17 Essential Skills to Learn for Digital Marketing

Seeking a career that's dynamic, rewarding, and always in demand? If so, then a career in digital marketing may be right for you. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), demand for digital marketers will increase by 10 percent in the next decade.

Whether you're hired by a marketing firm or decide to start your own business, having a degree in online marketing or a similar field will prepare you for future success. In fact, there are several digital marketing skills you can expect to develop in an online degree program in digital marketing. 

Why are Digital Marketing Skills Important?

The marketing field is broad and encompasses many roles and areas of expertise. With a digital marketing degree, for example, you could go on to work as an SEO specialist, social media marketer, marketing director, brand manager, or in any number of other roles. Each job requires its own unique skill set—so having a wide range of marketing skills under your belt means you'll be qualified for many positions as you launch your career. From there, you can choose which specific areas and skill sets to expand and focus on. 

In today's competitive environment, businesses of all sizes need digital marketers to establish and build their online presence. With the right skills and knowledge, you can play a massive role in the success of a business and its marketing strategy. 

How Your Program Will Help Prepare You

An online digital marketing program will prepare you for a large variety of roles in the marketing realm, providing you with the instruction and practical experience you need to enter the job market with confidence. Meanwhile, an online program provides the flexibility you need to complete your studies on your own time and without making too many sacrifices in other areas of your life.

Communication and Networking Skills

Effective communication and the ability to network professionally are essential skills in the marketing world, especially when it comes to working with clients (and seeking out new ones). The right online degree program will provide you with essential communication and marketing skills that will serve you well in your career.

1. Effectively Communicate Goals and Process

 When a client approaches you with specific marketing goals and objectives, you need to be able to successfully communicate these goals to your team. From there, you can plan an effective strategy and process to implement these goals. A marketing degree program can help you hone your interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills to help you build relationships and rapport with your clients and fellow marketers.

2. Ability to Sell and Persuade

Not every business owner will be convinced that they need professional digital marketing services, which is where the ability to sell and persuade can really come in handy. Even when you're actively working for a client, much of your everyday work will involve selling and marketing to your client's target audience—so persuasion skills and persistence can pay off here. 

3. Ask Questions

A successful digital marketing professional is constantly questioning things. Why isn't a client's website generating any leads? What does a company's target audience look like? An online degree program in marketing will teach you the importance of asking the right questions, along with some practical analytical thinking skills that you can apply to your career. 

4. Ability to Handle Criticism

A career in marketing isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, this type of work inherently comes with a high degree of criticism. To thrive in the marketing industry, you'll need to learn to take criticism in stride and use it to become better at your job. This is easier for some than others, but your degree program can prepare you for the kind of critiques you're likely to face in the real world. 

Soft Skills You'll Develop

5. Ability to be Flexible and Agile

Working in digital marketing can be a bit unpredictable as campaigns and advertising platforms are constantly changing and evolving. In light of this, it pays to be flexible and versatile as a digital marketer. When a client throws you a curveball, you'll need to think quickly and find ways to overcome challenges.

6. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

One of the most vital skills for digital marketing success is critical thinking. Digital marketing campaigns are complex, with many moving parts and other factors to bear in mind. Being able to think critically and solve problems as they arise will empower you to respond to challenges more effectively and achieve your goals. An excellent online marketing program will prepare you for a career of critical thinking with practical expertise and training. 

7. Expressing Creativity

Some digital marketing roles are more creative than others, but they all come with some level of inherent creativity. Being able to come up with unique, out-of-the-box ideas will drive your career success and help you stand out from other marketers in the industry. Whether it's coming up with a catchy marketing slogan or pitching a novel social media strategy, being able to express your creativity is a must in this realm. 

Skills to Add to Your Resume

The digital marketing field is a competitive one—so if you'll be applying to jobs at a marketing firm after you graduate, you'll want to beef up your resume and stand out as much as possible. There are several skills you can gain from an online degree program that can set your resume apart from the bunch.

