The world of Digital is an ever-changing one. With technology becoming increasingly redundant as new tech comes to the fore, the big question in most Marketers’ & Brands’ minds is – Is Digital Marketing Still A Solution for 2023?
And it’s not just the experts themselves that are worried. Digital Marketing is an alluring field – one that requires dynamism and creative thinking, and one that never stops evolving. As such, newbies to the Marketing landscape are worried whether they still have enough time to make it or not. In this article, we’ll be looking at “What Digital Marketing Truly Is & Whether It’s Still a Suitable Career Option in 2023 or Not”.
Without further time-wasting, let’s get started.
De-mystifying Digital Marketing
Marketing has always been at the forefront of every business that ever existed. Since the days when mankind learned to trade, Marketing became a core activity to do one and one thing only – Bring in more & more revenue… But the story has drastically changed when to comes to Digital Marketing in 2023.
Over the centuries, Digital Marketing has evolved from being a sales-driven activity to becoming something that focuses on building relationships with the end-consumer. It’s important to note that the landscape of “sales” itself has changed rapidly since the advent of the Internet. We might be seeing another such shift in 2023.
To the marketers of the previous centuries, Marketing was a tool to promote a product without any idea of whether a customer even needs it or not. When the Internet disrupted trade and changed the overall dynamics of business, the focus shifted towards a “customer-first strategy” instead of a product-first strategy.
In the modern age, Digital marketing has become an integral part of every business, and it’s a constantly evolving industry. With the rise of technology, companies have started to shift their focus to online platforms to reach a wider audience. And because of the way Tech has affected our lifestyles, the old approach of marketing has also shifted. But first! Let’s talk about what Digital Marketing ACTUALLY is…
Mailchimp defines marketing as the “promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication.” By doing so, Digital marketing allows businesses to reach a global audience while also targeting specific demographics to generate leads and drive sales.
Now, as a newbie Marketer, it’s very easy to get lost in the dozens of Marketing Terminologies and pathways out there. You might find yourself asking:
- Do I become a Social Media Marketer OR an expert in SEO?
- Do I become a Freelancer OR go the Agency route?
- And most importantly – HOW DO I EVEN BREAK INTO THE INDUSTRY?
The 4 Pillars of Digital Marketing in 2023
Just like any other career option, Digital Marketing also has its own pillars that any marketer needs to at least have practical knowledge of. What’s interesting is that even in 2023, most of these pillars are still applicable as they were 15 years ago!
Content Marketing
Content Marketing, in my opinion, is unarguably the “broadest field” inside Digital Marketing. Why so? Well, because it contains everything from Social Media to Paid Advertising, Sales Funnels & even Marketing Strategy. In 2023, Content Marketing has become even more important thanks to the rise of AI-generated content & search engine’s shift to relevancy over keyword-friendliness.
Holistically, Content Marketing is a complete “Digital Marketing Strategy” that is used to “create & strategically promote content around various forms of media“. What’s interesting is that Content Marketing applies as much to the offline world as it does to the online world.
For example, let’s say you’re a “Fitness Supplements Brand” – A go-to Content Marketing Strategy would be to combine SEO & Social Media to distribute content, Paid Ads & Influencer Marketing to digitally promote the supplements and offline billboards and PR placements to increase brand awareness. Do you understand the scope now?
Here’s a kicker on Content Marketing if you’re interested in learning more about it.https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing
Paid Advertising
In the world of Digital Marketing, there are two sides – Organic & Paid. Paid Advertising, as its name implies is a “Paid Strategy”. Contrary to what most publications tell you, Paid Ads don’t just include Facebook & Instagram. It’s an umbrella term that includes within itself career pathways like PPC Ads (Pay-Per-Click), Marketing Analytics, Search Engine Marketing & even traditional forms of Advertising.
Paid Advertising is used to fast-track a company’s growth and in most cases, is the go-to strategy for eCommerce-based businesses that want to shorten their time to market.
Social Media Marketing
While most people would join Paid Ads with Social Media, I prefer keeping it separate. Instead, I consider Social Media Marketing to be a further sub-set of Content Marketing. After all, the glitzy feeds on Instagram, aesthetic pins on Pinterest, and short-form, catchy content on Twitter, is content, right?
Social Media Marketing contains everything from content creation to content curation, re-purposing, and paid & organic growth, both. Now a days, it’s a bit difficult to venture as a new brand/individual on Social Media because the platforms are becoming more and more reliant on Paid Ads to generate revenue.
But if you’re looking to grow organically on Social Media, this guide might help you...
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to communicate with their customers and prospects, via email. It involves sending emails to a list of subscribers, either to promote a product or service, offer a discount, provide valuable information or news, or simply to keep them engaged and informed.
