Top 10 Digital Marketing Skills – John Monyjok Maluth

Mastering These Top 10 Digital Marketing Skills Will Drive Success Your Way

8^th March 2021

“The Top 10 Digital Marketing Skills” is an article designed to guide you through the exploration of these skills and their application for success in digital marketing. Businesses and entrepreneurs have been leveraging digital marketing tools well before the advent of COVID-19. The article delves into what has happened during the pandemic and what may continue to unfold in its aftermath.

#1: Customer Journey Skills

The customer journey from initial website visit to final purchase can be tracked in various ways. There are tools available that let you monitor when someone visits your site and when they depart. Google Analytics is one such free tool you can utilize.

Possessing these skills will enhance your performance in digital marketing. Consider that I don’t possess complete knowledge, and I never will, but my primary role as a teacher is to disseminate as much precise information as I can. This is mentioned because there’s a belief that only experts can impart knowledge. While there’s merit to this belief, it’s not always the case that experts are effective teachers.

I will provide links to additional online resources at the end of this post for further exploration of this subject. However, it’s essential for me to share my personal knowledge first.

Therefore, it’s crucial to dedicate time to learning about this key skill. My approach is to learn more through trial and error. I apply new knowledge immediately, which may differ from your or others’ learning methods.

#2: Digital Marketing Strategy Skills

The second most important skill among the top ten digital marketing skills is planning. Not everyone is naturally inclined to plan ahead, and that’s okay. However, planning serves as the foundation for every project. Take this post, for example: it required research, drafting, editing, and scheduling before publication, a process that started three months prior to its release.

Similarly, a digital marketing strategy requires forethought. Although I initially disliked planning, I’ve grown to appreciate its value. As a novelist who tends to improvise, I still engage in mental planning well before writing.

Consider my first novel, “Life Cure.” Despite being based on real events, I had to determine the sequence of stories. Effective digital marketing also necessitates planning. It’s often said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” and there’s truth in that statement. While life is unpredictable, having a plan gives us direction and goals for the future.

#3: Channels Planning Skills

Just as it holds true for digital marketing strategies, it’s equally important to possess planning skills regarding the choice of channels. The options range from social media channels to book publishing and marketing channels, and even offline channels that leverage digital marketing. Digital marketing benefits not just digital products and services but also physical ones.

Identify which channels are most effective for your digital marketing and utilize them accordingly. Facebook is a massive platform, but is it the one your potential customers frequent? Discover this and then take action based on your findings.

Personally, I use Facebook to raise awareness, yet the majority of my customers and readers originate from my Twitter account (@JMaluth). I also engage with Pinterest, although I’m uncertain of its impact on generating readers and customers.

#4: Data Literacy Skills

Determining the right channel for you requires the ability to interpret the data from your research. This necessitates having data literacy skills, which are not overly difficult to acquire. Learning how to collect and analyze data is crucial. Such data can be sourced from platforms like Facebook or from tracking your own website’s visitors. You can discover patterns in how visitors engage with your site and their behavior upon leaving.

Tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics can provide deeper insights into your visitors, including their geography, age, gender, and the duration of their visits to your website. They can also reveal visitor activities on your site. Another useful tool, Tawk.to, offers more than just chat capabilities; it can inform you about the number of live visitors on your site and the specific pages they are viewing in real-time.

#5: Social Media Marketing Skills

Indeed, the fifth skill in the top ten digital marketing skills list is social media mastery. Facebook remains the leading social media platform today, boasting over 2 billion monthly users, making it an excellent venue for promoting oneself and one’s business.

However, there are alternative platforms as well. It’s important to note that not all Facebook users are there for shopping; many simply want to connect with friends, so your advertisements may not directly convert to sales and wealth. It’s crucial to learn how to leverage Facebook and other social media platforms in a manner that cultivates trust and confidence in your prospective customers.

Keep in mind, while I tailor these posts for writers, they are applicable to anyone in business. As a writer who employs technology to advertise and market my books and content, I understand the importance of cautious and strategic use of social media in marketing.

#6: Content Marketing Skills

Content marketing is a significant industry on its own, and this post is a part of that larger picture. It’s content by itself, but the question remains: how do I market this content? There are numerous approaches to this challenge. One could utilize SEO to help people find my post when they search online.

How did you come across this post? Perhaps it was through a social media share or a web search? I’m curious to know how you stumbled upon this post, and I invite you to share your experience in the comments section at the end. However, before we get to that, it’s essential to have certain skills to reap the benefits of digital marketing.

Later in this post, specifically in section #8, we’ll delve into SEO. For those seeking more comprehensive information, the Yoast SEO website is a valuable resource worth exploring after you’ve finished reading this post.

