Maximize Your Marketing Potential

Is it worth it for a marketer to become technical, creative and analytical? Read why dedicating time to expanding your skillset will only improve your overall success.

Marketing is a broad field. It is not just about search engine optimization, it isn’t just expanding reach on social media and it definitely isn’t just advertising. Marketing pulls several different components together to form a profitable business.

Maximize Your Marketing Potential! One of the most important aspects of a well-rounded marketer that is commonly overlooked is having the necessary technical skills. A marketer might ask: why should I learn how to code if I can hire a developer? Or why should I spend time developing my writing skills if I can hire a copywriter?

There are several reasons why it pays to expand your skillset, the first being that you may not be in a position to be hiring other people to work for you. In fact, you may very well be the one being hired. When it comes to this, having a wide range of skills will set you apart from the rest.

Here are 7 skills that every marketer (or hopeful entrepreneur) should aim to develop:

1. Web technology and development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) – Having a strong grasp on these basic coding languages will benefit you greatly and help you create a strong web presence. Even if you go the route of using a Content Management Software (CMS), you’ll still need to understand how HTML and CSS work. Your website, or the sites you help clients create, will never be up to par if you don’t have a confident base in web development.
2. Web design/UX design – Although similar to web development, web design and UX design focus on how your audience will interact with a website or web app. Knowing what kind of typography works best or the ideal location of a CTA (Call To Action) can drastically improve how a user browses a webpage. Start by learning how to make sitemaps and wireframes and then deepen your design skills from there.
3. Learn new software – This may depend on the type of work you’ll be doing, but we suggest starting with the Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator). Everything from hopeful startups to Fortune 500 companies use programs like Photoshop. In addition to this, become an expert with Excel; this dramatically helps with the following tip.
4. Analytics – Evaluating results and testing what is and isn’t working is crucial for a marketer. If something isn’t working you’re more likely to know about it if you have the data as evidence. From this data you can figure out what changes are needed to improve it. And of course if something is working well, the proof is in the data. I had a marketing professor that always said, “In God we trust. All others bring data”.
5. SEO – Search Engine Optimization is a key role for all marketers. In today’s digital age your targeted audience must be able to find you online. How much will your revenue increase if a potential customer finds your site at the top of their Google search? Yeah, SEO is that important.
6. Copywriting – We can all agree that not everyone writes well. However, writing is a skill that can be developed and as with any other kind of skill, practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to express your creativity in the copy that you write. This is one of the major opportunities you have to reach out and connect with your audience.
7. Databases/SQL – Understanding databases can help you pull the data you need to analyze and put it to use. Being able to at least process SQL will give you the ability to look through a database. When you feel more comfortable with it you can even create your own.
8. Social media – Ten years ago, no one would have taken a marketer who focused only on social media seriously. Now, it’s essential for all marketers to understand how to build a strong social presence. Effectively using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ can boost your business from an unknown startup to the next Pebble smartwatch.
9. Web hosting – As a marketer you may be responsible for getting a site live and making sure it functions properly. You might not be involved with profound server-side protocols, but you should at least understand the basics of hosting, including FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).
10. Branding – Let’s not forget one of the staple attributes of a good marketer: the ability to brand a product or service. This seems simple to some, but large corporations pay top marketers hundreds of thousands of dollars to build their brand. What makes companies like Apple or Nike or North Face so elite? It boils down to the image that they’ve created for themselves through outstanding marketing.

You of course can’t learn all of these skills in only a couple of weeks. It may take years to finally grasp new and foreign concepts such as SEO and JavaScript. However, dedicating the time to learn will only make you a better marketer.

To market your business online you need to start by registering a domain name and host a site. See how Intispace Netmedia can help you start your online business.

Keep checking the intispace blog for more upcoming tips on starting your own business. Also, send us a tweet @intispace with your own ideas on what makes a great domain name!

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