7 In-Demand Digital Marketing Skills in 2023

In the vast landscape of career trends, digital marketing abilities are quickly becoming one of the most sought-after skills employers look for in new hire candidates. As an evolving field with innovative and emerging skills constantly developing, digital marketing is an exciting pursuit for those interested in taking on new challenges. 

A career in digital marketing offers opportunities to enjoy a high earning potential, work within a creative, diverse, and dynamic field, and potentially have a flexible schedule or work remotely. In addition to increased job growth and a positive job outlook, digital marketing allows individuals to enjoy the myriad of benefits the career affords, as well as an avenue to develop skills for improved job prospects. Read on to learn more about the growing field of digital marketing and the in-demand skills that employers expect.  

Content is often considered to be the main pillar of digital marketing. Copy written for the web, as well as content writing, editing, and proofreading all fall under the umbrella of content management, and these skills are necessary for any successful digital marketer. Whether you’re targeting audiences writing SEO or SEM copy, or using video and automation to gain greater visibility, content is a vehicle to attract, engage, and retain an audience with the goal of increasing business.

Knowledge of writing content and experience with the creation and analysis of content is a necessary skill in digital marketing. The scope of projects a content writer takes on can vary, and may include blog articles, website text, eBooks, guides, video scripts, newsletter text, social media copy, and a host of other content that aims to describe and promote the value of a product, service, or organization. 

Having a way with words is increasingly beneficial in the creative environment that is digital marketing. Whether you work as a content marketing specialist or as a digital marketer, your content skills will help you reach your potential customers and enable you to connect with your target audience. 

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines. Common SEO tactics in digital marketing include content marketing, guest blogging, and link building through social marketing and high-quality content. 

SEM, or search engine marketing, is the set of tools, techniques, and strategies that help optimize the visibility of websites and web pages through search engines. Examples include website names and URLs, page content, meta tags, characteristics of link, usability and accessibility, as well as page design.  

Knowing how SEO works and having a solid understanding of best practices and content optimization is crucial for running a successful digital marketing campaign. A strong  digital marketer needs to have the ability to communicate with teammates about these concepts and how SEO and SEM can work together. 

Video has become one of the most popular forms of content, with 86% of businesses using video as a marketing tool. Digital marketers with this skill are in high demand. Most businesses are turning to video because it offers higher conversion rates, engagement rates, SEO rankings, and levels of trustworthiness. While digital marketers don’t have to be experts at video production, knowing the basics of how to shoot and edit videos that showcase products and services to potential customers can be valuable to an employer. 

These days, nearly everyone is on social media. This includes most organizations, so demonstrating your knowledge of how to manage social media accounts and write in a voice that aligns with a company’s brand will help your résumé stand out. 

Employers look for strong social media savvy, which involves much more than simply posting on Instagram or making a TikTok. These skills also include generating user engagement across multiple platforms, copywriting, scheduling, building ads, creating visuals, responding to users, and analyzing reach and engagement.

Social media managers and digital marketers must also stay current on each online platform’s updates and algorithm or layout changes so that they can optimize strategy and know which channel to utilize for any internal business goal. Every organization is different. While one company may reach out to their target audience on Instagram and TikTok, another may only see the value of staying active on Twitter. 

Within digital marketing, analytics will always be central to your strategy, helping you make data-driven decisions for campaigns. The value of data and analytics is immeasurable. Tools like Google Analytics provide a straightforward approach to monitoring and reporting data. 

Understanding data and analytics tools is an important skill set to develop for gathering information and learning about consumer behavior.  By applying what they learn, companies are then able to boost traffic and conversions.  

Data analytics is an in-demand digital marketing skill as companies are always looking for people who know how to extract value from customer data to improve future strategies. Successful digital marketers are those who know how to “read” the numbers and reports given to them by their data and analytics experts. 

The goal of digital marketing is to drive traffic to a website and convert that traffic to customers. CRO, or conversion rate optimization, is the art of testing different website pages, copy, and calls-to-action (CTAs) to see what method of marketing generates the most conversions. A “conversion” can refer to any goal set by the employer, including purchasing a product or signing up for an email list.  

CRO is achieved by combining the art of website design, copywriting, and user experience with some of the most valuable CRO skills, including how to conduct A/B testing, or finding a way to compare two versions of something to see which performs best.   Proficiency in gathering research by interpreting data from case studies, interviews, surveys, and questionnaires is another way digital marketers use CRO. 

Employers look to digital marketers to use the right CRO marketing strategy for strong lead generation (obtaining contact information to allow for further outreach) to improve conversions, which is a critical indicator of a company’s bottom line.

Marketing automation is the art of creating automated tasks for website visitors to save you time as a marketer. Some of the key marketing automation skills include knowledge of setting up forms, creating landing pages, and triggering drip campaigns to persuade website visitors to become customers. 

The purpose of marketing automation is to help your sales team find sales-qualified leads from web traffic. While companies rely on a variety of tools to grow business, marketing automation has become a necessary solution to ensure their success.  

Future digital marketers can develop the skills outlined here to advance their skill set, or can choose to focus on one area of digital marketing to acquire an expert-level understanding of a more niche field. Regardless of how you choose to apply your digital marketing skills, career outlook forecasters agree that digital marketers can expect to see promising workforce opportunities in 2023 and beyond. 

Pursuing a master’s degree in marketing gives digital marketers the opportunity to stand out in a highly competitive job market. The role of digital marketers is key as corporations across industries look to implement robust and effective marketing campaigns to reach targeted audiences.  

WGU offers two exciting Marketing degrees for future digital marketers and provides advanced learning opportunities to excel in an in-demand field and pursue a career with a promising outlook and great earning potential. Courses at WGU offer the skills employers are looking for, the ability to learn at your own pace, flexible start dates, dedicated Program Mentors and more. Explore a career as a digital marketer and gaining the skill set you need to upgrade your résumé and begin building the future you’ve always wanted and deserve.  

Lear more about our undergraduate and graduate degree options for Marketing at WGU today!