The 6 Most Essential Skills For The Tech Nation!

The world is changing. Thanks to the constantly improving technology, the entire world is changing its focus and skills which might once have been regarded as niche, or specialised, are now an essential part of modern day life. Today, the technology and digital industries contribute more than £87 billion to the UK economy; however, there is still a distinct lack of essential skills in the workplace that are slowing down the industry's rapid growth.

The main problem comes from the fact that most digital skills are not being taught as part of traditional education. There is still an idea that skills like basic SEO and computer studies are not essential to modern day life, despite the major impact the rise of digital technology has had on UK businesses, the country as a whole and the world.

How Essential Are The Digital Industries To The UK?

There are approximately 1.56 million jobs within the UK's digital economy. 41% of all these jobs are working on behalf of traditional industries – approximately 648,000 jobs. That number is only going to continue to grow, as more and more traditional businesses realise the advantages of having their own digital team.

The demand for digital skills, including online marketing, website design and development, social media management and reputation management, has onlyincreased and will continue to do so. If these skills aren't being taught in traditional schools, then it's no surprise that digital marketing training is becoming more essential to individuals and businesses of all kinds.

How Has The Demand For Digital Skills Increased In The UK?

The number of digital jobs across all industries has rapidly grown over the past few years, particularly as more customers have moved online from the high street. A recent study by Burning Glass discovered that the demand for digital jobs increased by as much as 34%.

Within that, the digital careers in the Health sector grew by a staggering 109.8% The number of jobs in public administration, defence and social security grew by 90.3% and the financial services' demands for digital specialists grew by 78.5%.

In the first nine months of 2015, as many as one million online advertisements for digital roles were placed in the UK. If that wasn't evidence enough, the average salary for these roles as a little under £50,000. That's 36% higher than the national average wage!

Start Ups And Entrepreneurs Face The Biggest Digital Skills Gap

As many as 40% of digital entrepreneurs have said that they've experienced problems when it comes to finding workers with the right skills – even after advertising jobs with higher than average salaries. Informal, or in-house, training still remains the most common form of skills development. Universities and colleges are falling short when it comes to providing students with the right digital skills that they need if they're going to be fully prepared for a job in the digital industry.

The attitude of being 'self-taught' is made possible thanks to the accessibility of a range of open-source platforms, which can provide users with the basic training for a range of digital careers. When it comes to online advertising, social media management and digital marketing, however, there is still a major gap between that aspect and software development or website design.

It's no surprise that a range of businesses prefer to encourage new or potential employees to undergo digital marketing training from a professional digital marketing agency. Today, digital marketing concerns are absolutely essential throughout every part of an online career, and you needto be aware of how to effectively create content and design technical systems for online marketing as well as technical efficiency. Skills likesearch engine optimisation (SEO),pay per click (PPC),social media,content marketing and conversion rate optimisation (CRO) are all essential for the modern digital industry.

How Can The UK Address The Skills Gap For The Tech Nation?

The report by Burning Glass recommended that digital skills need to be introduced to the younger generations as soon as possible, allowing them to take full advantage of the growing digital world. There is also a direct need to combine technical and digital marketing skills with business skills, to ensure that people leaving education have the skills and the attitudes necessary to make them prepared for the world of work.

Other messages to take from this report indicate a need to improve broadband infrastructure to allow the digital industry to grow and perform as effectively as it should. It is also important that the industry develops better presentation and statistical models to effectively inform and persuade policy makers.

Modern digital workers and marketing specialists need to be the complete package, and offer at least a basic understanding of every other aspect of the digital world that affects them, even if they only specialise in one aspect of the online world. Digital marketing training from an experienced, trusted online advertising agency is essential for all kinds of digital professionals.

What Are The 6 Most Essential Skills For The Future Of The UK's Digital Industry?

1. Social Media Management – Today, any digital marketing professional needs to understand the best practices when it comes to social media. Even if they don't use it personally, the ability to grow a dedicated and active community around a brand or business is essential for today's marketing.

There are millions of active users on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more every single day. They are actively looking to engage with brands, their friends and family and it is important that you are able to understand their desires if you hope to build a community that offers both you, and they, real benefits.

