Saturday, July 14, 2018

Webmaster: Mastering Digital Marketing

I am a webmaster catering digital marketing services to clients around the globe. In my career, I come close to many professionals. Some of them now look disappeared on their own forever. Some I deleted that I did not need. Some are still in my contact list and connected in many ways.

Those who are no longer in contact and those who are still in connection have helped me grow not only professionally, but also personally at various levels. I have learned many of my webmaster skills from them - something from all of them, and I am truly grateful to them for that. I am still learning though.

Today, I will talk particularly about five people. How they knowingly and/or unknowingly have helped me to grow as a webmaster. Almost 6-7 years ago, these five people one-after-another started entering into my life. Whatever I am doing today as a webmaster and/or digital marketer, I cannot deny their influence on me.

Let me introduce them now. In alphabetical order -

A, M, N, R, and S.

You can consider this as a story of six people - I am one of them. Since I am the storyteller, hence I will let you know about the other five only from a webmaster’s point of view. Even I am not good at storytelling, I have to write about “us” because here are my two cents, which I owe to them.

I am in some way feeling connected to all these five people however strangely neither professionally nor at a personal level now. To me, the relationship between “us” is complicated now more than ever. In fact, it was never straightforward from the very beginning.

Initially, I started communicating in quite an unfriendly manner with three out of five. In addition, I was indifferent to the other two. I will tell you why I behaved in such a way and how they helped me remove the blocks between “us”. Overall, they together taught me some valuable lessons to become a webmaster.

To me they all are masters and I am feeling proud to get close to them. I am refraining from using their actual names here. I am unsure about their individual repercussion when they come to know about this blog post, so using alphabets instead.

10 most important qualities of a digital marketer:


My relationship (neither at a professional nor personal level) with them has never become completely normal - so am taking a calculative risk. Taking permission is difficult for me. Not mentioning them in this post is not an option for me as they helped me to understand the ten most valuable traits of digital marketing.

Let me tell you those. In no particular order -

From A

- Digital marketing is a blend of “art” and “science”
- When a marketer is more concerned with “what is said” than “how it is said” there is no marketing


From M

- Digital marketing is like “accounting”, everything “must be balanced”
- Accounting is the process of recording and classifying - likewise, stop practicing “random” UI tests and “senseless” acts of UX data analysis


From N

- Before you “compose” your social media messages, it is a good idea to ask yourself “why” you are doing it
- The “essential ingredient” for creative writing and design is “wasting time”


From R

- The ultimate measure of a master is not where he stands in moments of “no difficulty”, but where he stands at times of “difficulty”
- Without “context”, content is nothing


From S

- “Networking” is an extension of marketing.
- “Troubleshooting” every SEO issue within site architecture (for example, reported by a tool like Google Search Console) is a time-consuming and, some would say, thankless task


Now you may start thinking who these people are and why I am carrying them in mind and heart especially when I said the relationship is complex in-between “us”. Well, I will definitely clear the doubts but before that let me tell you who they are and how we connected with each other? You know the present, now you have to know the past so you can relate to the story.

Again alphabetically -

A

He is an artist. By profession, he is now more than just an SMM (social media marketing) specialist (as per the latest news I have). When we first met, he used to be a content writer more. In his off time, he provides drawing coaching to young fellows from his neighborhood.

M

He is an accountant. By profession, he is now (as much as I know) manages income tax, employee salary for his company. He possibly also a master in maintaining company balance sheets, cost calculations, etc. He is very active and quite popular on Facebook.

N

He is an instructional designer now professionally as far as I know. When we met first, he was a content writer and could manage social media accounts independently. In his off time, he likes to read, write, and debate various topics. He often tries out new cuisines.

R

He is now (as per the latest news I have) an expert in contextual marketing. He is also a master in marketing communication. When we first met, he was a content writer who has command over social media marketing. His special hobby makes him apart from the rest.

S

He is a computer networking and server specialist now. He has command over the entire gamut of client-server architecture. When we first met, he was a junior technician. In his off time, he likes to travel and make plans for holiday trips. He has a big network of friends.

Yes, all five are the male protagonists.

I briefly described them as my best. That does not define them of course. This is my own honest verdict about them based on multiple individual interactions as well as group discussions. I have to rely on my limited experience at a personal level and a restricted professional level with them.

Top 10 skills you need to become a webmaster:


I now share those skills that have proven valuable to me as a webmaster/digital marketer over time nurtured by them directly or indirectly based on their own area of expertise -

1) Data Analytics


Develop an analytical (not over-analytical) mindset

Being analytical means collecting data, filtering it, and identifying patterns. This does not mean exhaustive research all the time. This can sometimes mean the freedom to form a hypothesis and act on it carefully.

2) Technical SEO


Understand how search engines work

Setting up seamless communication between the servers with a web browser, recognizing search engine crawling, indexing, and ranking methodologies - are all important and need to be sorted out. Be technically advanced will help to undertake complex SEO tasks.

3) Inbound Marketing


Think like a client/customer act like an owner

The more you put your feet in someone else’s shoes, the more you able to connect with the actual requirements easily, the less you will be frustrated from updates in search engine algorithm or behaviors of social media platforms.

