Three Key Areas for Developing Skills in Digital

Digital marketing is a high growth sector - but what areas do you need to focus on to get started as a graduate, or as someone looking for a career change? We canvassed some of our industry leading Account Directors and digital marketing specialists to find out.

By Charlie Mudd, Analyst at Kinase

Ecommerce growth was accelerated by the pandemic, and the UK is at the heart of global adoption. It follows that digital marketing has seen a continued surge in growth. In a recent article at The Drum, exclusive LinkedIn data is analysed to reveal the sheer extent to which career opportunities in digital, and more specifically, digital marketing are growing and evolving. That growth has reached 381,000 digital marketing roles posted on LinkedIn in the last year, according to LinkedIn itself. 

So, if you are a recent graduate or you are looking for a career change, and digital marketing is where you want to be, what should you be focussing on and what skills should you be developing? 

Data Analytics

“The ability to pull actionable insights from a data set will prove a valuable asset for anyone in search of a career in digital,” according to Alex Pitt, Account Director and automation lead at Kinase. As automation begins to take over more of the more traditional PPC tasks and optimisations, marketers will see a lot more of their time freed up to focus on client servicing and analysis. 

The ability therefore to “go deep in the data” and identify long term trends to provide actionable insights for clients is a cornerstone skill. For a graduate, or someone looking to enter the digital space, skills in Microsoft Excel - or an aptitude to learn - will prove to be the essential starting place.

Industry Knowledge

Leanne Davis, Head of Paid Social at Kinase, points out the importance of strong foundational industry knowledge, commenting: “A good overall understanding of digital is always advantageous. Spend some time looking into the various channels and tactics brands employ when planning their activity for the year and how they work synergistically”. 

The nature of digital means it is constantly evolving and new trends - strategies, channels, platforms - are always developing. Therefore, having a strong foundational and holistic knowledge of digital will keep prospective marketers in a good position for the rest of their careers. Solomon Kaffel, Marketplaces Director at Kinase also notes: “Users are becoming more aware of how their data is being used. Therefore, having an idea of current affairs relating to data protection (e.g. GDPR), and changes to cookie based tracking, will be relevant to any discipline in the industry”. Platforms like LinkedIn are a fountain of knowledge for those seeking wider industry insights. Likewise, publications like The Drum, and our very own Kinase Briefings are perfect for staying in the loop.

Automation

As Google’s Smart Bidding tools continue to develop, it is becoming increasingly clearer that automation is the future of the industry. Alex Pitt sees this as a unique opportunity for graduates to “get ahead of the curve” by joining the automators and learning how to code. He recommends Code Camp as an important free tool that those interested can utilise. Solomon Kaffel agrees - stating the importance of learning coding languages such as Python, C++ or Java “which can automate a number of manual tasks related to account and campaign management, in turn freeing up marketers’ time for other tasks and allowing them to get ahead of the curve within the industry.”