Are you a digital marketer or aspiring to become one?
Yes.
Do you know or understand programming?
No.
Wait! You said you are, or want to become a digital marketer. So if you don’t know digital, you are basically a marketer who works online. Isn’t it? Time to change things! Anything digital – be it static websites, complex web applications or mobile applications – is coded. A lot of complex programming goes into making them work. Developing basic programming skills will help you be a better digital marketer. If you don’t understand the technology, you are bound to struggle with many aspects. But why should I be doing a techie’s job, you ask.
Here are a few reasons why programming is a necessity in your profession.
From content publishing to content marketing, most of the tools require a basic understanding of HTML, CSS or JavaScript, whether you are using WordPress or Drupal as CMS or Google Analytics or Heat maps for analyses. Knowledge of frontend technologies will certainly help you in presenting the content in a better way.
Suppose you want to alter the way content is displayed by fixing a minor CSS issue or add the new JavaScript code for analytics. For every small tweak or change, are you going to chase developers or wait for the tech team? Time is of essence when it comes to online marketing. So knowing these technologies will remove your dependency on developers. Result: better efficiency and productivity.
If you understand how the code works, you will be able to analyse it more, and hence explain the business impact to clients better, and help them make well-informed decisions. He will trust you more.
In digital marketing, you need to be in regular contact with developers. And if you can talk in their language, it will be easy to communicate. It will also help you know the limitations and boundaries of programming which can affect your project. And you will be able to design your marketing campaigns in a better way.
Most of the SEO related elements are in the <head> part of the HTML. If you understand HTML, you will be able to manage the SEO of web pages in a more efficient manner.
Suppose you are setting up Google Analytics for a website. If you have an understanding of JavaScript, you will understand exactly how it works and the different tweaks and filters you can have to make your analysis a lot easier and more meaningful.
For example, while doing Goal Setup, you will be able to capture better data. I don’t suggest that you have to start learning every aspect of coding. But a basic knowledge of web technologies and an understanding of HTML, JavaScript and CSS will open a whole new world of digital marketing possibilities for you. Go on, try some code!