10 Digital Skills to Future Proof Your Future – Read this article

Just ten years ago, being proficient in anything digital related was considered to be rather niche. But since the rise of the digital age things are different. As technology continues to evolve in leaps and bounds, employees and organizations need to keep up.

Organizations need to ensure they have people on staff who can implement their digital marketing strategies. And employees need to make sure they have the skills necessary for a digital future.

So how exactly do you future proof your digital career? The best way to stay ahead of the game is to update your existing skills with digital marketing course. But for now, we have all the details to help you right here.

The Digital Skills You Need for A Digital Future

1. Data Analysis

Data is everything in digital marketing with organizations having to sift through mountains of information about their strategies, customers and workforce. But data is more than just a bunch of numbers and graphs. Being able to read and analyze data is crucial to understanding the future of any business. Organizations need employees who can extract useful information from their data. This skill can also be integrated into more roles.

2. Social Media Marketing

The social media trend isn’t going anywhere any time soon. It’s actually settled in for the long haul, and so have its users. This means that digital teams will have to adapt and grow with it. Social media marketing is all about value-based selling. To create value you need to create trust between your brand and your audience. You can master this skill be equipping yourself with content and conversational skills. This will allow you to build more meaningful relationships with your audience.

3. Mobile Savvy

These days, most people prefer to use their mobile phones for browsing the internet. With all the apps and social media platforms tailored for mobile devices, it’s just more convenient than a laptop. This means that organizations need to adapt to this shift accordingly.

This is where knowing how to adopt a mobile-friendly approach, in which content, communication and the customer journey are optimized for mobile becomes an essential skill. This will enable you to engage with your audience via social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat which are optimized for mobile.

4. UX Design

People spend a lot of time moving between devices. They access the internet from laptops, tablets and smart phones. This means that a website’s design needs to seamlessly adapt to different devices. Knowledge of themes, designs and how to optimize a website for a great user experience is a valuable skill to have. Especially since most people move on to a different site if the one they’re using is problematic. Having the skills to create a responsive, adaptable website that your visitors will love is a must.

5. Communication

Communication between brands and their audience has become instant and direct. That’s why good communication skills are a must. No one wants what they say online to be misinterpreted, especially in business. Master your interactive skills so that your responses on social media or blog comment threads are clear and concise.

6. Search Engine Optimization

If you’re in the digital field you need to have SEO skills. As we already know, SEO is about positively affecting the online presence of a website through the use of targeted keywords and phrases. The result is an increase in organic traffic and a higher website ranking on SERPS. While it may seem a little technical, SEO is actually used on every website, blog or article found online. This is why having even just basic SEO skills can be greatly advantageous.

7. Cyber Security

Having a working knowledge of cyber security may seem boring, but it’s actually an important skill. As technology evolves so do the threats against it. This is why cyber security will always be a top priority for anyone with an online presence. Every organization wants their most sensitive information to be secure. So having the skills and knowledge of how cyber security works will help keep your organizations (and customers) information away from potential breaches.

8. Content Creation

Content is a key element in digital marketing. Advertising and marketing campaigns are built around digital content. So creating content that is relevant, engaging and informational is of the utmost importance. Ensuring that you’re able to create this type of content across all forms of digital media such as (blogs, websites, and social media) is an essential skill to have.

9. Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is the most valuable non-digital skill required in digital marketing. The digital universe is very creative, with everyone trying to be the most original when creating and maintaining an online persona. The ability to think out of the box and not be afraid to push the boundaries on creativity is a valuable that will never go out of style.

10. Work Well with Others

Working well with others isn’t a digital skill but it’s still something that’s needed. Being successful in the digital world usually means working as part of a team. The ability to coexist and communicate with your peers is essential to the productivity and success of any marketing strategy.

Tips to get ahead in your digital marketing career

It’s a fact that a career in the digital marketing industry is a great choice because the demand for these skill sets just continues to grow.  To increase your options for a career in digital marketing there are steps you can take to make your career a success.

• Start with the basics – A solid foundation of understanding digital marketing in its entirety is essential. So, get back to basics and make sure you have a firm grasp on all the principles of digital marketing.
• Learn better writing skills – Impress your audience with captivating and informative content.
• Get visual – It’s a fact that people engage more with visual content than text. In fact, many online users are becoming text tired, so it makes sense to practice your visual ability skills.
• Create a ‘test’ website – Practice makes perfect. By creating your own ‘test’ website, you’ll gain valuable hands-on digital experience.  There are so many techniques to learn, you’ll be amazed at how much fun this is too.
• Have basic programming skills – While you don’t have to be a programming wizard to further your career in digital marketing, it’s a great asset if you at least understand basic programming principles and can do a little HTML development.
• SEO practice – It’s been said that great SEO is a mix or art and science. Whether that’s true or not your career in digital marketing will not flourish if you are not a wiz when it comes to great SEO tactics.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising – This is an extremely cost-effective method of digital marketing and is undoubtedly a must in any digital marketing campaign.
• Email marketing campaign – Mastering great email campaigns will go a long way to helping your career. It’s one of the older methods of digital marketing, but that doesn’t make it any less effective or popular.
• Be a Google AdWords pro – Google AdWords is by far the most popular form of advertising online. Learning how to get the most out of PPC advertising on this platform is a great tool.
• Become a social media socialite – Millions of people visit social media sites daily and there’s no better digital marketing tool than being an expert on social media.
• Understand your target audience – Targeting the right audience is key to any successful digital marketing campaign.
• Analytical skills – Understand how to measure data from your marketing campaigns.
• Keep learning – Take refresher course to keep up to date with new digital marketing trends.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

If you would like to find out about how to future proof your skills in digital marketing, look no further than the Digital School of Marketing for all your educational digital marketing skills.