Understanding digital marketing and data analytics
Digital marketing has become a key discipline and investment area for many organizations, especially in the last decade as more people consume information digitally via their mobile phones. Digital marketing is such a dynamic space, and it’s especially interesting to see its evolution and development, particularly in data and data analytics. Instead of making decisions purely from intuition and anecdotes by the marketing department, today, due to the availability of data and data analytics tools, marketers are better equipped with the ability to generate insights, helping them make better informed decisions that take into consideration the customers’ behaviour and intent signals.
The latest HubSpot Blog’s Marketing Strategy Survey results highlights that digital marketing as a domain will continue to grow in the next year. This is important to know and keep in mind, not just for existing marketers and organizations, but most importantly for those who plan to shape or shift a digital marketing career. Let’s explore how digital marketing and data analytics can be utilized by those interested in developing a career in this field.
Importance of Digital Marketing
There are, for sure, many definitions of digital marketing. Still, the one we will share with you here is the one by HubSpot that refers to digital (or online) marketing as “all marketing efforts that occur on the internet”.
Organizations today use search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect and communicate with existing and potential customers. Briefly, these are some of the benefits that organizations or individuals can gain from digital marketing:
- Global reach – Geographic boundaries constrain traditional marketing, but since digital marketing occurs online, the potential customer base is increased worldwide.
- Local reach – Local SEO and locally targeted marketing can be beneficial for any organization interested in attracting more customers. Digital marketing can afford that reach.
- Lower cost – Even though some digital marketing efforts can be expensive, compared to other solutions to reach the potential audience, it offers cost-effective possibilities.
- Increased engagement – Digital marketing is intended to be very engaging, allowing everyone to use digital marketing to generate more exciting posts, raise brand awareness and sales and build a community.
Knowing about these and other benefits can be helpful for any woman entrepreneur and any woman who works or plans to work in marketing. By utilizing these benefits, any marketing strategy or goal can be optimized.
Importance of Data and Data Analytic in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is measurable. And data analytics is getting meaningful insights from data and, based on that, making decisions. Knowing this, we’ll point out three key reasons why data and analytics are essential for digital marketing:
- Customer satisfaction – The gathered data from different sources (websites, chats, applications, social media, stores etc.) and, after that, analyzed data, can help organizations to understand their customers, how they engage and behave and what actions they take. Based on this, organizations can improve their products and services and satisfy customers’ needs.
- Increased Return on Investment (ROI) – Data analytics can help organizations connect with customers and build relationships. That can reflect in measurable efforts or, in other words, better ROI. According to one article in Forbes, analytics has helped 44% of organizations to gain new customers and generate better ROI.
- Competitive advantage – The data you collect about your competitors and the market helps you stay updated about the market, take real-time actions, make changes in your campaigns according to the market sentiments and be prepared for upcoming challenges.
Benefits of a Career in Digital Marketing
Now the most important part – knowing about the importance of digital marketing and data analytics, how anyone interested in contributing to an organization towards the benefits mentioned above can focus on a career in this field?
A marketing degree can help anyone secure the desired position (and pay). But for a career in digital marketing, there are many other cases where people with no particular educational qualifications or just a certificate pursued after a short-term digital marketing course can succeed if they have passion and dedication.
For those once, here are some tips they can use to start a journey in digital marketing. As mentioned, one tip is to enrol in a paid online digital marketing course. In that way, the needed practical knowledge can be gained. Suppose it is challenging to identify those courses. Another option is to buy a digital marketing book or read blogs that can help learn digital marketing and keep anyone updated on the latest happenings in online marketing. LinkedIn or YouTube is the place to be for those who want to explore resources on social platforms. Following digital marketing influencers on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is also an option to enrich the knowledge about the industry. Remember that there are plenty of podcasts on this topic where the learning can start and continue. Another great approach is the webinars, after which the PPTs can be available and helpful for learning.
We mentioned the skills several times. While working in digital marketing, you can gain technical knowledge and learn new skills. Some of those skills are:
- Data Visualization: Presenting numbers found in data in a usable and meaningful way.
- Critical Thinking: Ability to interpret information and understand the data.
- Communication: Ability to present the data in a form people can comprehend.
- Technical Skills: Proficiency with programming languages designed for big data.
- Entrepreneurial Skills: Understanding different kinds of businesses and industries, especially those that will work for a marketing agency.
Many findings lead to the information that there are great rewards in digital marketing jobs, followed by good salary packages. Another benefit that is frequently emphasized is the flexible workplace and schedule, as well as an energetic and enthusiastic work culture.
Final Words
To obtain the skills for a career in digital marketing and data analytics and to earn the needed certificate, follow certified training programs that She Loves Data offers, supported by its partners. These types of certified programs can prepare you for a career in many jobs, including digital marketing manager, search engine optimiser and search engine marketing specialist – SEO and SEMs, social media marketer, content marketer, email marketer, and related jobs like automation expert, content creator for AR- VR and web developer.
