We know how important it is as a marketing professional to stay in the know of both current and upcoming trends. Earlier this year, we hosted Isamar Batista, the Vice President of Marketing and CRM at ShoeDazzle at our Los Angeles office to discuss her career path, trends we as marketers should be on the lookout for this year, and the most in-demand skills needed to succeed as a digital marketer in today’s job market.
Growing Pains
One of Isamar’s top points was focused on personal growth, and how being your own best resource will only push you forward in your career journey. As a digital marketer, there is a constant need to be on top of the current trends and the latest research, and utilizing resources like Google or online learning sights, doing the research, and teaching yourself will give you the leg up on other candidates. Using that knowledge to pull numbers and analytics will help you better strategize future campaigns, create change on social platforms, and allow you to think outside of the box for more creative ideas. Isamar taught herself HTML through creating her Myspace profile, and when she finally landed her dream job after interviewing multiple times, she would take the bus to get to work because she didn’t have a car at the time. This type of motivation is what we need as digital marketers to not only bring our A game to our careers but also to continue growing as marketers in our ever-evolving industry.
Trend Forecast
As the VP of Marketing and CRM for a popular and growing eCommerce brand, Isamar let us in on some upcoming trends that we should begin implementing into our digital marketing campaigns!
Testing, testing 1, 2, 3
We all know that there are best practices when it comes to email marketing, and with the constant influx in our inboxes, it is safe to say that email marketing is here to stay. So how do you take these best practices and turn them into a successful campaign? Testing is key. Try out different subject lines, try various calls to action, A/B test, and implement personalization.
Get Creative
Whether it’s an email, an Instagram post, or a new CTA on your site, always ask yourself “will this grab my target customer’s attention?” With so much noise and distraction out there, we must get creative to have any hope of getting our audience to engage. Now we’re not suggesting you should do something outrageous just for the sake of being bold. It’s our job as marketers to find the balance between creating something new and eye-catching while staying true to our brand identity and voice.
Tiering up
We see them on Instagram, and now we’re seeing them collaborate with our favorite brands. Influencers are continuing to grow, but a main oversight and trend that will become more visible this year is the utilization of micro-influencers. Some may see their smaller follower number as a disadvantage, but this often means that their audience is more engaged and trusting of what they have to say. A micro-influencer partnership is a much smaller line-item on the budget, creating a higher ROI and the ability to start using tiers in your influencer marketing strategy.
Digital marketers are in demand, but in today’s job market, you must make yourself stand out. Be the candidate who helps a brand push their strategies forward, as opposed to staying stagnant. Utilize these trends and learn from Isamar’s personal story so you can do just that. For more on digital marketing, sign up for our 24 Seven Academy for access to our full Guide to Becoming a Digital Marketer, browse our open digital marketing positions here, and click here to access our free Job Toolkit for everything you need to know about today’s most in-demand jobs.