9 of the Most In-Demand & Transferable Digital Marketing Skills

Successful digital marketers are savvy enough to keep their skills fresh and relevant. In an industry that constantly changes, it's important for you to keep your digital know-how current and relevant so you can excel in your role and be attractive to potential employers.

The great thing about digital marketing is the transferable nature of your skillset - you can apply it to any industry as most businesses require an online presence and an integrated approach to marketing. 

Read on to know which nine skills to nurture to become an invaluable professional in a thriving industry which include:

1. Social Media
2. Analytics & Data
3. MarTech
4. SEO
5. Content Creation & Curation
6. Artificial Intelligence
7. UX & Web Design
8. Search Marketing & PPC
9. Digital Strategy

1. Social Media

Social media has proven to be a hugely successful channel to attract, engage and influence customers. That’s why social media ad spending is projected to hit a whopping $262 billion by 2028 according to Statista.

It’s this reach and popularity (over 5 billion social media users are predicted by 2024) that makes it an essential channel for marketers. And companies have social skills in their sights as the demand for social media specialists consistently tops the most desirable skill list every year.  

But there’s an art to driving success on social networks. It’s not as simple as creating a post and making it live. Marketers with social media know-how need to have a range of skills such as:

• Copywriting
• Design
• Customer service/community engagement
• Data analytics
• Project management
• Creativity
• Budgeting

A combination of these skills makes someone an in-demand marketer with social media know-how that employers are looking for. 

2. Analytics & Data

Terms like ‘data’ and “analytics’ are an integral part of digital marketing lingo for a good reason. 

The customer buying journey can be complex with people going from one channel to another in a few clicks. So, gathering data and getting valuable insights that can be used in marketing and sales activities is invaluable to companies. 

Goals are important to establish for analytics with metrics tied to each. These metrics will help determine the success of marketing activities such as campaign performance. 

There are a lot of vanity metrics in the mix for companies so it’s important to understand them but be focused on actionable metrics that can deliver value. For example, a vanity metric could be website traffic versus an actionable metric such as ROI.  

It’s about being able to dig into the data and see what channel drives the most conversions versus what channel drives the most traffic that can offer the greatest value to understanding your customer and pipeline. 

3. MarTech

Despite the uncertain global economic climate, in 2023 the marketing technology landscape grew by over 1,000 solutions to 11,038 since last year according to Martech.org with personalization tools in the highest demand.  

The advantage of martech tools is that it helps businesses streamline processes and make teams more effective. However, because of the scope of martech capabilities in digital marketing, you must master multiple tools and attain a breadth of knowledge to be effective. 

While it’s impossible to know how to use every tool, here are some of the most commonly used ones in businesses to help optimize marketing activities:

• Analytics - Google Analytics
• Customer relationships - Salesforce
• Personalization -  Optimizely
• Social media management - Hootsuite, Buffer
• Advertising - Google Ads, AdRoll (for retargeting)
• Collaboration - Slack, Monday
• Automation - Marketo
• Email - MailChimp
• SEO - Moz, SEMRush

4. SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital marketing strategy that has become more important to marketers to ensure online visibility. It covers not only on-page SEO but also off-page and local SEO, particularly important if you work for a local brand. 

The challenge with SEO (like social media algorithms) is that it’s constantly shifting and changing, leaving many marketers frustrated and confused. However, with so many prospects going online to find products or services and purchase, an understanding of SEO is seen as crucial for marketing professionals.

So for digital marketers looking to upskill their capabilities, it’s important to know that SEO is a thriving area to specialize in. According to Backlinko, the number one result in Google gets approximately 32 percent of all clicks. This means that the higher you rank in a search, the more visible a brand will be.  

It’s this visibility that makes SEO so important and there are some key elements to SEO you should know (along with keeping an eye on the changing algorithms):

• Keywords
• SEO optimized content
• Meta Tags
• Backlinks
• Images

Even if you’re not intending to become an SEO expert, working knowledge is a great transferable skill that will see you rise above the competition in an interview or for a promotion. 

5. Content Creation & Curation

With so much information available online, it’s hard for brands to create content that stands out. So, the ability to create, curate, and manage content is a highly sought-after digital marketing skill for businesses in all industries.

Content that is able to engage viewers and attract them to a website or landing is crucial. It’s not enough to create content and promote it across channels, it needs to be part of an inbound marketing strategy to meet business objectives and demonstrate ROI.   

