5 reasons to level up your digital marketing skills – today

A new year brings new possibilities. So if you’re thinking about taking your marketing career to the next level, developing digital marketing skills might be the way to go.

If you’ve been quietly avoiding the discipline for a while because, frankly, it seems too complicated, you’re not alone. Digital marketing is detailed and complex – but that doesn’t mean you can’t master the fundamentals and give your career a boost.

Here’s why now’s a great time to dive straight in.

1. Become a well-rounded, sought-after marketer

The amount of change in the industry over the past couple of decades has led to a new breed of highly sought-after professional: the T-shaped marketer.

A hybrid of specialist and generalist, the T-shaped marketer masters their craft, then casts the net wide to build a broad understanding of marketing. And the further you want to climb the career ladder, the wider your knowledge net needs to be.

“There’s high demand for marketers who can think strategically and understand the context of the market, but can also go deeper into the technology,” says ADMA instructor and Customer Experience consultant, Simone Blakers.

You don’t have to become a specialist in technology to be successful. The key is to be able to have meaningful conversations with those who are specialists. Knowing who to talk to and what questions to ask them.

This is where a digital marketing course or qualification can help. It can provide the foundations and context you need to collaborate with specialists, media agencies and digital teams. This is crucial to developing optimal strategies for your business or brand. And it’s only becoming more important in the era of growth hacking.

2. Cultivate a growth hacking mindset

Rather than seeing digital and traditional marketing as separate areas, brands are increasingly focused on solving problems through growth hacking. The goal of growth hacking is to rapidly grow your customer base and revenue through innovative, low-cost strategies.

“The modern team structure now includes a growth team that’s made up of a digital tech or developer, a marketer and a product specialist,” Simone says. “While the marketer’s role is to be the voice of the customer and bring empathy to the table, they also need to think more diversely than just pushing messages out through media via digital or otherwise.

“This is where the growth hacking happens – in that diverse thinking.”

A growth hacking mindset is about looking outside the box, embracing failure and learning from it and prioritising progress over perfection.

So how do digital skills help? The two are intrinsically linked. They both value and focus on experimentation, creativity and measurement to reach objectives. Growth hacking also relies on data-driven results, A/B testing and conversion optimisation – all part of the digital toolbox.

By building your skillset, you’ll not only become a marketer with a broader perspective – you’ll also start developing a growth hacking mindset that’s increasingly important in our fast-moving, competitive landscape.

3. Embrace curiosity and build your confidence

While it might surprise some, marketers don’t have all the answers. And they don’t need to, Simone says.

“You’re never going to know how to do everything. It's about embracing curiosity, asking questions and doing courses to deepen your understanding.”

But marketers starting their career can often feel intimidated, which stifles their curiosity – or see them teaching themselves through content without context.

“You need the context, and you need to be able to discuss what you’re learning, why it's like this and what that means,” Simone says.

A digital marketing course can give you that bigger-picture view and a safe environment in which to ask questions. It will also give you the confidence to have the right conversations and unlock opportunities for more learning.

Our aim is to empower students with the confidence to not only be able to brief digital specialists (who have deep day-to-day expertise around executing specific digital marketing activities), but also to ask the right questions and hold them accountable.

4. Keep up

Things are always changing in the world of marketing – especially in digital. If you don’t stay on top of it, you’ll get left behind. The good news is, even if you haven’t explored digital marketing yet, it’s not too late.

“If you're a traditional marketer who hasn’t used digital, you don’t need to be fearful. While digital is complex and you can get lost in the detail, the fundamentals of marketing you’ve used for years are still relevant. It’s still around acquisition, retention and growth. There's just different channels and methodologies and ways of doing it.”

There are three good places to start.

1. Understanding digital media – particularly search and social, as they hold the lion's share of performance marketing.

2. Learning how apps, websites and various digital platforms work and can help enhance a customers experience of your brand.

3. Learning how to have customer conversations via digital touchpoints – from app notifications and messenger environments through to email.

5. Leverage a better way to learn

It’s never been a better time to upskill.

The past couple of years have opened up a new world of learning that allows you to pick up new skills how, when and where you want. With new technologies, user interfaces and plug and play options, mastering the fundamentals of digital marketing has never been easier. So what are you waiting for?

Explore world-class digital marketing courses here.

3 things you should look for in a digital marketing course

Ready to broaden your digital horizons?

Here are three things you need from a digital marketing course.

1. The space and time to ask questions

Whether it’s an online or in-person course, you need to be able to ask questions. Discussing what you’ve learned with your instructor or addressing any gaps you might have come across helps make sure you get the most out of the course.

2. Instructors who work in the industry

Learning from people who work in the industry is the best way to level up your skills. They can help give you context around your category, your business or any previous training you’ve had – and they can teach you practical skills that are relevant in today’s evolving marketing landscape.

3. Learning you can apply today

While theory is important, you need skills you can start using at work tomorrow. Look for a course or qualification that shares real-world examples and offers practical skills, processes and toolkits that you can apply straight away.

Learn practical insights directly from leading digital marketing practitioners and some of Australia’s top 50 CMOs through ADMA IQ. Explore our range of digital marketing courses and upskill today.