10 skills to succeed in digital marketing

To be a digital marketer, one must understand the nuances of the new paradigms of the web, that is to know how each of the social and digital channels work and interact with each other and the resulting synergies.

What skills do a digital marketing professional need to succeed?
1. Data Analysis

The term "big data" is used as confetti and glasses of vodka in a Russian wedding.

It's not about big data, but about what you're doing with the data. Such is the work of the analyst. The data scientist is in the process of invading the marketing sphere because it has access to all technological tools and platforms.

Many digital marketing professionals fear it. The Data requires a new "species" of collaborators, a "person of the numbers" ( the data analyst ). The digital disruption arrived so quickly that these experts are rare and hard to find. But this is what the new paradigm of marketing requires.

The days when marketing was left to the "crazy marketing" Wall Street are over. The creative marketer needs a new partner.

2. The paid social media
What social media promised when they began to be used as a marketing tool was a free global audience. Then Facebook changed the deal. The gold rush of the "like" Facebook is over. Now it's time to remunerate the flute player who has gleaned your data and now plans to resell them.

To put things in perspective, it is planned to spend 25 billion dollars in social advertising before the end of 2016, Facebook reserving the biggest part of the pie.

Exit early cynicism, Facebook advertising can be very effective if done well. So what are the key points and skills needed to start taking all this in hand?
• How to use the "Facebook Insights"
• Learn how to use "Power Editor"
• What can be done with the audience of "Lookalike"
• Targeting of "Custom Audiences"
• What is OCPM Bidding and How to Use it
• How to experiment and test creative images

And this is only the tip of the iceberg ...

3. E-mail marketing
E-mail was a simple thing in the past. Now we're talking about targeting and analyzing rebound rates, opening rates and conversions. Its power as a marketing tool is often underestimated.

Even very large companies can not do it. A recent report published by The New York Times revealed that even with a database of more than 6 million emails, the majority do not even have a clean marketing platform. The mailing-list must then be extracted manually from their other systems.

Although the social is great for brand media coverage, your most loyal and committed prospects, your customers, and fans want to keep in touch via email. Many marketing campaigns perform well because they stem from a worked relationship and maintained by e-mail.

4. Search engine marketing
There are two data in the equation here:
• Optimize its content, website and blog for organic traffic (earned)
• Pay per click using Google AdWords.

Building a strong SEO on search engines takes time and there is no quick fix. But do not neglect it as this constitutes the majority of your traffic, although it can take years of content and strategy creation.
5. Developing skills with technology tools and platforms

In the past, the job of marketer has often been summarized in the management of an advertising agency. It must now take technology into account. What is it?

FREE TOOLS

There is a wide range of free tools available:
• Hootsuite
• Tweetdeck
• Canva
• Facebook Insights
• Analytics Twitter
• Google Analytics

Many of them have premium versions that offer additional features and functions.

PLATFORMS

These bring together digital marketing, e-mail marketing, and the social media platforms that allow to evolve the marketing actions.

Digital marketing platforms

Many offers are available.
One of them, Teradata's Marketing Operations , includes Planning & Spend Manager, Workflow & Collaboration Manager, and Marketing Asset Manager.

E-mail marketing and automated platforms

There are hundreds of platforms. Here are a few :
• MailChimp
• Aweber
• iContact
• Salesforce Cloud Marketing
• Silverpop
• Marketo

6. Social Media

Social media is a complex system that you need to know about the different parts of the system and the tools you can use to make the most of it.

The question you need to ask yourself is "what networks will I focus on"? Then there is the set of strategies to achieve the right objectives. Finally, you must match the creative and the content.

7. The content
Content is the foundation of any marketing strategy / action. It takes pictures, blog posts, computer graphics, free ebooks ... The list goes on.

When well done, content helps promote engagement, SEO performance, leads and sales.

8. Mobile marketing
The explosion of mobile phones and the growth of smartphones have taken many short-sighted marketers. Many brands have a web site that is not suited to mobile (non responsive) and have no applications to make it easy to use for their customers. Here is a marketing skill that needs to be learned - and fast!

9. Viral marketing
Having content that circulates quickly, like the likes of BuzzFeed, is something that gives a new dimension. This does not mean that you need to focus on it, but a viral image or video may be worth your notoriety.

Just look at how the specialists do and work some of these tactics in your marketing campaigns.

10. Visual marketing
Most marketers know that you get better engagement and more sharing when using visuals. It is well understood on Facebook and a series of studies shows that one obtains up to 100% more commitment via a visual post rather than with a textual post. But this is not a strategy that only works on Facebook. The use of visuals on Twitter is also very effective. Several tests on the Twitter feed have proved convincing.

• Impressions : The increase in "impressions" of a tweet with picture compared to a tweet without picture is + 197%.
• Commitment : The increase in the "commitment" of a tweet with image compared to a tweet without image is + 581%
• Commitment rate : The increase in the engagement rate of a tweet with image compared to a tweet without image is + 111%.

You now know the 10 essential skills that a digital marketing professional must master. Now, it's your turn to play !