4 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 1 Year into Digital Marketing

 I entered the industry not knowing much about it. Meh, I guess everyone is like that. But if you are a proactive kid, here are some things I’d like to share as an older kid in the industry now. 

1. You really gotta master your reporting skills. 

There is going to be a lot of reporting, kid. 

I’ve definitely been into the situation as the giphy. Pulled all the data from the right sources, formatted them perfectly, yet only to find out they had the wrong date. I’ve also really mastered my Excel skills from all the redos. 

So, what kind of reporting are we talking about? Typically, my clients would request for a weekly report so they know how performance trends. A weekly report can include data from various sources, depending on the number of platforms you are running ads on and whether there is a backend that tracks conversions further down the line. PIvoting is an important skill here because it helps your data become meaningful. I would usually include a week over week table to show a high level performance trend, and then maybe a table by channel or even by targeting to further identify areas performing particularly well (or not). It really all comes down to the story you’re trying to tell for your data.

2. Understand the framework. Not just the nitty gritty details.

Not saying the details don’t matter, but getting the bigger picture helps everything make sense. Like if you don’t know what the reporting is for, then you wouldn’t have a good grasp on how you should pivot the data. For me, it’s more about the entire paid media program we are running. Why are we running campaigns on Google Search, and not Facebook? How are these two platforms different? How reliant is my cilent’s on paid media for their revenue? How did they come up with their CPA or conversion target? When do I open up budgets vs increase bids?

There aren’t necessarily correct answers for each question. But at least think about them and have some ideas. It will really help knowing what you are doing as a digital marker, as opposed to a robot who only knows how to create reports. 

3. Say you don’t know when you don’t know.

No shame. Actually this tip works for everyone, not just for people who work in digital marketing. But in digital marketing, there are so many terms and acronyms that you just wouldn’t know if no one had told you. Google and Facebook roll out new betas every month, and they are never lacking creativity to name their new betas. Responsive search ads? Discovery ads? Dynamic ads? If you are new, there’s little chance you would know what they are.

Asking questions is the first step to learn. Especially when you are new, people are going to expect you to ask questions. The more you ask, the more you’ll learn. I would also say this stays true for people who are more experienced. Just let go of your high self esteem for a moment!

4. Things change. Really fast.

If you read #3 ( I hope you did), then you’d remember there are new product updates coming out every month. They could be new ad formats, revised targeting, updated versions of the UI. A key responsibility of a digital marketer is to keep up with the new stuff, to test, to find out what works for your account. Supposedly, new products should bring more positive results for your campaigns (otherwise why would Google and Facebook roll out the update). But you would never know if you are not aware of the new stuff and don’t test. If you don’t, you end up letting other advertisers have the opportunity to beat you. 

Honestly, these are still good things to keep in my mind even for me now. I still do some level of reporting and try my best to keep my updated on industry trends. I am amazed and annoyed by the same things that happen to every digital marketer :)