If you’re looking for a foundational program to upskill yourself in the area of digital marketing, look no further. You may pre-register yourself for the She Loves Data digital certification program, SLDxDigital, right here: https://bit.ly/SLDxDigitalPreReg
Demystifying Digital Marketing
In this blog post we’ll cover what digital marketing is (and what it isn’t) rather than how to pivot into a digital marketing career. Consider this post a ‘demystification’ of digital marketing and why it’s become one of the most in-demand careers in tech today.
The Basics
Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. Typically this is delivering value in the form of goods and services to targeted end users, like consumers or other targeted audiences. Before the rise of digital marketing, this included advertising using so called ‘traditional’ channels such as radio, TV, direct mail, billboards or newspapers and magazines.
Digital marketing is also known as online marketing and it refers to any advertising delivered through digital channels such as web-based advertising, social media, email, mobile apps, text messaging or search engine optimization (SEO). So if an advertising or marketing campaign uses any of these channels (basically, electronic devices) then it’s digital marketing. Those devices include computers, tablets and smart phones.
Consumers Today
DataReportal says global internet use has reached 60%, meaning that six in every 10 people now go online. The typical internet user is online for approximately seven hours a day. In Southeast Asia, for example, Malaysians spend on average almost nine hours online (similar to Thais and Indonesians), while Filipinos report being online for an average of 11 hours a day. In terms of digital marketing, consumers increasingly use the information they find online to make purchasing decisions. This approach now means that consumers are not going in a linear line with seeing or hearing a traditional advertising message and then making a purchase. There is more fluidity in how people make their decision and smart marketers know this requires building a brand, providing great customer experience that brings more potential customers and having a targeted digital strategy.
Differences Between Traditional and Digital Marketing
Digital marketing uses a strategy that is highly customer-centric and uses digital channels to convey a brand’s message. One of the differences is that digital media can adapt its messages very quickly based on consumer response (positive or negative) and consumer engagement, such as whether a video link was clicked on and watched. Through this customer interaction, digital marketing can turn this into opportunities. Traditional advertising is less consumer-interactive and doesn’t have the capacity to make prompt changes to its marketing collateral (like a billboard or magazine ad).
Another difference is with traditional marketing it’s more difficult to assess just how well (or not) your recent marketing campaign went. An online marketing campaign can use basic metrics like how many visitors were on your site, number of interactions per visit or the exit rate to tell you right away how your message is landing. This allows for more agile adjustments in the advertising strategy. Digital marketing is also less expensive than traditional marketing because there is limited space within traditional marketing outlets and that is what makes it more expensive.
However, many businesses use hybrid approaches by developing both traditional and digital marketing strategies. There is no one single way to promote your brand and services.
Examples of Digital Marketing
At the beginning of this post I mentioned search engine optimization (SEO) and you’ve very likely heard of it or even used it yourself. It’s a form of digital marketing (or rather a tool in digital marketing) that optimizes your website to improve its appearance and visibility so traffic to your site is increased. This can mean using key words or cross-linking pages within your site.
Content marketing is another form of digital marketing that is based on the distribution of relevant and valuable content to a target audience. Before, an advertising campaign would try to attract customers by demonstrating the value of a particular brand or service. With content marketing, consumers’ increasing demand for more informative and meaningful content means value is offered for free in the form of written material, such as e-books, blog posts, videos and infographics.
Another form of digital marketing is social media marketing. It can be very effective because social media marketing involves active audience participation; the interaction that consumers want. Social media is also very good at providing metrics for measuring engagement and to help you understand how well you’re reaching your audience. And you probably already use these forms of social media at home or work: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Digital marketing has become prominent because it can reach a wider audience and broaden your geographic reach. Data that is collected digitally tends to be more accurate and detailed, making it easier to personalize. Businesses have more choice with their advertising strategies and traditional, digital or hybrid approaches are all useful for elevating brand awareness and gaining consumer traction. In the end, marketing is about how you communicate your value to your consumers.
I’m In!
She Loves Data offers online courses (and offline events) that cover topics like digital marketing, as well as the opportunity to learn more about data and tech and the essential skills you’ll want to have. Our events are free and, unless stated otherwise, they’re open to everyone. We encourage you to attend as many as you can! These are some of the ways you can test the waters and see where your interests and abilities take you. And if you’re still not sure you can explore mentoring options as well.
Technology has boosted every industry and it’s an inevitability we can’t ignore. But it’s also not yet inclusive or diverse enough. Data and tech need you: your voice, your experience and your talent. Join us in helping to close the gender and skills gap in a growing field that offers so much positive opportunity for you and our communities.
