--- title: "Marketing education » 17 tips to get your potential started today" description: "Discover the key strategies to master online marketing, including SEO, social media, content marketing, and data analysis. Dive in." url: "https://www.mickyweis.com/en/marketing-education/" source: "https://www.mickyweis.com/en/marketing-education/" published: "2024-01-02T11:29:19+00:00" --- # Unlock your full potential in online marketing: 17 tips to stay ahead in the digital age [Blogger tips](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/blogger-tips-en/) [Online marketing](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/online-marketing/) ![Unlock your full potential in online marketing: 17 tips to stay ahead in the digital age](https://www.mickyweis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/marketing-uddannelse.png) ###### Micky Weis 15 years of experience in online marketing. Former [CMO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_marketing_officer) at, among others, Firtal Web A/S. Blogger about marketing and the things I’ve experienced along the way. Follow me on [LinkedIn for daily updates.](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickyweis/) Kopieret [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mickyweis.com%2Fen%2Fmarketing-education%2F) [](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mickyweis.com%2Fen%2Fmarketing-education%2F&title=Unlock%20your%20full%20potential%20in%20online%20marketing%3A%2017%20tips%20to%20stay%20ahead%20in%20the%20digital%20age) Too strong a start? It was meant in jest, but let’s talk about why you’ll never get truly good at online marketing unless you really think about it. First and foremost—great that you stopped by! For some time, I’ve been reflecting on the questions I get on this blog and the ones I receive when I give talks or work as a consultant for various companies. One question I hear repeatedly is: **How do I learn online marketing?** And it’s a great question… So, in response to that question, I’ll focus in this article on how you become good at online marketing and how to set yourself up for success in a world that’s increasingly digital. Jump to section [Toggle](#) ## Be curious, and set boundaries for yourself! First off, online marketing is an incredibly broad field. Essentially, it encompasses all the online activities businesses engage in to drive sales. We live in a technological world, and new media are constantly emerging. This means that the “reach” one needs as an online marketing manager becomes wider and wider. Moreover, we users behave differently, and our behavior can change from day to day. Therefore, as a marketing expert or a manager, it’s crucial to be flexible when it comes to marketing trends. (In my view, there are no true experts in online marketing because the field evolves so quickly that even a 15-year-old could have a better understanding of certain areas, as the possibilities are endless.) **My advice:** Choose the area you want to specialize in You can’t be great at everything, and you can’t be an expert in all areas—it’s simply not possible timewise. And, frankly, being good at everything isn’t feasible in other aspects of life either. We need to accept that. When I give talks to students, I always recommend they find an area that interests them and that they want to dive into. Once they gain a certain level of expertise in that area, they will more easily build on their skills and expand their capabilities. **But how do I find and choose the field I want to work in?** Yes—that’s perhaps an even better question, precisely because there are so many areas to explore. I’ve found there are aspects of digitization I don’t even know, because the field is so dynamic. It’s a bit like everything in life—Christian Stadil and Sofia Manning describe it well in their book: Personal Karma, where the message is that you have to test your passion. Dive into what interests you. That’s why my advice is: Review the major work areas below, and try them out. I’ve added exercises under each area, so you can test whether it ‘triggers’ you. I’d also recommend diving into [LinkedIn](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/linkedin-guide/) and optimizing your profile—it has brought me many opportunities. ### My 5 favorite online marketing bloggers - Neil Patel / Quicksprout - Brian Dean / Backlinko - Gary Vaynerchuk - Buffer Blog - Copyblogger Several of these blogs will also be referenced throughout this post. ## Search engine optimization (also known as SEO) Would you like to work with Google? Are you interested in learning how to rank as number 1 on Google without breaking its guidelines? Do long-term results motivate you, and do you love analyzing data and tracking progress? If so, [search engine optimization](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/what-is-seo/), or SEO, might be the right choice for you. **Guides:** - [Read what Google says about SEO (English)](http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf) - [Neil Patel’s ultimate guide to SEO (English)](http://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-seo/) - [Brian Dean’s link building guide](http://backlinko.com/17-untapped-backlink-sources) - [RankScanner’s advanced SEO ranking guide (English)](https://www.rankscanner.com/blog/advanced-seo-ranking-guide-how-to-get-great-rank-google/) - [Moz free beginner’s guide to SEO (English)](https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo) **Good sources:** - [Backlinko](http://backlinko.com/) – Brian Dean (English) - [Moz](https://moz.com/blog) (English) - [Rankscanner blog](https://www.rankscanner.com/blog/) (English) **Exercise** To get started with SEO, I recommend starting a blog. Let’s assume [you start a blog](https://wordpress.com/) about personal training. I suggest you find 20-30 keywords that you want to rank highly on Google for (this is called a [keyword analysis](http://keywordanalyse.dk/2011/11/keywordanalyse-eksempel/)). You then set up these keywords in a tracking tool. You can implement tips and tricks from the guides listed above—remember to test different ideas. This way, you’ll see what works and get a feel for how things function in practice. **Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy!