How to Improve Your Digital Marketing Skills

With the advancements of technology and communications, careers in digital marketing continue to be popular with both young graduates and those considering a career change.

If you currently work in digital marketing and are searching for ways to improve your skills, this article is for you! If you’re considering a career in digital marketing but are unsure how to get started, we have created an article that you may want to read first called ‘What is the DMI?’, which explores potential careers in marketing you may wish to train for, and shows you some of the best training methods to help you achieve your goals. 

In this article, we explore what the key skills in digital marketing are and discuss the things you need to know to learn how to become successful in digital marketing.

Find out how to become a Digital Marketing Manager.

Key skills in digital marketing

If you’re currently working in digital marketing, you may have many of the skills required to advance your marketing career already, but there’s always room to add additional skills to your repertoire.

For those just starting, the below list of skills will all benefit your career progression in the ever-changing world of digital marketing:

Arguably, a digital marketing professionals’ number one skill or quality is the ability to communicate effectively, across a variety of platforms.

Other fundamental skills include:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• First-class organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple campaigns at one time.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy when dealing with complicated information.
• The ability to generate new and innovative creative campaigns.
• Knowledge of existing and emerging social media platforms.
• Good IT skills.

Explore typical challenges in digital marketing

Depending on your job role, you will also need to learn a range of specific digital marketing skills and be able to use different marketing platforms, including:

Content Creation – Irrespective of what part of the marketing team you work in, you most likely have some input surrounding the content of one project or another. You may not be the person writing the content, but you will need to make suggestions and have ideas about what may or may not work for your audience. Content takes on many forms – from writing articles and brochures, to creating social media campaigns and PPC headlines.

Social Media – An arena for public conversations and organisational feedback, social media platforms give companies a chance to interact with and respond to their audience directly. To be successful, content must be high quality, relevant, and engaged with. 

CRM Usage – A Customer Relationship Management system helps monitor your customer's experiences, which in turn helps your business understand the growing needs of their target audience. Skills such as empathy and communication all help to improve customer service management.

SEO & SEM – As Goole constantly modernises their search algorithm, digital marketers must adapt and keep on top of the latest SEO practices. While the technical aspects of SEO should be managed by either a dedicated in-house marketer with the right skill set or an outsourced agency, every digital marketing professional should understand SEO, how it works and why it’s so important.

Data Analysis – Having a good understanding of what’s working and what’s not working is an important part of a digital marketing professional's job role. You spend a lot of time testing things to find the right solution for your audience, so being able to interpret the data is very important. Again, your company may have a dedicated data person, but it’s still a great skill to have.

Explore our full range of digital marketing courses.

How to become successful in digital marketing

Simply gaining the above skills will have you well on your way to a successful career in digital marketing, however, there’s more to it. This industry is always changing and evolving. As such, you must stay on top of what’s trending in this field and keep an eye on new technologies, platforms, and resources that you may be able to implement into your organisation's marketing plan.

It’s often said that professionals are forever students, always learning something new each month, and digital marketing is no exception.

A great way to top up your skills (or learn a new area of digital marketing) is to study the Digital Marketing Institute’s (DMI) professional qualifications.

Below, we have listed four popular training courses with the Digital Marketing Institute. These options are great for professionals looking to avoid high university fees or wanting to gain the skills in as little as 6-12 months.

Explore current digital marketing jobs in demand

The DMI offer a wide range of marketing courses. Below we have highlighted four key qualifications:

DMI Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing

The go-to marketing qualification. This comprehensive digital marketing course will teach you the essential digital marketing skills required for a career in marketing today.

You will gain the knowledge and skills to work effectively and speak with authority in a digital marketing role.

DMI Certified Social Media Marketing Specialist (Professional Diploma)

Learn everything you need to become a social media marketing professional, including how to conduct social research, create content, and use channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 

DMI Certified Search Marketing Specialist (Professional Diploma)

Search marketing is an essential tool for any successful business and organisation. Through this training course, you will learn about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), Google AdWords, and more!

DMI Certified Digital Strategy & Planning Specialist (Professional Diploma)

Ideal for those looking to move into a strategic digital marketing job role.

If you’re interested in a career in digital marketing or would like to advance your current digital marketing career, call us to speak with one of our Course Consultants on +44 (0) 20 3198 7700 or fill out our contact form, and someone will be in touch with you to discuss your training options shortly.