8. Ability to Analyze and Draw Conclusions

Analytical skills are essential in the marketing field, especially when it comes to reviewing campaign metrics, drawing conclusions from reports, and making adjustments to strategy. You may be expected, for example, to track lead generation and conversion statistics to measure the success of a specific marketing plan. Likewise, you may oversee A/B testing, which involves comparing the success of two marketing strategies. This requires you to be able to analyze and understand many types of data. 

9. Leadership and Managing

Even if you start out in an entry-level marketing role, there's a good chance you'll move up the ladder and eventually lead a team of other marketing professionals. To succeed, you'll need to develop some leadership and management skills. These can be acquired in a great online degree program, providing you with the basics you need to supervise, lead, and inspire teams of all sizes. 

10. Brand Development and Management

As a digital marketer, one of the most important things you'll do for your clients is to help them establish and develop a strong brand. This, in turn, can help a company build its presence, reach its target audience, and improve awareness of its products and services. This is where having the proper brand development and management skills can pay off, and these are essential skills that you'll acquire in any reputable degree program. 

Skills for Your Career

11. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Many marketing plans focus on search engine optimization (SEO), which involves strategies to improve a company's ranking in popular search engines. There are many skills that go along with improving SEO, from content creation to paid ads. SEO is also constantly changing, so you'll need to be diligent about staying on top of the latest changes even after you've learned basic SEO strategies from your online marketing program. 

12. Pay Per Click and Paid Search

Pay per click (PPC) and paid search are effective strategies that many marketers use to get the word out about a client's offerings. To maximize return on investment (ROI) and success of a PPC or paid search campaign, however, a marketer needs to understand which platforms are the most effective, which keywords to focus on, and how to make the most of a client's paid search budget.

13. Email and Video Marketing

These days, sending emails and creating videos is easier than ever. However, marketers still need some specific skills if they want to craft effective email and video campaigns, as this is easier said than done. An online degree program will introduce email marketing and video creation to set you up for success. 

Technical Skills

Digital marketing is a fairly technical field, and there are some specific digital marketer skills that will serve you well as you embark on your career path. These skills should be covered in any reputable online degree program in digital marketing. 

14. Copywriting and Editing

Content creation is a core component of many marketing campaigns. Being able to write compelling blogs and social media posts and generate other types of content will serve you well in your career. However, these aren't skills that come naturally to many people. An excellent degree program will include a focus on copywriting and editing so you can provide excellent and engaging content that performs well for your clients. 

15. Social Media/Content Strategy

There's no denying the power of social media when it comes to marketing, and your degree program should prepare you to use today's most popular social media platforms to grow brand awareness. From knowing how to craft eye-catching posts to generating (and interacting with) followers, there's a lot of specialized knowledge that you'll put to good use when managing a brand's social media account or putting together a social media strategy.

16. Basic Content Design

Content design is becoming increasingly important in the digital marketing realm. This involves not only determining what information your target audience needs, but the proper method for delivering it. For example, some information may be better served to your audience in the form of a blog or newsletter than a social media post or long-form article. Meanwhile, data-heavy content may be better presented in the form of an infographic. By understanding the basic principles of content design, you'll be able to convey information to your audience in the most effective way possible. 

17. Campaign Management

Managing digital campaigns can be complicated—and as a marketing professional, you'll likely be juggling multiple campaigns at any given time. With this in mind, strong campaign management skills will serve you well. This involves knowing where each of your campaigns stands at any given time, as well as carefully tracking metrics and analyzing the results of each campaign to make improvements. An excellent online marketing degree program will prepare you for this juggling act, giving you the tools you need to confidently stay organized and manage multiple campaigns down the road. 

Take the Next Step with Lindenwood Online

The digital marketing field is competitive and dynamic—and the most successful marketing professionals can apply these essential skills in their everyday work. With roots dating back to 1832, Lindenwood University offers online bachelor's and master's degrees in digital marketing to help you kickstart a long and prosperous career. With an industry-focused curriculum and dedicated student support, we're committed to helping you succeed. Reach out today to request more information or begin your enrollment!