Why you need to learn the basics of Digital Marketing

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Throughout my time in digital marketing I have seen a number of accounts that don’t make a lot of sense to me. Google Ads for example, I’ve seen several accounts that have been put together very poorly with little use of negative keywords and basic best practices. Inevitably when I ask clients why they worked with a certain person or how it got to this state, they typically answer with a similar story.

They were promised the world in the beginning and then told to wait, that it takes time to actually show results and by the time they’ve realised it wasn’t working out for them, three to six months had passed with little communication between the agency or the individual they were working with.

This story is all too common unfortunately, so what can we do about this?

Why write this article?

Why you need to learn the basics of Digital Marketing

Chapter 1

Don’t Get Taken For A Ride

This is a situation that shouldn’t occur, but frequently does because there is so much unknown within the digital marketing space for the general public.

So, why not learn the basics of digital marketing, if you are managing an individual who does your digital marketing. If you’re engaging with an agency to do your digital marketing or trying to have a go yourself as a small business owner.

Learning the basics of digital marketing will ensure that you are either hiring the right person or agency because you will be really clear about the kinds of questions you can ask, to make sure you are getting the right person for the job.

Chapter 2

Getting What You Paid For

The solution then is to spend some time and learn about digital marketing. It’s not a sexy solution to the problem, everyone would like to just pay someone to get it done. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way and you need to know a little bit about what you are doing before you can do it.

I wish digital marketing was like going to the mechanic. Where you went to Google Reviews and you found the best, most reliable person and then just dropped off your car and had a good experience.

Unfortunately, what I’ve described is the best case scenario for that kind of interaction. A lot of people will tell you that they went to a car mechanic, especially women unfortunately have gone to a mechanic and felt ripped off.

That sometimes has to do with the knowledge gap or (the perceived gap) that the person ripping them off has of them. If that same person had walked into a mechanic asking very specific questions about what was going to be done with the engine.

How they are going to perform the work needed to fix it, they will seem like a far less easy target to rip off.

Chapter 3

Where To Start

What I’m proposing is that you arm yourself with that same knowledge. There are a host of courses that are listed below that will take you from knowing practically nothing, to really understanding digital marketing. All of these courses are 100% free and can be undertaken on your daily commute.

Google Ads

These are two fantastic guides covering Google Search and Displays Ads and best of all if you pass the associated exams you also get to say that you are a Google certified individual.

https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/path/18128-google-ads-search-certification

https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/path/18061-google-ads-display-certification

Google Analytics

This is a great way to learn more about google analytics, it has levels of difficulty so you can either dip your toe in or dive down into deep understanding of your google analytics.

https://analytics.google.com/analytics/academy/

Facebook Ads

This program is designed to teach anyone everything they need to know to become a Facebook Ads professional. Even if you don’t finish the whole thing the first couple of modules will give you a good understanding of the platform.

https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/lessons/when-to-advertise-on-facebook-and-instagram

Email marketing

Hubspot is a household name in digital marketing and their guide to email marketing will have you inspired to create welcome sequences in no time.

https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/email-marketing

SEO

A legendary guide in SEO circles, the MOZ beginners guide will give you everything you need to ask some sticky questions of your SEO agency and see if they know what they are talking about.

https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

Social media marketing

This free social media class from Constant Contact is a great resource for those who are looking to understand the world of social media. It offers a step-by-step guide to working on almost every social media platform you can think of.

https://blogs.constantcontact.com/social-media-quickstarter/

Chapter 4

Conclusion

It’s the author’s biased opinion that everyone should learn about digital marketing and to help encourage to do that, the author set up the Digital marketing meet-up Adelaide where he routinely runs workshops on the basics and even advanced sections of digital marketing.

We recommend that you go and check out the link below if you want to get along to it in person and learn a bit more about digital marketing in the Adelaide area.

So, go forth and learn about digital marketing and make some more informed choices on the types of people you hire or you engage to get your work done. You will find that you’ll get much better results and who knows you might even like it!

About the Author

Matthew Karagich

Project Manager & Copywriter

Matthew is our diligent and dedicated Project Manager and Copywriter. Matt’s core responsibility is maintaining customer relationships by setting and exceeding expectations. And he does a great job of it! Matt is also a skilful copywriter who assists us with ad and SEO copy for our client campaigns.

Why you need to learn the basics of Digital Marketing

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Don’t Get Taken For A Ride

Chapter 2

Getting What You Paid For

Chapter 3

Where To Start

Google Ads

Google Analytics

Facebook Ads

Email marketing

SEO

Social media marketing

Chapter 4

Conclusion

About the Author

Matthew Karagich

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