4) Social Media Marketing


Importance of social media in networking

Communication is vital to success in social media, where natural meaningful conversation still has no like-for-like replacement. Finding the right opportunity for discussion/talk/chat is critical too when you recognize how important is good conversation especially in any digital relationship.

5) Marketing Communication


Improve performance through memory exercises

At times, referring to relevant examples has significant effects. The more you practice your memory skills the easier for you to become a master to apply knowledge into practice through remembrance, which is also a powerful weapon to convince someone.

6) Content Development


Images help you connect with the text better

You need to keep developing your artistic sense not for winning any competition but for communicating intuitively in a visual way with your target audience on digital platforms.

7) Client Communication & Meeting Deadlines


How to deal with uncomfortable situations at work?

Earlier I have severe speech anxiety syndrome but now I am much less vulnerable at public speaking which essentially helps anyone in many ways - how to deal smartly with the uncomfortable work situation, how to put the right amount of pressure on team members etc. After I somehow, managed to stay close enough with those five wise men, developed a lot of personality of course not without making an idiot out of myself.

8) Team/Campaign/Project/Website Management


Stop being stubborn and selfish

Listen and respect others’ opinions, but still stand up for yourself with humility. Accept that you can be wrong too but never lose your confidence. Learn from your mistakes as quickly as possible, admit your fault with dignity, and agree to take that you will go to be wrong again. However, the important thing is to move on, do not stop trying. That said, sometimes, sticking to your gut feeling, even in the face of major disagreement, turns out to be the right move.

9) User Experience & User Interface Design


Solid experience in HTML, CSS, JScript

Optimize the experience by designing the interface for your users is absolutely basic in any form of the successful digital marketing process. Especially if you are opting for any paid marketing and programmatic advertising, then landing page optimization based on user behavior analysis is critical to improving your conversions. I believe to run at least any SEO/PPC campaigns effectively, understand the tags and markup that comprise web pages is necessary.

10) E-commerce & Small Business Marketing


Importance of written communication skills in business

There are three leading ways of communication in business: verbal, non-verbal, and written. All of them are important. No matter whether you are working for a big e-commerce giant or trying to rank a local business, the ability to effectively present your offer to a curious audience, possibly, the first and foremost job for any marketer. To do that, blogging and influencer marketing is the best way and for both writings, skill is required. Even if you want to run PPC ad campaigns, writing attractive ad copies or write a compelling story on landing pages also required adequate proficiency in writing.

I am fortunate enough to get valuable insights from these men in the form of discussions not only on and around digital marketing but also from their personal experiences. They invest their time in discussions with me and I will be thankful to them forever for that.

I believe that the above-mentioned skills will serve everyone well. I also believe these are the “must” to have for any webmaster. The one thing that is missing probably from my list is hardcore programming. I wish if I could write codes in Java or .NET or PHP or any other languages too. It will be great if I can do so in the future - I think I will then able to fill up a big empty space in my webmaster profile. Until then, I keep coordinating with developers to solve any programming-related issues that are beyond my capabilities.

Now is the time to tell you how I met with these five men and why the equation has remains strained between us?

Combining web mastering with digital marketing


So many people are in jobs or careers that they are not content with, simply because the unknown can be frightening. There are many blocks that need to remove to pursue that dream career.

Be it a new beginning, or developing new skills to move forward in your current career path, or even if you are changing job profile, some important guidelines applied in all stages of career development.

Those are -

  • Construct your dream
  • Burn your passion
  • Never stop learning
  • Polish your people skills
  • Form your network
  • Lift your communication skills
  • Get an advisor
  • Let’s be real
  • Look for up-gradation of skills
  • Stay relax

I was lagging almost all these traits when I first get in touch with these five men professionally. The clash that happened between us was due to my lack of practical knowledge about digital marketing and about life. Therefore, the collision was obvious and the impact is still there though not at a high level as was initially.

They accepted my nature since they wise enough. That is why they are keeping in contact with me even though neither professional nor personal commitments are anymore between “us”.

Before we met, I knew that -

  • Digital marketing is the fastest growing industry all over the world (doubled in the last few years)
  • Digital marketing jobs invite professionals from all industries (with digital marketing certifications)
  • There is an acute shortage of professionals in the industry, which means many jobs are available

After we met, I able to pick up (under their guidance) -

  • 360 degree of digital marketing - from the basic promotions to advanced organic growth and everything in between
  • Etiquette of social media marketing and techniques of content development - most notably preparing reports and presentations not only visually interactive but also easy to understand
  • How important is it to keep your cool and composure in real-world situations to control the environment as much as possible in your favor

I have taken their help at various points of time especially when I was stuck in my life and they responded gently all the time. Aside from huge diversity, I believe, we found some common ground of interest in each other and that is the reason communication is still happening between “us”.

You may not find the right job or fail to set up a suitable work environment, but if you choose a career with digital marketing or want to become a webmaster for long career growth - then the lessons I have mentioned, are priceless!

Your turn now! I would love to hear the qualities that have helped you to reach the top in your own career.

Cheers!

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