Email marketing is actually a subset of content marketing. Here, I’m referring to how you market content using web tools like Google Search and other search engines. The first piece of advice I can offer is that the best way to rank online is by creating your own unique content. It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding. Regular writing and posting is the optimal approach, though many SEO experts might not disclose this. Why? Because they prefer you to depend on them for guidance.

Over the last decade online, I’ve come to realize that I know nearly everything that SEO experts do about content marketing. However, this doesn’t mean we should stop learning. My point is that some may deceive you into underestimating yourself so that you constantly seek their help.

Many SEO tools are too basic to be truly effective, to be honest. You certainly don’t need them, especially if there’s a cost involved. You can do just fine by writing and sharing content that comes from the heart. Even keyword research often provides misleading information to beginners. Experience has taught me this. Indeed, experience is the best teacher.

#7: Voice Search Skills

Voice search is now a feature on some devices, and many people enjoy using their voices to search the web daily. You may wonder if this is something within your control or why it’s considered a digital marketing skill.

Such inquiries are excellent for learning. When writing articles, I often ask questions too. The effectiveness of voice search depends on both the content marketer and the consumer.

To optimize content for voice search, one must employ specific techniques and understand the long-tail keywords commonly used in voice queries, which differ from those used in text searches on Google.

For instance, “what is digital marketing?” suits a text search, while “What is digital marketing for writers in South Sudan?” aligns with voice search. Google’s search engine prioritizes the queries over punctuation, seeking the most relevant content.

Keyword research is valuable, but it shouldn’t overshadow the importance of adding value to your content, which is crucial for online digital marketing success. This advice stems from years of research and experience. Although my traffic isn’t high yet, I’m confident it will grow by consistently writing and sharing original content.

#8: SEO Skills

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a method used to enhance the visibility of content for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. When your website appears in search results for a keyword and a user clicks on it, this is known as organic ranking.

How is this achieved? There are several strategies to make websites more visible to search engines. One approach is On-Page SEO, which focuses on ensuring that post titles, headlines, and body text are crafted in a way that both search engines and human readers can easily understand.

Yoast SEO offers two tools: the readability test tool and the SEO test tool. These can help determine if your post is visible to search engines. They have specific rules to follow, but it’s important not to lose sight of the actual content in favor of these tools.

Another strategy is Off-Page SEO, which involves sharing your website’s link with others. When they click on it, it can boost your SEO as the traffic sources are tracked. Visitors may come from social media or directly by typing your URL into their browser.

Email, social media, and other websites that feature your link contribute to Off-Page SEO when people use those links to visit your site, which can improve your SEO standing. However, optimizing your pages for SEO is crucial to signal to search engines that your content is original and aligns with what users are searching for.

#9: Video Content Skills

Creating professional videos and sharing them on platforms like YouTube is a valuable digital marketing skill to develop. While I have been producing and uploading videos to YouTube, they haven’t reached the level of professionalism I aim for. This year, I see it as a challenge to start creating and uploading videos that meet professional standards.

Most people prefer learning visually rather than through text. For instance, when explaining how to set up an online account, a video demonstration is often more effective than a written description.

However, videos are most effective when supplemented with text and images. That’s why I accompany each article with a picture to enhance understanding and visualization of the content. Integrating video into my posts is something I haven’t done yet, but it’s a significant oversight I plan to correct soon.

#10: Web Design and Development Skills

This post marks the tenth of the top 10 digital marketing skills. As an individual or organization, utilizing a website is a key tool for success. Owning a domain is vital for professional digital marketing.

Is a website necessary for digital marketing? That depends on your goals. If your aim is to connect with a global audience digitally, then it’s essential. However, it’s possible for someone else to create the website for you. Why consider doing it yourself?

We’re focusing on careers and skills, so there’s an imperative to learn these tasks personally. This post is dedicated to your career exploration and growth, not about delegating tasks to others. It’s about empowering you to take action.

Previously, I’ve written about starting a free or paid blog. If you’re not ready to launch a self-hosted website or blog, you can refer to that post. There, you might opt for a paid service. I advocate for a paid website for its flexibility and personalization. Additionally, YouTube offers numerous tutorials on creating a professional website.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

We’ve now reached the conclusion of the top 10 digital marketing skills for 2021 and beyond. I want to emphasize that there are countless digital marketing skills out there, far more than this post can cover. However, I believe these ten points will be beneficial to you personally.

Remember, knowledge is only potential power until you apply it and specialize. This concept is directly from Napoleon Hill’s book, “Think and Grow Rich,” which I also recommend you read. Without application, the insights from this post will simply become history.

Take action with whatever you find most relevant from this post. Whether it’s social media marketing or SEO, get started on it now!

If you wish to connect, click the WhatsApp button below. Just send your name and what you’d like to discuss today. May God bless you abundantly and keep you safe during and after COVID-19. Shalom!