the number of people who clicked on a particular ad as a percentage of all the people who might have seen it.

The conversion rate goes even further than the click-through rate, comparing the percentage of people who took a desired action, such as making a purchase, to the total audience that a particular ad or promotion reached.

Social media traffic tracks how many people interact with a company's social media profiles. This includes likes, follows, views, shares, and other measurable actions.

Website traffic is another crucial metric, tracking how many people visit a company's website during a given time period. It can help companies judge how effective their marketing efforts are at driving consumers to their site.

Here are some common KPIs used by digital marketers:

Digital marketers face unique challenges in the rapidly changing digital world. Marketers have to keep up with the proliferation of digital channels and figure out how to use them effectively.

The sheer amount of data captured through these platforms can be overwhelming, making it difficult to analyze and make productive use of it.

Digital marketers are also competing for attention in an increasingly crowded space, where consumers are bombarded with digital ads and distractions.

However, despite these challenges, there are opportunities for digital marketers to create effective strategies. Setting SMART objectives is a crucial step, and this involves reviewing current benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify areas for improvement.

By customizing analytics to the company's specific needs, digital marketers can gain a competitive advantage and make data-driven decisions.

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The digital world poses special challenges for marketers.

Digital channels proliferate rapidly, making it difficult for marketers to keep up with them. Marketers have to figure out how to use them effectively.

Consumers are increasingly inundated with digital ads and other distractions, making it harder to capture their attention.

Marketers can find it challenging to analyze and make productive use of the huge amount of data they can capture through digital platforms.

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Implicit bias is a real issue in digital marketing, manifesting itself in the messages we unwittingly convey through our marketing campaigns.

Using stock photos is a simple way to unintentionally exclude certain groups, such as people of color, different body types, and abilities. For instance, companies might use images of only heterosexual White individuals.

Digital marketers often rely on algorithms to craft their campaigns, but those algorithms are created by humans who may bring their own unconscious biases to them.

The sharing economy is revolutionizing the way we live and work. It's an economic pattern that aims to obtain a resource that is not fully used, and it's had an unimagined effect on traditional elements like labor, industry, and distribution systems.

Some industries are under threat due to the sharing economy, which is influencing traditional marketing channels by changing the nature of ownership, assets, and recruitment.

The sharing economy is expanding and growing due to changes in marketing channels, including digital marketing channels. These channels have built-in control, efficiency, and low cost, making them essential for the sharing economy.

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Digital marketing channels within the sharing economy are typically divided into three domains: e-mail, social media, and search engine marketing or SEM.

Here are the key characteristics of each:

Other emerging digital marketing channels, particularly branded mobile apps, have excelled in the sharing economy. Branded mobile apps are created specifically to initiate engagement between customers and the company.

To create an effective digital marketing plan, you need to identify opportunities in the marketplace by reviewing your own outreach and influencer outreach, which can give you a competitive advantage by analyzing your co-marketers' influence and brand associations.

Companies can review their current customers' personas and purchase journey to deduce their digital marketing capability, which is crucial for seizing opportunities.

By summarizing your current customers' personas and purchase journey, you can identify areas to improve your digital marketing strategy.

It's essential to review your digital proposition and communicate it using digital customer targeting techniques, defining your online value proposition (OVP) to express clearly what you're offering customers online.

You should also (re)select target market segments and personas and define digital targeting approaches to effectively reach your audience.

The marketing mix for online options includes the 4Ps – Product, Price, Promotion, and Place – which should be reviewed to determine the best online strategy for your business.

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Digital marketing is a rapidly growing field, with global outlays approaching $100 billion. Traditional media, on the other hand, is declining.

Prioritizing clicks is a common practice, but it can be ineffective as it may lead to low-quality engagement. This approach can result in a high bounce rate and poor user experience.

Balancing search and display is another area where many marketers struggle. Digital media helps brands reach consumers in a personalized way, but finding the right balance between these two channels can be tricky.

Understanding mobiles is crucial in today's digital landscape. A study found that digital media continues to rapidly grow, with mobile devices being a significant contributor to this growth.

Targeting is a key aspect of digital marketing, but it can be ineffective if not done properly. Marketers need to find the right balance between targeting and not alienating potential customers.

Viewability and brand safety are also important considerations in digital marketing. Invalid traffic can be a major issue, and marketers need to take steps to prevent it.

Cross-platform measurement is another challenge that marketers face. Measuring the effectiveness of different channels and platforms can be complex, but it's essential for making informed decisions.

To become a Digital Marketer, you'll want to start by gaining hands-on experience, which can be done through mock projects, building your own personal brand, or volunteering on a nonprofit marketing campaign.

To get started, try making some mock projects for your portfolio site, building your own personal brand, helping friends out with a campaign, or volunteering on a nonprofit marketing campaign. This will help you build your portfolio and gain credibility.

