9 Ways to Learn Digital Marketing Strategies

Whether you own a business or want to work as a digital marketing strategist, you should learn different strategies. Of course, marketing has a long history, but digital marketing is relatively new. Because of that, you may not learn all there is to know in a traditional marketing class. Instead, you'll have to look to a few different resources to learn the basics and more advanced methods of digital marketing.

Major in Marketing

Most marketing degree programs will require a variety of marketing classes. Some of those classes will focus on traditional marketing methods, but others will offer insight on digital marketing strategies. You can use your time in your degree to learn as much as you can about marketing, and some programs even offer a concentration in digital marketing. However, these programs are typically four years, so they're not the best option if you want to learn and implement digital marketing strategies immediately.

Digital Marketing Courses

Another excellent option for learning digital marketing in a class format is to take digital marketing courses. You can take these courses either through your local college, or you can enroll in online courses. Online courses give you more flexibility, so you can learn on your own time. You don't have to go through the process of applying to a degree, and you can finish the courses sooner if you have more time to devote. Online courses also tend to be more affordable than traditional degree programs.

Put Them Into Practice

One of the best ways to learn the best digital marketing strategies is to use them. If you own a business or work for one, you can utilize the marketing strategies that you learn as you learn them. The digital world is almost always changing, so you should get as much practice as you can by marketing yourself or your business online.

You'll also get the chance to learn what works and what doesn't work for you or your company. Then, you can focus on learning more about the strategies that do work, and you won't have to waste time on what doesn't work.

Focus on Individual Marketing Channels

What works well on Facebook won't always work well on Instagram or vice versa. Of course, that's not a bad thing, and it can benefit your marketing campaigns. However, it means you shouldn't assume all digital marketing strategies will work with all platforms. Instead, focus on learning the right methods to market yourself on different channels or social media networks. When you first start, focus your marketing efforts on one platform. After you find success, start learning about a second marketing channel, and repeat the process.

Implement A/B Testing

If your digital marketing strategy includes email marketing, which it should, you can use A/B Testing in your emails. A/B Testing involves splitting your audience into multiple groups and creating an email for each group. You can differentiate factors like the content, the subject line and when you send the email.

Not only can this help you reach more of your email audience, but you can determine which emails people tend to open and which they ignore. While it's not as easy to use this with social media, you can test different captions or images to see what people interact with the most.

Monitor Your Analytics

Whether you're marketing for yourself or a large company, you need to watch what works and what doesn't so that you can adjust. If you spend time using strategies that your audience doesn't respond to, you will be wasting that time. Not only that, but you also might waste a lot of money, especially if you use ads.

It may be tempting to stick with a marketing campaign for a while, but you should avoid continuing the methods that don't get you the results. Every week or so, look at your analytics for your emails and social media accounts and see what did the best and the worst so you can keep what works.

Find a Mentor

If you're new to digital marketing, look for someone to mentor you. When you work for a company, that could be a senior marketing manager. If you're in school that could be a professor. However, you can also find a mentor online, either on social media or through a professional marketing association. Working with a mentor can be a great way to learn the best strategies that work in practice. You won't have to worry about taking tons of tests or trying methods that don't have a proven track record.

Invest in Ads

Ideally, you would be able to run a successful digital marketing campaign for free. However, that's not always realistic for individuals or businesses. In that case, you should learn how to create and run ads on social media and search engines. You can take online courses to learn how to create and run ads, or you can do some trial and error to learn yourself.

Running ads is a great way to learn what makes people click, especially if you target people who don't have any prior relationship with you. As you track the ad's performance, you can learn a lot about digital marketing.

Follow Digital Marketing Trends

The internet is always changing, and what works today may not work in the future. As you learn digital marketing strategies, you should stay on top of current trends. Perhaps Instagram is super popular in your industry, and you can find success marketing on there. But maybe Facebook will be the more popular platform next year.

You can follow marketing professionals and professionals in the industry you're marketing for. While you want to create unique campaigns, following digital marketing trends can help you learn a lot about what works right now. Textbooks and courses may help you learn the basics, but they can go out of date very quickly.

Whether you're new to digital marketing or looking to improve your skills, you need to know the best ways to learn digital marketing strategies. From courses to hands-on practice, there are many ways to learn the ropes.