What You Need to Succeed: The Skills a Digital Marketing Manager Needs

Are you trying to break into the world of digital marketing? Do you already successfully handle a company’s digital marketing strategy and want to turn this part of your job into a career? We may have some good news and some bad news for you.

The good news is that becoming a digital marketing manager is possible and can be done with little to no formal schooling. The bad news is that because of this and the prevalence of social media, everyone is trying to follow this career path.

Not everyone will make it in this field; many will fail simply because they don’t have the skills needed to succeed. We’re going to tell you what those skills are and how to acquire them if you don’t already possess them.

Keep reading to find out the abilities that will be required of you if you wish to pursue a career in this competitive field!

Leadership is Crucial

One of the greatest truths about the business world is that people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. This is true even in the field of digital marketing.

As in any type of managerial role, you don’t just manage tasks, you manage people, time, budgets, and the public’s perception of your company. With this said, being a leader is a necessary skill when it comes to being a digital marketing manager.

Managers are meant to be leaders that delegate responsibilities without micromanaging, help develop their employees’ careers, make decisions about daily operations, and help forecast future sales. As a digital marketing manager, you’ll also be responsible for a company’s success with online advertising.

Some people will tell you that management can’t be taught or that leaders are ‘born.’ This isn’t necessarily true. If you are working to become a digital marketing manager and are struggling with the leadership aspects, it is possible to learn with some time and effort.

One of the best ways to learn this skill is by opting for executive leadership coaching. Choosing a coach over a class means that you’ll receive interactive, ongoing instructions on how to be a better manager and leader. Instead of reading theories in a textbook, you can discuss daily operations and obstacles that you and your team face.

The Ability to Change

In 2018, Google modified, changed, or improved its algorithm around 9 times per day. Not all of these changes were major and not all of them had significant effects on search engine results. However, the fact remains that digital marketing requires managers to stay on their toes and ‘roll with the punches.’

In addition to keeping abreast of the Google algorithm changes, a digital marketing manager must understand that all social media platforms have various ways of displaying and ranking content. These algorithms also change frequently.

While a working knowledge of each of the ranking algorithms is helpful, it is far more helpful for digital marketing managers to understand the crucial need for adaptiveness. If an online marketer can understand basic changes in algorithms, they will better understand how to approach a company’s digital marketing strategy and make small changes that have huge impacts.

Understanding the Need for Organic Traffic

Sure, strategically placed paid advertisements work well, but almost anyone can create an ad, enter a credit card number, and set the ad to run in certain areas at certain times. What a digital marketing manager must know and understand is the need for organic traffic.

Organic traffic isn’t a paid advertisement; it is the traffic that is created when someone clicks on your website because it offers the information they need or a solution to their problem. With this said, it can be difficult to build organic traffic if a company’s website doesn’t rank on the first page of search engine results.

In order to do so, a digital marketing manager will have to understand the current search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. SEO is an ever-evolving concept but has a heavy focus on the use of keywords as well as internal/external linking; it also focuses on what users want to see and whether your website matches the type of information they’re looking for.

Knowing How to Creatively Spend a Budget

Regardless of where a digital marketing manager works, they will likely have a budget they must follow. This budget isn’t necessarily meant to restrict their success, but instead, allocate the company’s resources. Very often, a company’s digital marketing budget is quite small in the beginning which will require creativity on the marketer’s part.

A successful digital marketing manager will know where to invest a company’s money in order to see the most return; they will also understand which tactics are the most cost-effective and offer the highest conversions.

These tactics change from year to year and even from month to month. A skilled digital marketer can hone in on which of these techniques will work best for various companies and can avoid strategies that aren’t within the restraints of the budget.

Digital Marketing Management Isn’t Just for Extroverts

While a digital marketing specialist or manager isn’t always forced to speak with customers, an outgoing, friendly personality is generally a bonus. People with great interpersonal skills who understand how to convey a message through written content and video will have an easier time finding success in this field.

While this may seem like digital marketing is geared toward extroverts, it really comes down to the ability to communicate effectively, the desire to help customers fill their needs, and the ability to lead a business to success.

Extroverts may have an easier time relating to people (online or in-person) but an introvert may better understand what a customer wants to see and experience online. Both of these personality traits have their benefits when managing online marketing; it is up to the individual as to whether these traits are advantageous or not.

Do You Have What it Takes?

A career as a digital marketing manager is always changing, requires know-how and creativity, and forces even the quietest people into online engagements. You must always be willing to learn, possess a wide range of knowledge about the internet, and have a grasp of the English language (or whichever language is native to your company).

The hours will be long and some days will be far more frustrating than others, filled with challenges, short budgets, uninformed staff, or other managers who don’t understand what it is you do. Oppositely, you will have plenty of days that you feel lucky to have your position with plenty of praise about your online prowess and your marketing abilities.

If you have the skills mentioned above and a passion for digital marketing, you just might have what it takes to become and succeed as a digital marketing manager!

Want to know how digital marketing can help your business grow? Get in touch with Dignitas Digital, a leading digital marketing agency in Delhi that helps businesses thrive with the integrated strategies that drive significant results.