Marketing skills that help you land (and do) the job

Do you have an undying interest in marketing jobs? You’re in luck! Today we take a closer look at what digital marketing is as well as some of the most important job skills that can help you land a job in marketing as well as finish each campaign like a pro.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is the umbrella term used to describe a business, company or organisation’s marketing plans and strategies executed online using digital channels like Facebook, emails and Google AdWords.

Making use of digital channels, marketers working in the digital sphere leverage various online tools to promote everything from a brand itself, to specific products, events and maybe even a sale at a retail outlet.

Very simply put, this type of marketing is basically marketing efforts and campaigns that exist online or on the internet – the Facebook ad you see, the promoted Tweet on Twitter, and even the Ad in the results of a Google search, falls under the umbrella of digital marketing.

Marketing online also means that businesses, companies and organisations are able to analyse their campaigns and efforts, gaining a better understanding of what works for their target audience, which online platforms have a better reach and what marketing efforts aren’t working.

Because this data is mostly available in real time (or instantly), marketing efforts can be adapted and improved in a short period of time. If one online channel works better than the other, focus can be shifted to that better performing channel and improvements can be made on other online channels.

Interested in jobs in marketing? Create your Job Alert and get the latest info on vacancies listed on Job Mail.

10 marketing skills for the digital professional

Making for one of the most interesting and challenging careers, marketing jobs in the digital sphere requires a robust set of job skills. To help you build on your skills and see what type of marketing skills will help you land and do the job, we have come up with this amazing list. Here we go…

1. Understanding and working with data and data analytics

To be successful in any marketing careers you need to understand your audience. It is no different when it comes to digital. There are great tools out there that can help you learn more about your audience and being able to use, understand and dissect the data these tools give you, are essential to understanding your target audience.

Google Analytics is one of the essential tools used in digital marketing jobs – from who visits your website, from where they came (Facebook or Twitter for example), where in the world they are located and even how long they spent time on your website.

Using these types of tools can help the digital marketer create targeted marketing campaigns, using the data collected to see how effective a campaign is for an audience. With the right data in hand, you will be able to create a marketing campaign based on tried and tested numbers and statistics instead of just a hunch.

2. Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation, better known by its shorter name of SEO, is used in order to help websites and webpages rank better in search engine results. Any company or business want users to find their product or service when Googling ‘cooking pots’ for example. Using SEO, businesses and companies are able to build strong pages that appear on the first page of search engine result pages.

SEO can get very technical very quickly. Professionals in these marketing careers should however have an understanding of SEO, how it works, how it is implemented on the website or product page they are marketing, and how their marketing efforts can connect and even help the SEO efforts of a company or business.

If you are interested on brushing up on some SEO job skills, check out the Search Engine Roundtable website as well as the Basic SEO Blog tag on Moz.

3. Coding languages like HTML and CSS

We are by no means suggesting that you should be able to code, but having an understanding of how CSS and HTML works, can help you a lot in your daily job and add to your marketing skills list. Creating a marketing email for example, you will need to use a little HTML and maybe even a little CSS. Being able to tweak your content to look amazing, eye catching and just plain beautiful, will help your marketing efforts and campaigns.

You will notice that, when you start applying for digital marketing jobs, some of the job requirements will include a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. Brushing up on these skills are easy. A great resource (that this writer personally uses and recommends) is the W3Schools website which is free, has a bunch of tutorials and is great for fast referencing as well.

4. Social Media platforms and building a loyal fan base

Marketing jobs no doubt involves social media platforms – everything from Twitter and YouTube to Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. As a professional in the digital sphere, you will need to intimately know how these platforms work and how to build a loyal following on these platforms.

Knowing your product and understanding on which platforms it will work, is also essential to your marketing skills. A fashion website for example will work great on platforms like Instagram while the services of a mechanic for example will find building a following a little harder.

Social Media platforms are also ways in which your customers and potential customers can engage with your business or organisation. Communication on these platforms are key, but also note that you can learn a lot about your target audience by assessing how they act and interact on these platforms and your brand pages.

