Over the past six years of working in the outsourcing industry, I have collaborated with hundreds of businesses and helped put together some of the best digital marketing teams in the world. There’s a blueprint to how these teams are put together and one of the most important aspects is the variety of skill sets.

Whether the objective is leads, sales or brand awareness, the task of every online marketing team is to significantly scale up results. Digital marketing teams require a number of different skills to be able to grow campaigns effectively. This article lists the most important skills every online marketing team should have.

1. Web Design
Marketing is all about raising the profile of brands or moving customers in a specific direction to buy a company’s products or services. Regardless of what your target customers hold in highest esteem, a brand is shorthand for that.

Every piece of creative you release online (blog posts, PPC ads, etc.) says something about a brand. If the design is less than professional and misaligned with the brand’s core messaging, it can undermine years of work and good impressions. By contrast, good design speaks volumes to a company’s professionalism, quality and positioning in the market.

2. Social Media Management
Social media management is no longer simply about the general upkeep of a Facebook or Twitter page. Savvy social media management is about the holistic process of growing and engaging your audience.

In fact, social media marketing has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing. No matter what you sell and who you sell it to, using social media as a marketing tool can help you grow your brand and fill your company’s coffers.

3. SEO & PPC Expertise
Paid search is still a top priority for businesses that serve an existing demand. People actively searching for a product or service are much more likely to purchase than people who are passively exposed to an ad.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) supports paid search, in particular when it comes to Google AdWords. The price of PPC campaigns is influenced by the keywords used. Well done SEO will result in cheaper ads.

4. Data Analytics
Data collection and analysis, particularly in volumes enabled by the Internet, provides greater insight into customer lives, preferences, and desires. In addition, it offers greater insight into the efficacy of marketing practices and strategies and provides concrete, actionable information on which to base important decisions in a myriad of business contexts.

Digital marketing is fortunate enough to fall within a medium that facilitates the practice of analytics. Whether it’s email campaigns, coupon codes, or just website visits, there are dozens of opportunities to utilize data.

7. Content Marketing Know-How
We have all heard the phrase “content is king.” In the past, content marketers were frequently confused with copywriters. Content marketing nowadays involves much more than writing. It includes infographics, infomercials, videos, and podcasts.

Additionally, content marketers are expected to be familiar with best practices to distribute the content. That touches upon the field of online PR.

8. Coding Skills
While some programming languages need to be left to the professionals, basic knowledge in HTML, CSS, and even JavaScript are becoming useful, if not necessary, tools for digital marketers striving to be effective and innovative in their work.

On a very primary level, learning to code will helps online marketers understand the technology they’re working with, in turn providing new opportunities to pursue innovative ideas.

The benefits of outsourcing your Digital Marketing

It’s common practice to outsource your development team, accounting team, customer service, and many other facets of a business. It saves overhead, commitment, recruiting and training time while allowing you to tap into a team of experts without all the associated expenses. So why not outsource your online marketing team as well?

Trying to secure even one full-time digital marketing professional can cost well into six-figures per year. For new companies, this makes little sense. If you’re a startup, small business or an organization focused on other growth initiatives, outsourcing your online marketing efforts to a team that can help you strategize and execute across multiple marketing channels is key.

Additionally, you can get all the perks of having a multimillion dollar digital marketing staff, while still sticking within your budget. Outsourcing provides these digital experts at a fraction of the cost with no long-term commitment. The alternative of hiring an entire team in-house will be very expensive and usually doesn’t land you the same level of expertise and experience.

Assemble your Digital Marketing Dream Team

Here at Deployed, we can help you set up your very own dedicated offshore online marketing team. Whatever role (graphic designers, copywriters, SEO experts, social media specialists, web developers, etc.) or a number of people you need, our extensive network and reach across all sectors of the industry ensures you get your pick of the best digital marketing talents available.

If you’re keen to find out more, click here and I’d be happy to guide you through the process.