For example, let’s say you are launching a new product. While a video promoting it across social media may gain attention, where are you sending people that show interest, and what are asking them to do? 

In this instance, you should think about a gated landing page to collect personal information with the promise of an offer such as a discount. You should also think about your existing prospects, contact people on your mailing list, and give them advance VIP access. A bird’s eye view like this is important so you can use content to attract and engage people on different channels and at different stages of the funnel.   

Digital marketers with the ability to curate and create content across channels with high click-through rates are an asset to any team when thousands of new blogs and ads are created and consumed daily.

6. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence has come into its own over the past few years and is becoming more integrated into the marketing activities of companies. 

There are already many ways of using AI in digital marketing such as social listening, content generation, automation, data analysis, and audience segmentation. Just think about how ChatGPT can create content for ad campaigns or the generative program Midjourney can create images. 

According to PwC’s Global Artificial Intelligence study, AI-driven marketing is set to drive 45 percent of the total global economy by 2030. The ways it is predicted to do that are through personalized services, data-driven product enhancements, and influencing consumer demand.

As a marketer, it’s important to embrace AI and have some knowledge of how it can be used to optimize marketing activities. Examples of the most commonly used AI technologies you should familiarize yourself with are machine learning, natural language processing, semantic search, and sentiment analysis. 

Editor at Chiefmartec, Scott Brinker believes that “AI as your co-pilot is real and it’s going to change the relationship between buyers and sellers because buyers will have AI too.”

7. UX & Website Design

UX stands for user experience and is an effective way for brands to focus on the interaction between human users and everyday products and services such as a website or app. 

The ability to optimize a website or landing page to deliver a better customer experience is crucial for customers especially when it comes to tapping into customer buying habits and decision-making processes. Something as simple as adding a visible CTA button or conducting A/B testing can make a huge difference. 

With so much competition online, customers are drawn to well-designed websites with a simple and easy customer journey. So with little or no UX design, a prospect won’t hang around for long if your site is not easy to use or visually pleasing.

There’s such demand for UX experts that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that Web Developer and Digital Designer roles (including UX roles) will rise by 23 percent between 2021 and 2023. 

A knowledge of UX design can provide you with a skill set that helps businesses stand out and drive brand loyalty. With a streamlined customer experience and UX-optimized website, an organization can funnel prospects through its sales funnel to become high-value leads. 

8. Search Marketing & PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is an effective way to get your brand and content in front of the right people. In other words, getting the people who would be interested in your product or service with high intent to a website or landing page.  

PPC is becoming more important as brands look to gain more visibility online and outperform competitors. There are different types of PPC marketing campaigns such as search, display, remarketing, video, shopping, and sponsored social. 

AS PPC is obviously a paid marketing channel, it’s important for companies to see an ROI from any campaigns so marketers need to understand the fundamentals. 

While creating a PPC campaign through Google Ads or Bing may be simple enough, it does require planning and monitoring (along with the right keywords and a great bidding strategy) to get it right and get the most from every cent.  

Marketers with PPC knowledge (and even better, experience) are in high demand so getting working knowledge in the area can help boost your career prospects. 

9. Digital Strategy

It’s one thing for a business to create a digital strategy, but another to implement it correctly. There are many ways a strategy can fail so businesses want marketers with strategic knowledge.   

A strategic marketer has the ability to look at how internal and external environments inform marketing activities. Factors to consider are target audience, customer base, strengths and weaknesses, and competitors.

If you don’t have strategic experience it’s worth getting some under your belt so you can use it as an example in an interview. Use our digital marketing strategy research template and action plan template to get an idea of what’s involved and try out a hypothetical plan.   

Conclusion@ The Most Transferable Digital Marketing Skills

Whether you’re in the early stages of your digital marketing career or want to find an area to specialize in, choosing to develop your knowledge of any of the skills we’ve mentioned will help you find professional success.

With a passion to help brands tell their stories (and the right knowledge or qualification), you’ll find that a career in digital marketing is not only satisfying but lucrative – when you have the right skills. 

Become an in-demand digital marketing professional

Digital marketing is a competitive industry, but with the right knowledge and skills, you can carve out a rewarding and lucrative career. Our Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing will help you understand the fundamentals of digital marketing and explore the key areas including social media, content marketing, SEO, analytics, PPC, strategy and so much more. Advance your career today by enrolling!