There are so many people who call themselves digital marketers but are they really?
You see posting on social media doesn’t make you a digital marketer. You must be strategic because the truth is carving out a successful digital marketing career is not that hard as long as you understand that your job is to find ways to make more money on digital platforms. There are very many digital platforms in Kenya but most are not trained and the others never take their time to sharpen their skills. Here are the things you’re doing wrong in this business we all claim to know.
1. You need to know how to creatively solve problems
People have a million and one ways on how to stay up to date with digital marketing. There are very many courses that train you and overwhelm you with information, yet the one thing you really need to be good at are links and SEO plus keywords, these are still the things that are the backbone if paid search and engagement is still one of the most important things in the game. You have to be willing to try new things and experiment and strengthen your talent.
2. It’s really not always about the numbers
There are different types of marketers and one of the things that some marketers love are excel sheets. While it is important to be able to understand the numbers, it is also important to be able to answer the question “does this make money?” If what you need to do in is excel helps you make more money then by all means learn it.
3. It’s not always about data
When it comes to pay-per-click clients, they like seeing numbers which is great but is that all? As a marketer, your main goal is to drive traffic on your site but never forget that a big part of your success is based on the user experience and aesthetics your clients are getting. Many of your competitors are probably great in data but when it comes to visual execution of theirs ads or landing pages. To build your brand effectively you should be able to use all your digital marketing channels to make more money and build your company at the same time.
4. It’s not about coding
You really don’t need to complicate matters when it comes to marketing. Designers build pages and do the coding, yet you as a marketer should be able to focus on sales and what brings in the revenue.
5. You need to specialize
If you want to be the best at what you’re doing currently then you need to specialize. In digital marketing, there are a variety of branches underneath the digital marketing umbrella so choose something that you actually like and become the thought leader in that department. The three main skills you need are curiosity, problem solving skills and pro-activity. Always question the best way of doing something, always be quick to find solutions and pro-activity basically means that you should be able to come up with new ideas for your client and the company you work for.
