{"id":236,"date":"2016-11-24T14:26:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T14:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=236"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T12:24:08","slug":"how-to-be-successful-in-the-digital-marketing-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/how-to-be-successful-in-the-digital-marketing-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Marketing: How to be successful in the industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s going to take more than just a love for online communication to prove your worth in the field of digital marketing<\/a>. In order to be successful in this lucrative industry, you\u2019re going to have to stay ahead of the trends, have a holistic skill set, and never stop learning.<\/p>\n\n\n

[bctt tweet=”These 10 skills are what you need to stand out as a Digital Marketing professional. \u00a0” username=”getsmarter”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Learn the Language of Digital Marketing
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KPI? SEO? CTO?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acquiring a knowledge of these terms allows you to fully comprehend the metrics you’re measuring every day; better evaluate the performance of your marketing campaigns, and allows you to make more strategic decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action:<\/strong> Make it your mission to print out or write out General Assembly\u2019s Glossary<\/em> of Digital Marketing Terms<\/em> and Hubspot\u2019s Ultimate Glossary of Performance Metrics<\/em><\/a> to give yourself a headstart on understanding all those foreign acronyms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Reflect Real Buyer Personas in Your Campaigns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may have heard the saying, \u201cIf content is king, then conversation is queen.\u201d Digital marketing isn’t about talking at your audience, but about talking with them. Learning to listen to what they want helps you become better at communicating with them – through the right marketing channels, with the appropriate tone and language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action<\/strong>: Use email, search, paid and content marketing to drive and focus on engagement and gain valuable insights about your audience. Construct buyer personas that you continue to develop as you receive more feedback from the people you\u2019re marketing to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Become an Expert in Specific Areas of Digital Marketing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketing<\/a> encompasses a whole host of disciplines – from mobile to social media to email marketing. In order to be the best at what you do – dabble in a bit of everything. But at the end of the day, specialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Midgley, a Senior Consultant at OgilvyOne in New York City, has this advice for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFind an area that interests you, then determine the tool or platform for that area and learn it. Become a power user for it. Learn about other tools or platforms that compete with it, and those that work alongside it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Action:<\/strong>\u00a0Read the career path profile of a Digital Marketing Strategist<\/a> to help you gain a more holistic view of your career options within the marketing and digital marketing industry – and then make your choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Learn to Network in Digital Marketing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is where you put the social into social media. Want to be successful at communicating in an online space? Well, then you have to be able to work the crowd in \u201creal life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Networking and making connections with like-minded people and thought-leaders in the industry is a great way to get feedback on your work and initiate creative collaborations<\/a> for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action<\/strong>: Take a marketing course, attend annual digital marketing conferences such as Africa Marketing Week<\/em> or the Marketing Indaba, <\/em>and hang out with marketing professionals from all over the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n