As you gain experience, you can consider specializing in areas like data, content creation, SEO, social media, paid ads, audience and community building, or brand development. Narrowing your focus will dramatically increase your chances of landing a gig and becoming an expert faster.

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Certification can be a great way to kickstart your career in digital marketing. You can acquire the skills you need to become a Digital Marketer in as little as 12 weeks, depending on your current experience.

Many digital marketers have a degree in marketing, communication, psychology, or business, but a degree is not required to land a digital marketing position. Certifications like Google Analytics IQ, Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification, Google Ads, HubSpot Content Marketing, YouTube Certification, and HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification are beneficial to a digital marketing career.

Professional certification can accelerate your career with the globally recognized BrainStation Digital Marketer Certification (DMC). Hands-on experience in live courses taught by Digital Marketing leaders from global tech companies can give you a competitive edge.

To get certified, you can choose from a variety of options, including:

By getting certified, you can demonstrate your expertise and commitment to the field, making you a more attractive candidate to potential employers.

As you consider your career development, it's essential to understand the salary landscape for various roles. A Digital Marketer in the United States makes an average of $61,719 annually.

Digital Marketers in different regions of the United States can expect varying salaries. In Miami, FL, for example, the average salary is $78K, which is 26.72% higher than the national average.

Miami, FL, isn't the only area with higher salaries. New York City, Alexandria, VA, Los Angeles, CA, and Orange County, CA, also offer higher salaries, ranging from $69K to $78K.

If you're considering a role in digital marketing, it's worth exploring other positions in the field. For instance, a Web Optimization Specialist can earn an average of $86K, while a Digital Analyst can earn $86K as well.

Here's a breakdown of average salaries for various digital marketing roles:

Keep in mind that these figures are averages, and actual salaries can vary based on factors like experience and location.

To get into digital marketing, you should develop your marketing skills and experience through a digital marketing bootcamp or course.

Gaining piecemeal experience in all areas of digital marketing can take months or even years. This is especially true if you try to package passing familiarity with a handful of different strategies into a coherent skillset.

Enrolling in a digital marketing course or bootcamp is a great way to gain up-to-date training focused specifically on the skills you'll need as a Digital Marketer.

Your online presence will make up a big part of your professional profile, so consider tapping directly into the digital marketing community via networking events both on- and offline.

To get started, identify a potential fit in digital marketing and start learning more about the position, the brand, and the tools you'd need to fulfill the role.

You can gain access and training to many tools you already have familiarity with, or acquire certifications for everything digital, including advertising platforms, analytics, social media, and digital marketing fundamentals.

To learn the skills you need to become a Digital Marketer, focus on core technical competencies in SEO and SEM, analytics, social media marketing and advertising, and email marketing.

Some essential digital marketing tools to learn include Google Analytics, Google Ads, MailChimp, Ahrefs, Salesforce, Moz, Buffer, Canva, and Hubspot.

Experience with an email campaign tool, like MailChimp or SendGrid, and a customer relationship management (CRM) program, such as Salesforce and Hubspot, can also be invaluable when looking to break into digital marketing.

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To help develop standout content for your social media platforms, experiment with free stock image sites, such as Unsplash or Pexels, and graphic design platforms like Canva.

Here are some key digital marketing tools to get you started:

With a strong foundation in digital marketing tools and a professional portfolio, you'll be well on your way to becoming a successful Digital Marketer.

Digital marketing strategy is a crucial aspect of a digital marketer's job. Dr. Dave Chaffey's three-stage approach to digital marketing planning is a widely accepted framework for developing effective digital marketing strategies.

The first stage, Opportunity, involves a situation review to identify potential opportunities and challenges in the market. This stage is essential for setting the foundation for a successful digital marketing strategy.

The second stage, Strategy, is where you formulate a plan to achieve your goals. It involves goal setting, strategy formulation, and resource allocation. A well-crafted strategy will help you stay focused and ensure that you're making the most of your resources.

The third stage, Action, is where you put your strategy into practice. It involves monitoring and evaluating your progress to make adjustments as needed.

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An agency is a company that specializes in marketing to consumers or businesses through digital channels. They help clients reach their target audience through various means, including social media, pay-per-click advertising, and custom websites.

Digital marketing agencies are experts in creating and launching campaigns that drive results. Their goal is to help clients achieve their marketing objectives and grow their business.

An agency's services can include creating engaging content, such as videos and blog posts, to connect with their target audience. This content can be shared on social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

By working with a digital marketing agency, clients can access a team of professionals with expertise in various areas of digital marketing. This can help them stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in the industry.

A digital marketing agency's services can be tailored to meet the specific needs of their clients, making them a valuable resource for businesses looking to improve their online presence.

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A non-linear approach to marketing is a game-changer for businesses. It's a long-term strategy that involves collecting information about online users' activities and trying to be visible in multiple areas.

This approach is a far cry from traditional marketing techniques, which rely on direct, one-way messaging to consumers. With nonlinear marketing, businesses adapt their advertising to different platforms and tailor it to individual buyers rather than a large audience.

