One can never know too much especially when it comes to skills that can bring money or can get one employed in a country like Nigeria where there are not many jobs to go round. Skills, especially digital marketing skills, are a great alternative or backup plan for anybody who wants to stand a higher chance of getting employed or make extra income.
You see, there are companies out there that are looking for people with specific skills to hire and there are people/institutions who can pay you just any reasonable amount that you quote to help them complete tasks. This is because these tasks can only be done by a few people with a specific set of skills.
A very lucrative area where skills are needed in Nigeria right now is digital marketing because almost everything now is going digital. People now use the internet more today than before and hence the reason why more hands is needed in this direction. This is because like in every business, the more the customers or traffic a business gets, the more skills and hands the same business will need to control or serve the teeming customers.
Digital Marketing Skills To Acquire In Nigeria This Year
The year 2020 as we all have observed and can attests to has even made the need for digital marketing skills much pronounced. The Coronavirus which put majority of the workforce around the world at home taught many people to acquire a lot f digital marketing skills. It made us realize that we can’t always work with our physical presence. Instead, we can now work from far away and carry out our daily tasks through the internet remotely. This increased use and reliance on the internet has led to the need to develop relevant digital marketing skills to stand a good chance of getting hired and making money when work is on hold.
Top 5 Digital Marketing Skills You Should Acquire In Nigeria This Year
Below are some digital marketing skills to learn in Nigeria this year:
1. Web Data Analytics
Companies now have online presence in the form of websites. These websites attracts visitors. Some people might just want to know more about a company and their products and services. Others might want to buy from the company or contact them and so on. Because of this, many companies are beginning to see the need of and hire people to take care of their business visibility online. A person with proper knowledge of web data analytics is faced with the task of collecting, arranging, analyzing, and submitting web data of a business or company to the appropriate online platforms and portals. Of course, such a person must have sound understanding of web usage.
Web data analytics can tell you how much people visit a website often, the number of page views, the pages with more repeat visits and the actions on such web pages. This is important because it helps in knowing the traffic a site is generating and how to leverage this for profit. The market research department of a business or company would use this information in market research.
Companies and individuals pay high fees to web data analytics experts for this service. So, you should consider getting this skill as soon as possible. These is so much potential for you in this direction if you choose to go into it.
2. Social Media Marketing
This skill is a very interesting one largely due to the fact that social media has accumulated and now has potential than any other technology the web has come up with.
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and the likes to promote goods and service, sell products, build relationships and connect with more customers and build your brand(s) and business(es). It can also be used to connect with your audience and people looking for your product around the world especially when they live outside your environment.
The average Nigerian spends more than an hour each day on social media. This is a great opportunity to leverage. If you are skilled in Social Media marketing, you stand a great chance of landing jobs quickly because companies and business individuals would be interested in hiring you to convert these social media users into paying customers.
Of course, any smart business or company knows that a person with a phone and an internet connection is already a potential customer. All they need is someone to help convert them into customers. That is why they would want to hire you. They want to hire social media marketers who could help to show their products and services on social media to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of interested people. This further reveals that social media marketing is a skill with great and viable opportunities.
3. Email Marketing
Email marketing is the use of email to tell potential or current customers about the products and services a company offers. It is done in the form of a broadcast.
These emails may be sent to the customers daily or weekly as the company deems fit. This is just what email marketing is all about and it is an integral part of digital marketing.
Email marketing helps to remind the customer about the company/business or product/service because he/she might have forgotten. Also, it can tell the subscriber more about the product or service he/she might have subscribed for which may make them return to the business and make a purchase.
Your subscribers could have fresh needs to be met and one of the ways to reach you or your business is by email. This is good for business because no company would want to lose relationship(s) with their customers. You can send out emails to advertise new or old products and/or services, ask for partnerships and support, get sponsors and ask for donations. These services are always needed. Hence, the need for people with these skills. If you have this skill and know how to sell it in Nigeria, you can make a truckload of money for yourself.
4. Content Writing
Content writing as the name implies means writing useful contents for websites for marketing purposes. It can be offered as a freelance skill on top, medium and even micro local and international platforms. Just like every website has its specific target audience, they should also have the relevant and right information (content) to attract that audience.
For instance, a technology company/website should have latest information about technology. This will make users visit often to read about the latest technology trends; having customers who visit your website often is good for your business. It means you can advertise to/for them and show them things they may like and could be willing to pay for if asked to. Professional Content writers focus on keywords and are careful not to bore readers with but keep their works exciting, educative, and informative at the same time.
5. Web Design
A website/blog cannot function properly without a good web design. To get a well-designed website/blog, the services of a professional web designer or website developer is usually sought. The reason web designing/development seems to be such a big deal is because it requires various skills and a combination of discipline, strategy and a firm understanding of the business philosophy to create and maintain a website. For instance, the design of a website includes using standardized programming codes, graphic design, and search engine optimization.
With the increasing rate of businesses and companies, the need for an online presence in the form of a website is now paramount. This is inevitable because of the potential it has on businesses. This is a skill with endless opportunities. Many people neglect this because they feel there are already too many people doing these things thereby ignoring the fact that more businesses come up every day.
Besides, people’s needs keep mounting daily hence the need for more websites to address these needs. So, there is always room for more hands in web design. If the regular problems have been solved by other websites, look inwards, there are new/fresh problems that just emerged or which have been ignored over time. Create a website/blog to address this problem and you will make good money from this.
To get web design skills, it is wise to first start with the basics which is having a firm understanding of web-programming languages like HTML, CSS, PHP, etc.
With the advent of Content Management Systems (CMS), creating and managing websites is now much easier than ever, easier than coding! Some of the popular CMS you should get yourself acquainted with are WordPress, Joomla, Simple Machines, and Wix.
There are more but these are the most common ones used today. It is good to start with these common ones and as you advance in knowledge, you graduate to more complex web design and web development technologies.
Conclusion
This article explained what digital marketing skills are and why it is necessary to get them in Nigeria today. Some of the traditional digital marketing skills and opportunities worth learning were discussed. Besides the ones addressed here, other digital marketing skills you should get are Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design skills and Search Engine Marketing. These knowledge when put into use could tremendously improve your life. So, instead of waiting for opportunities that may never come, it would be wise to learn a skill today. You will be glad you did.
