5 Coding Skills That Can Boost Your Digital Marketing Skills
Many businesses have embraced digital marketing to increase brand awareness and generate more website traffic. One of the skills that can significantly impact your digital marketing efforts is coding. As a digital marketer, familiarizing yourself with some coding languages will improve your marketing efforts.
The following are five coding skills that can boost your digital marketing skills.
1. Data Visualization
Displaying information in the form of a graph or image representation is called data visualization. Decision-makers often have to decode visual information and draw significant conclusions.
Data visualization helps you present information in small screen diagrams. You can use data visualization to convey ideas to stakeholders. This means of communication is more straightforward to comprehend than translating written information.
Data visualization is also convenient when you want to make an argument using a graphic. Also, many content marketers use images and graphical representations to increase brand awareness.
2. Data Analysis
Another important coding skill is data analysis. This skill involves using two main programming languages: SQL and Excel. SQL is a language for managing data in a database management system. It involves data definition, manipulation, and control. Digital marketers can mainly benefit from learning querying or manipulation languages.
SQL is popular for data queries and analysis. With this language, you can handle millions of line datasets. Digital marketers are required to run queries on Google Analytics data. Furthermore, they should access user data from their organization's database. SQL skills help them in analyzing and manipulating data.
Excel is a spreadsheet program that is also used in data analysis. It is also called the Libreoffice Calc. This program features a data manipulation function. To successfully use Excel, you may have to study Python or VBA to understand input and output sequence rules.
3. HTML
HTML stands for a hyper-text markup language. As the name suggests, this text markup language tells your browser how to define and display content. As a content marketer, it is important to know how to edit title tags, meta descriptions, and keywords.
You should learn HTML if the program you use to post content doesn't include a WYSIWYG or Markdown interface. This language teaches you how to create headings, paragraphs, hyperlinks, images, and lists.
When learning HTML, you might also have to study CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a language that presents content in different styles. CSS defines how HTML elements will be displayed on your web page.
4. Scripting
Scripting refers to many coding languages. Some of the basic scripting languages are Bash and Python. Bash is a command-line interpreter. The Bash language is in-built into Linux computers. Knowledge of Bash will help you automate various market platforms through computers running Ubuntu software. Many data servers use Bash for scripting.
Python is a backend programming language used by digital marketers for server-related tasks. First, this is a human-readable language. Learning Python doesn't involve memorizing complex syntax and high-level jargon.
The readability of Python makes it easier for kids to learn. Furthermore, it’s faster to write Python code. This is because it is shorter and less arduous to write than JavaScript code.
As a digital marketer, you are involved in handling data from social media, paid search, and SEO campaigns. Knowledge of Python helps you to create a code that analyzes millions of data from various marketing platforms. These codes allow you to establish effective digital marketing campaigns.
5. JavaScript and Java
Many data analysts use a programming language when dealing with Google tracking codes. If you want to track data effectively, you should consider learning JavaScript. This language also helps you with predictions that will enable your website to interact with Google.
Another benefit of using JavaScript is automating repetitive tasks in Google Ads. For example, if you have an ecommerce site and want to run ads for your products, you will find the manual task of referring to your inventory, pausing, and unpausing ads repetitive. You can automate this time-consuming task using Google Ads inventory-based ad management code.
JavaScript also saves you the cost of unnecessary pay-per-click campaigns. Java is different from JavaScript since it is used for creating web applications and backend website systems. This skill will help you develop applications that simplify your marketing duties as a digital marketer.
Java can operate on various platforms and devices. This is an essential language for software development and solving many management problems.
Wrapping it up
Many digital marketers think that coding is for the tech staff in companies. While coding may sound too complex for someone with no IT background, it is completely straightforward if you choose the right skills.
Data analysis, data visualization, HTML, Scripting, and Java programming skills are indispensable if you want to upgrade your digital marketing efforts. Some resources that will help you learn these basic coding skills include self-learning sites like freeCodeCamp, online courses like Coursera and Udemy, and boot camps.