** ## Google Ads Do numbers and daily optimization motivate you? Then working with Google Ads might be for you. Google Ads, unlike SEO, is a paid marketing channel. This means you’ll need to allocate a budget to work with Google Ads. Did you know that 97% of Google’s revenue comes from its advertising platforms? The market is huge. **Guides:** - [Neil Patel’s beginner guide to Google Ads](http://neilpatel.com/2015/07/16/the-entrepreneurs-guide-to-google-adwords/) - [PPC Hero’s beginner guide to Google Ads](https://midlandmarketing.co.uk/blog/ppc/beginners-guide-to-ppc/) **Exercise** Create a blog and choose a few keywords (they should be very niche so that you don’t pay too much per word), and then create your own ads. It takes time, but it’s a great learning process, especially because you’ll feel the impact on your wallet when something goes wrong. (You can start with as little as $5 a day.) ## Social media (non-paid) When I work with social media, I differentiate between paid and non-paid strategies. While these strategies often overlap, it’s still a good idea to separate them, as they require different approaches. What works organically may not necessarily be effective in paid campaigns—and vice versa. **Guides:** - [Moz beginner guide to social media](https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media) - [Social Media Examiner’s beginner guide (covers all social media)](http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/getting-started/) **Good sources:** - [Mari Smith](http://www.marismith.com/) - [Social Media Examiner](http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/) - [Buffer Blog](https://blog.bufferapp.com/) **Exercise** This exercise is closely tied to content marketing. The content you share on social media needs to be high-quality—and lots of it—so that your audience engages with it. For example, this blog post has over 4,000 words, and it took me 16 hours to write it. ## Paid social traffic The other branch of social media marketing is paid traffic. By leveraging advertising features on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest, you can target a highly segmented audience. Social media is also a great platform to test things, as you can work with small budgets. **Guides and sources:** - [Moz extended guide to Facebook advertising](https://www.moz.com/ugc/a-comprehensive-guide-to-facebook-ads-a-30-minute-crash-course-in-facebook-advertising-17132) - [AdEspresso’s guide to Facebook advertising](https://adespresso.com/academy/guides/facebook-ads-beginner/) **Exercise** As with Google Ads, start by creating a Facebook ad account and a Facebook page. Use your page to drive traffic to your blog. The great thing about Facebook advertising is that you can use as little as $5 a day and still get data back to improve over time. If you wanna [get good a managing ads](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/facebook-ads/), you need to start doing it. ## Affiliate (ad-based marketing) Do you want to help companies optimize their earnings? Or perhaps work with bloggers to improve their monetization? Then affiliate marketing might be for you. Essentially, it involves optimizing ads on blogs and websites. **Guides:** - [Smart Passive Income (earns $1M a month)](http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/) - [Beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing (English book)](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EKTXLD0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00EKTXLD0&linkCode=as2&tag=ordecale-20&linkId=TQCSCH5GFWOFPFQS) **Exercise** Start a blog in a field you’re passionate about. Focus on content marketing and create great content people want to share. Once you have traffic, you can monetize it through affiliate programs. ## Newsletters (email marketing) [Email marketing](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/e-mail-marketing-guide/) is still one of the top-selling channels in e-commerce. Therefore, it’s vital to understand what’s happening in this area. **Guides:** - [Vero’s ultimate guide to a successful email campaign](http://www.getvero.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-guide/) - [Zapier’s ultimate guide to email marketing](https://zapier.com/learn/ultimate-guide-to-email-marketing-apps/) **Exercise** Set up an email marketing campaign using a platform like [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/), which is free. This will give you a hands-on approach to learning email marketing through real-life campaigns. ## Content marketing [Content marketing](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/content-marketing-strategy/) is here to stay. Instead of relying solely on paid advertising, you can create content that draws people back, so you don’t have to pay for every sale. **Guides:** - [The ultimate guide to content marketing (English)](http://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-content-marketing/) - [Moz beginner guide to content marketing (English)](https://moz.com/blog/announcing-beginners-guide-content-marketing) **Exercise** Would you like to get started with content marketing? Here are a few examples to inspire you: - Love videos? Start a YouTube channel. - Love pictures? Start an Instagram & Pinterest profile. - Love writing? Start your own blog (like this one). - Love drawing? Start your own comic series. - Love storytelling? Start a Snapchat profile. ## Data analysis Data analysis is a booming field. You’ve probably heard of the term “big data.” With more people online—especially via smartphones—there’s more data available than ever before. **Guides:** - [Moz beginner guide to Google Analytics](https://moz.com/blog/absolute-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics) - [A solid guide to data analysis by Avinash Kaushik (English)](http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/beginners-guide-web-data-analysis-ten-steps-tips-best-practices/) **Exercise** If you start a blog, you should also set up [Google Analytics](https://analytics.google.com/analytics/academy/). Even if you have little traffic, you’ll still be able to measure everything happening on your site. As your traffic grows, so will your understanding of your audience’s behavior. ## Conclusion I hope you’ve gained some clarity on how to get good at online marketing. I don’t master all the areas mentioned, but I have a solid understanding of many of them. I chose to dive deep into social media (both paid and organic), content marketing, and data analysis, which has taken me seven years to learn. There are even more areas within online marketing, such as conversion rate optimization (CRO), technical SEO, link building, personal branding, and many more. New areas keep emerging all the time. I’d love your input on how to stay up-to-date or improve your online marketing skills—or any other field in IT. How do you stay current, and what would you like to get better at? If you found this post helpful, **it would mean the world to me if you would share it**. ## Comments ### Leave a Reply [Cancel reply](/en/marketing-education/#respond) You must be [logged in](https://www.mickyweis.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mickyweis.com%2Fen%2Fmarketing-education%2F) to post a comment. ## Related posts [Advertising \ **The ultimate guide to app marketing** \ ![The ultimate guide to app marketing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20758%20429'%3E%3C/svg%3E)](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/app-marketing/) [Marketing \ **The Ultimate Link Building Guide: Boost Your SEO with Powerful Links** \ ![The Ultimate Link Building Guide: Boost Your SEO with Powerful Links](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20758%20429'%3E%3C/svg%3E)](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/linkbuilding/) [Online marketing \ **Ultimate guide: What is SEO? 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