One of the biggest benefits of email marketing is its ability to target specific audiences. By segmenting email lists based on factors such as interests, location, or past purchases, businesses can tailor their messages and offers to each group, increasing the chances of conversion. The biggest question in your mind might be – “But is Email still relevant in 2023”?
Well, the stats do paint a pretty picture. Despite social platforms like Tik Tok really taking off and ad spend increasing year-on-year, Email Marketing still has the highest ROI (Return on Investment) of any Marketing Strategy in 2023, as per HubSpot.
However, in order to be successful, email marketing campaigns should be carefully planned and executed. This involves identifying what the ultimate goal of the campaign is and how that aligns with overall business objectives. Using those two things, as a Marketer, you can truly bring the best potential out of any brand.
The most important thing to realize is how you, as a marketer, can stay ahead of trends and make sure that a brand’s email marketing strategy never truly stagnates. If you’re interested in becoming an Email Marketer, look to specialize in areas like Copywriting, Automation, & Marketing Strategy.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing websites and digital content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). The goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic and visibility to a website through various tactics that align with search engine algorithms and best practices.
The process of SEO involves a variety of strategies, such as on-page optimization (e.g. optimizing content and metadata), off-page optimization (e.g. link building and social media marketing), and technical optimization (e.g. improving website structure and speed). For a complete kicker on these three, check out this guide by Demand Jump.
As a marketer, however, it’s important to understand what the trend is for any given field. Right now, AI is on a roll with the introduction of AI Assistants, Writers, and now, even SEO Optimizers. Amidst all of this, there’s a rumor floating around that AI might end the practice of SEO once and for all!
The reason? Well, as the two biggest search engines on the planet (Bing & Google), look to compete with ChatGPT, it looks like the focus has shifted completely to providing users relevant content in the most “straightforward way possible”. 2023 might see a big shift in how SEO is perceived by marketers. If you’re looking to break into the field, it’s even more important to understand how AI works in conjunction with it.
This means that Search Engines might no longer look for who has the best combination of SEO & Relevant Content. Instead they’ll focus on who answers a user’s query in as simple a way as possible, and show a portion of that answer to the user. The cool part? It looks like users might not even need to open up a search result to get their answer.
If you want to learn how you can avoid the SEO Purge and future-proof your Marketing Career, now is the time to learn how AI fits in with SEO.
Demand for Digital Marketers in 2023 is Still Growing
According to statistics, the number of Internet users are growing rapidly and by 2027, the number is estimated to reach around 6 billion or even more. As such, Digital Marketing is a career that still has lots of potential to grow and despite the advancement in tech, the field appears to be growing more rapidly. Moreover, LinkedIn also included Digital Marketing as one of the most “in-demand skills” to learn for 2023.
But it’s important to understand that not everyone will survive!
With the emergence of AI as a top-contender to completely remove the human element work, it’s important for you, as a Digital Marketer to get up-to-speed with the latest AI Tools on the market. You need to be able to:
- Know how they work
- Understand what the future trends would be like
- Adapt to changing environments
2023 appears set to be the biggest game-changer in this field. Even if you look at Marketing Events like Ad World, the focus this year is on AI & Future Tech, and how Marketers can take advantage of them to create success for themselves and for their clients.
Skills Marketers Should Know To Fight Against Artificial Intelligence
I wouldn’t want to leave you at a cliff-hanger now. After all the talk about AI & whatnot, it’s time to now understand what skills you need to learn in order to future-proof your Marketing Career.
Here are my Top 7 Skills that you need to pin down in 2023:
- Generative AI – worried about how AI is so fast at generating ideas & content? Well use the tool to aid your own work
- Content Marketing Tools – Learn how to use AI Software to Create & Promote Content
- Marketing Strategy – Effective Marketing Strategists can never be replaced by any AI PERIOD!
- Copywriting – It’s time to learn to write better than the AI hehe
- Leadership – AI needs a leader to give it direction. You need to become THAT Leader
- Team-work & Collaboration – Treat AI as a team-member and it will change your life
- Web3 & Crypto – I don’t believe in Crypto myself but Web3 is all about community-driven brands & marketers
I am here to help – Just Stay up-to-date with my Blog
Just like you, I’m also a Marketer learning to navigate the digital world and fighting against all kinds of AI Tools & Roadblocks. I’m sharing my entire journey with you on this website.
If you want to learn how to become a “better” Digital Marketer. Or if you want to break into the field as a newbie, I’m here to share my experience with you through practical & realistic Marketing Advice. This is Digital Marketing Advice that will not only be relevant for 2023 but will be practical for as long as you remain a marketer.
Digital Marketer remains an in-demand skill even in 2023. This guide will walk you through the steps you need to become a Digital Marketer yourself in 2023.
“But I don’t even know who you are?” Then, let’s become friends! Here’s an introduction on where I come from & what I’m up to…
Godspeed!