A regular question on Facebook for example on how to check out and buy an item on your website, can tell you that you need to improve the checkout process on your website and even create a useful blog post on how the checkout process works.

5. Mobile marketing skills are important

Because customers interact with your company or business using different devices, you will need to understand how users on these different devices interact with your service, brand or product. Understanding the difference between a desktop user and a mobile phone user will hugely help your marketing efforts and campaigns, adding to your robust list of marketing job skills.

Things like in-app advertising, easily accessible pages on your website for a person using his smartphone and maybe even an SMS or WhatsApp message about the latest product lines and sales, open up the door to a range of new marketing strategies, methods and skills needed for digital marketing jobs.

6. Marketing trends and the tools used in marketing

As with all marketing careers, knowing the latest trends, tips and tricks is essential to your job. With digital jobs in marketing, experimenting and understanding the latest advertising and measuring tools, will also help you in your daily tasks.

7. Content marketing skills

Content marketing is one of those inescapable skills needed in digital marketing. Content marketing is the creation and sharing of online materials (like videos, a Facebook update and blog posts) that is created to garner interest in something (like why a coffee cup with two handles are so effective).

This type of marketing is informative, engaging and fun. Do note that these types of posts promote a brand for example, without ‘shoving’ an idea or product down a potential customer’s post. High quality, informative, fun and engaging content makes users come back for more, helping you to build a following and add some amazing marketing skills to your CV.

8. Understanding and using Content Management Systems (CMS)

A Content Management System (CMS) is used to publish content. Your company’s blog for example might be built on WordPress. WordPress is a CMS that enables you to publish a blog post (like the one you are reading now) and having an understanding of how a CMS works as well as experience in working with these are a great plus on your CV.

Applying for marketing jobs, you will in many cases see that CMS experience is a requirement, so brushing up on these job skills might not only help you land a job, but also do the job as well.

9. Understanding and using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and software

CRM tools are magnificent when it comes to everything concerning the customer. Customer Relationship Management tools and software is capable of managing and effectively organising a customer’s interactions with your business – from the marketing department right through to customer service.

Having CRM experience and skills are a great plus on a marketer’s CV, so if you have the resources available, try to get involved in these aspects, learn new skills and build a basic understanding of how tools like Salesforce work.

10. Paid online advertising

Paid online advertising is a part of digital marketing and having both knowledge of these processes as well as experience looks stunning on your resume. Pay-per-click (PPC) and other types of paid advertising methods (like those offered by Google AdWords) are in some cases tools you will need to use in your marketing efforts.

Having knowledge and skills when it comes to Google AdWords, the different types of advertising products offered by Google AdWords, and job experience using paid advertising is a definite plus and, in some cases, a requirement when applying for digital marketing jobs.

Don’t forget about the traditional marketing skills

While digital marketing does differ from the more traditional marketing careers, having the traditional marketing skills and knowing how to adopt them to the digital sphere is just as important.

Here is a list of some of the skills that will help you when it comes to building a strong and lasting career in marketing:

1. Out of this world communication skills using different mediums.
2. A never dying creativity that drives you to create only the best, most original campaigns.
3. As a marketer, you will be working in a team, so the ability to be a team player is essential.
4. Negotiation skills are always a plus (no matter the field you work in).
5. Being driven and ambitious in marketing is something that can help you create a marketing campaign that is out of this world.

There are tons of marketing job skills that can help you land and do the job. While we have highlighted a range of tech skills as well as more traditional marketing traits, remember that every company is different and, with this in mind, their requirements for a marketing professional will also be different.

Marketing careers involve a continuous education – keeping up with the latest digital tools, technological developments and marketing trends will be a part of your career – and having a true drive and passion for marketing, will make attaining and building on these marketing skills challenging at times, but also fun and rewarding.

Do you have what it takes to be successful? Register your CV on Job Mail now and start applying for marketing jobs that are looking for professionals with your set of skills, experience and creativity.