She Loves Data launches new digital certification program with Meta, INSEAD and Meiro as pioneering partners
Collaboration aims to deliver foundational training in digital marketing and analytics
SINGAPORE / 1 December 2022
She Loves Data, a Singapore-headquartered global non-profit social enterprise with a mission to inspire women around the globe to become active contributors to an increasingly data-driven world, today announced the launch of a new digital certification program, in collaboration with Meta as the chairing partner organization. The foundational training program targets professionals looking to upskill and gain basic knowledge in digital marketing, new and upcoming digital trends and digital analytics.
The program, called SLDxDigital, will pilot in Asia Pacific for the first round of courses. The training will be delivered virtually by trainers from various domains of digital marketing and analytics, and are free of charge. The program will include New Trends in Digital (web3, NFT, Metaverse, etc), Digital Analytics, and Digital Marketing for data-driven marketers. Participants will get a digital certification at the end of the program.
“The digital world is extremely dynamic and is continuously evolving. As such, there is a strong need for organisations in the ecosystem to provide avenues for professionals to update their knowledge and skill sets to remain relevant in the field. She Loves Data’s mission to empower women through essential skills training extends into this domain. We are excited to be embarking on this journey with Meta as the first partner and hope to impact the lives of hundreds of professionals in the region, before we expand the programme to other regions globally,” said Jana Marle – Zizkova, co-founder and volunteering CEO at She Loves Data.
The first set of foundational training will be delivered by March 2023, where participants can look forward to three courses with an average of three to five modules per training. She Loves Data will provide the structure for the curriculum for each course, and identify the instructors for each module, in consultation with content partners like Meta. The non-profit organization will also have the quality of the curriculum validated through external domain experts.
“Data-driven marketing has been growing rapidly across the world and especially in APAC. Women continue to be underrepresented in digital marketing and analytics roles. We know that access to education and certification degrees is crucial to achieving diverse talent inclusion. At Meta, we design policies to promote representation of women in digital careers. Our marketing science teams have always supported She Loves Data and we are now excited to uplevel our partnership with an innovative curriculum to train the next generation of digital marketing and analytics experts. With this, we hope to enable women to unlock opportunities in this dynamic field while building a more inclusive industry,” said Georges Mao, Director of Marketing Science at Meta and Co-chair for the SLDxDigital Advisory Board.
Supporting the program are also Meiro, the customer data platform provider, and INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools. As part of the program kick-off, David Dubois, Associate Professor of Marketing from INSEAD will be joining the program as part of the Advisory Board.
As the program grows, She Loves Data will invite other partners in the digital marketing ecosystem, who will form part of its Digital Advisory Board, to join hands and contribute to the curriculum. To support She Loves Data as a corporate partner, please email [email protected]
Participants who are interested to pre-register for the program may do so here.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
She Loves Data Public Relations: [email protected]
About She Loves Data
She Loves Data is a not for profit social enterprise that inspires women to become active contributors to an increasingly data-driven world. Founded in October 2016 in the smart city of Singapore, we provide free training sessions, workshops, mentorship programmes and networking opportunities that help women upskill and develop careers not only in tech. Our expanding global presence includes 18 chapters in Australia, Armenia, Cambodia, the Czech Republic & Slovakia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Visit us on https://www.shelovesdata.com/ to find out more about our programmes, or email [email protected] to support them.
About INSEAD, The Business School for the World
As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. Our research, teaching and partnerships reflect this global perspective and cultural diversity.
With locations in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi), and now North America (San Francisco), INSEAD’s business education and research spans four regions. Our 165 renowned Faculty members from 42 countries inspire more than 1,500 degree participants annually in our Master in Management, MBA, Global Executive MBA, Specialised Master’s degrees (Executive Master in Finance and Executive Master in Change) and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD Executive Education programmes each year.
INSEAD continues to conduct cutting-edge research and innovate across all our programmes. We provide business leaders with the knowledge and awareness to operate anywhere. Our core values drive academic excellence and serve the global community as The Business School for the World.
For more information, visit www.insead.edu
About Meiro
Meiro is a self-funded tech startup based in Singapore with a strong presence in Southeast Asia, Australia, and Central Europe. Meiro works with organizations going through digital transformation with the aim of engaging customers real time in a highly personalized way.
Meiro Customer Data Platform (CDP) unifies all of the company’s customer data (from online/offline touchpoints) into one easy-to-use platform. CDP enables businesses to maximize customer lifetime value, and execute retention and acquisition strategies with the goal of increasing revenue & ROI, and optimizing advertising & marketing budgets while creating outstanding customer experiences.
Meiro has transformed corporations in finance, retail, e-commerce, telecommunications, and FMCG industries across the globe by assisting in optimizing the customer’s experience. Beyond that, Meiro has a strong social mission of driving diversity and inclusion in the technology space as the founding partner of the non-profit organization, She Loves Data. To learn more about Meiro, visit www.meiro.io