It has already been predicted that, by the end of 2016, more than $25 billion will have been spent on Facebook advertising alone across the world. You need to be aware of the real advantages of using social media for marketing purposes, as well as for paid advertising.

A dedicated, intelligent social media campaign can completely change a business' identity and ensure that it engages with potential customers on an even playing field. It can humanise your brand and cause your identity to stick in your customers' minds. Aside from that, it is a great way to present products, services, sales and keep your followers up to date on your business' goings-on.

2. Search Engine Marketing – Appealing to search engines is extremely important for all kinds of modern digital work. One of the most common ways that people will find products and services of all kinds is through a search engine. Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing present a range of great opportunities for all kinds of businesses, but only if you are aware of how to make the most of them.

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – SEO is still one of the most important aspects of digital marketing training as a whole. If you can't create content and take steps to optimise your website for search engine algorithms, such as Google's spider algorithms and crawlers, then you'll never be able to take complete advantage of the internet's most popular discovery tools. Google, Yahoo and Bing are hugely important tools when it comes to the digital world, and if you fail to appeal to them, then you could really be hampering yourself before you get started.
  
  
• Pay Per Click (PPC) – Using platforms like Google AdWords is hugely important when it comes to appealing to your customers. With PPC advertising, you can target your chosen keywords and obtain traffic that might otherwise have gone to your main competitors. Paid search marketing is an essential part of modern digital advertising; without it, it can be nearly impossible to make a real impact on your target audience.
  
  

3. Data Analysis – Today, the ability to effectively collect, analyse and act on data is hugely important. Much of modern marketing is dedicated to obtaining customer information so that you can modify your campaigns as required. If you don't know how to obtain and act upon the information that you receive, then you could really be backing yourself into a corner.

Today, you need to be able to analyse any data that you receive as quickly as possible and make it as simple as possible to ensure that you can present that info to any higher-ups or decision makers within your company. The marketing specialist needs an understanding of how to deal with all kinds of information. With so many potential information streams, from offline to the hundreds of data avenues available online, you need to be able to understand a wide range of analytics. This could include anything from the number of clicks, to abandonment rates, bounce rates or engagement levels.

4. Email Marketing – Although it's commonly overlooked these days, email marketing still remains an extremely important part of any digital marketing campaign. Email marketing can obtain information and enable you to create bespoke and targeted advertising efforts to appeal to a specific customer. This can be a great way to drive sales and increase engagement rates.

5. Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) – Some digital marketing specialists think that the entirety of their job is based on getting users to arrive at the site; once there, they can wash their hands and move on to the next user. However, even high levels of visitors are useless without conversions taking place. To make any online presence a success, you need to make sure that your website design works to convince your users to convert.

There can be any one of a dozen reasons why your potential customer doesn't convert, including bad website design, poor navigation and product descriptions or pricing. As a digital marketing specialist, you need to ensure that your traffic isn't measured in clicks; it's measured in sales and conversion.

6. Remarketing Services – It's important that you make the most of a second opportunity to appeal to your customers. That's why display advertising and remarketing are essential to all kinds of businesses. Through remarketing, you can continue to present your products to people who have previously shown interest in them.

This can be a great way to convince them to purchase the product from you after all, and prevent them from going to one of your competitors. Through display advertising, you can make this marketing follow them across the internet, and ensure that they don't forget your brand and business.

Take Part In Expert Digital Marketing Training, From The UK's Leading Digital Agency

Here at Promote, we can help you to obtain the real skills that you need for success in the digital world . Online marketing isn't an optional extra, and without these skills it is unlikely that your business will ever be able to attract clicks and appeal to a wide range of customers.

Even the best product or service will fail if it isn't in a position to be seen by customers. You need comprehensive digital marketing, including search engine optimisation (SEO), pay per click (PPC), conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and email marketing, if you want to ensure that your company or start up organisation gains the attention, clicks and traffic that it needs in order to grow into a highly profitable business.

At Promote, we keep our digital marketing training courses small to ensure that all delegates have the opportunity to learn the most important, and usable, techniques and tactics for modern digital marketing. We can offer education for small groups of delegates, as well as entire teams from larger companies, to help your company grow through the exciting opportunities offered by the internet.

For more information on the fantastic benefits of

digital marketing training

from the professional team at Promote, or to book your place on our next course, get in touch with Promote today!