Some common tactics used in nonlinear marketing include search engine optimization, social media marketing, video marketing, email marketing, and more. These tactics help businesses reach prospective customers across multiple online channels.

According to a 2018 study, nearly 90% of online consumers in the United States researched products and brands online before making a purchase. This highlights the importance of having a strong online presence.

Here are some common nonlinear marketing strategies:

Developing a digital marketing strategy requires careful planning to ensure success. According to Dr. Dave Chaffey, a three-stage approach is essential: Opportunity, Strategy, and Action.

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Each stage is crucial in its own right, and they often have phases such as situation review, goal setting, strategy formulation, resource allocation, and monitoring.

A situation review is a vital part of the Opportunity stage, where you assess your current market and digital presence. This helps you identify areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.

By setting clear goals, you can create a roadmap for your digital marketing strategy. Dr. Chaffey's approach emphasizes the importance of goal setting in the Opportunity stage.

In the Strategy stage, you formulate a plan to achieve your goals. This involves deciding on the tactics and channels you'll use to reach your target audience.

Resource allocation is a key part of the Strategy stage, where you determine how you'll allocate your budget and personnel to execute your plan.

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Digital marketing tools are essential for any aspiring digital marketer. Google Analytics and Google Ads allow you to measure and track the performance of digital marketing campaigns and initiatives.

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You'll also want to learn about SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush, which can help you explore relevant keywords, check backlinks to your pages, and analyze competitors' SEO.

Here are some important digital marketing tools to learn:

Experimenting with free stock image sites like Unsplash or Pexels, and graphic design platforms like Canva, can also help you develop standout content for your social media platforms.

Learning key digital marketing tools is essential to becoming a successful Digital Marketer. Google Analytics and Google Ads are must-haves, allowing you to measure and track the performance of digital marketing campaigns.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that measures your advertising return on investment while tracking your website activity. It works by tracking website activity through a block of JavaScript code that the web developer, designer, or website owner embeds within pages on a website.

To develop standout content for your social media platforms, you should experiment with free stock image sites like Unsplash or Pexels. Graphic design platforms like Canva are also invaluable for creating visually cohesive styles.

Here are some important digital marketing tools to learn:

Experience with an email campaign tool like MailChimp or SendGrid can also be invaluable. Knowledge of a customer relationship management (CRM) program like Salesforce and Hubspot is also important.

Content is a key player in digital marketing. The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers through interesting written, visual, or video content.

Content marketing can be subtle, often not highlighting the product or service being marketed. Marketers use various channels to promote their content, including social media, email marketing, and search engine optimization.

Personalization is a crucial aspect of content marketing, with 56% of marketers believing it improves brand recall and engagement.

Ad Quality Metrics are crucial in digital marketing, but they come with their own set of challenges.

Cookies, a common tracking tool, are prone to deletion by web browsers, making it difficult to get accurate data. They also can't distinguish between multiple users of a device, leading to inaccurate estimates of unique visitors.

Brand safety is another issue, as ads may be produced in an unethical or offensive context. This can harm a brand's reputation and lead to a loss of customer trust.

Recognizing fraud when an ad is exposed is a challenge marketers face, especially on non-premium sites that are more susceptible to invalid traffic.

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Cross-platform measurement is crucial in digital marketing, as the number of marketing channels continues to expand. It's essential to unify audience measurement and media planning to get a complete picture of how your marketing efforts are performing.

The Omni-channel affects consumer behavior in complex ways, and market researchers need to understand these dynamics. However, when advertisements are on a consumer's device, this doesn't always get measured.

A cross-platform view can help you avoid delivering more impressions to people who have already been reached, which is a significant aspect of cross-platform measurement. This is especially important in industries like television and radio, which are competing with digital and other technological advertising.

Television and radio can cross-platform with digital technology, allowing them to reach a wider audience. For example, ESPN and comScore partnered on Project Blueprint, which discovered a 21% increase in unduplicated daily reach thanks to digital advertising.

Here are some key aspects of cross-platform measurement:

By using a cross-platform view, you can get a more accurate picture of how your marketing efforts are performing and make data-driven decisions to improve your campaigns.

To become a skilled digital marketer, consider earning a professional certification, like the BrainStation Digital Marketer Certification (DMC™). This globally recognized certification can accelerate your career.

You can learn the skills you need for the DMC through hands-on experience in live courses taught by industry leaders from global tech companies.

Becoming a digital marketer can be a relatively quick process, with some skills acquired in as little as 12 weeks.

However, mastering the techniques and soft skills required for the job can take years.

Acquiring the necessary skills to become a digital marketer can take a significant amount of time, especially if you're new to the field.

It's not just about learning the technical skills, but also developing leadership and communication skills, which can be a long-term process.

The amount of time it takes to become a professional digital marketer will vary depending on your current experience and the depth of knowledge you're aiming for.