1.- It's All About Bridging The Experience Gap
Experience; yes that repetitive word that appears in every job search and it does it even in a more annoying way if you’re planning a career change. We all know experience is key to every career path but I’ve not come today to talk about that, I want to talk about what newcomers like me (at least to the digital state of things) have been using, or better said, learning to bridge that gap: basic tech skills.
I could talk about plenty of things you could learn to bridge this gap if you are thinking of making a switch to the good ol’ lagoons of digital marketing (to name a few here’s an article about at least 7 Tech Skills Every Digital Marketer Needs To Know) but to stay In the same line of thought of my last blog post Search Intent vs Interruption Marketing in the digital era I’m going to refer to the one I am having the most fun with: web development.
According to this blog post posted on Geek For Geeks defining web development sounds something like:
“The tasks associated with developing websites for hosting via intranet or internet. The web development process includes web design, web content development, client-side/server-side scripting, and network security configuration, among other tasks.”
And if you want me to translate in an even more oversimplified way, web development is the act of giving birth to something web-related into the world of the internet, most commonly known as the World Wide Web.
Web development is a basic tech skill for so many but for not common for plenty, especially in this field. We might know how to fix certain things here and there but there’s a lot more to web development than just fixing and twitching.
I remember in one of the coaching calls we had in our digital marketing course, I got so excited when I heard how the process of transitioning a business from traditional to almost all digital, requires and involves something like the early stages of a campaign layout but now, you have to integrate all things internet wise (websites, content, UX, UI, etc.).
2.- Digital Awareness When Creating Your Content
Quoting the same article mentioned above, when web developing:
“…It might also, but not necessarily, include all those strategic actions needed to ensure its proper ranking on search engine results. Usually, those tasks pertain to a different specialization, namely search engine optimization (SEO).“
Because why start with the wrong foot when you can have a digital marketer involved from the very get-go? That is right, in the process of developing the structure of what will be now the new way for you to be found in the world, this globalized world where a website it’s our first go-to solution when needing to know more about a service, product, or life in general.
Marketing or better said search intent and search engine optimization are related terms to the website’s probabilities for success. And although they are not in the same level of coding, webbing, and internetting the elements within the website, the digital part of your job becomes the part that will bridge the gap and replace the word experience when needed.
Why? Because those fields are relatively new, and even though they have grown exponentially in the last couple of decades, they are: 1) still considered starting industries which means there are not many old sacred cows in it trying to gate-keep you from your fair shot in mentioned fields, and 2) They are tech-related fields which signify, ever-changing and always-updating, two things that might rule in someone inexperienced (like me) as a relevant candidate for all entry levels job once this is skill is packed on my toolbox.
3.- Up-To-Date, Up-To-Tech
The internet of things is the new reality of business and I would like to say and think that digital marketing is within the TECH industry that is responsible for making things happen. With that said, I am going to be clear, not all things digital marketing is necessarily demanding a great consciousness into the latest tech developments but that is the main replacer of the experience we didn’t get because we were taught to focus on others, now completely irrelevant things.
Innovation, for the sake of career reinventions, is towards the part of your job that involves things like tech, web developing, and all the skills that will help you point forward instead of trying to make up with the stuff you realize you lack when looking backward.
