The Ten Most Important Qualities
of a Web Marketing Specialist

The term web marketing specialist gets tossed around all the time. But what makes a web marketing specialist special?

In this article, we discuss the ten most important qualities of a web marketing specialist. Some of these qualities are abstract such as a competitive spirit and an eye for creativity. However, some of these characteristics are tangible, such as using analytics and understanding how to incorporate paid advertising strategies.

Continue reading to learn more about the most critical qualities of a web marketing SEO expert.

What Does a Web Marketing Specialist Do?

Most organizations look for digital marketing specialists who can do the following tasks:

  • Ad copywriting and content creation
  • Visual asset development for digital campaigns
  • Website administration and content publishing
  • Optimized marketing campaigns
  • Communicating results to leadership

Depending on the role within an organization, web marketing specialists may only focus on one or a few of these skill areas.

1. An Analytical Mind

Web marketing should be an analytical endeavor. Organizations that don’t have definitive KPIs and can’t accurately determine their clients’ ROI don’t conduct business correctly. There are excuses for traditional marketing campaigns not having KPIs. After all, how do you quantify a billboard or television ad’s success?

The beauty of web marketing is that the proof is in the pudding. You can accurately track your advertising performance through metrics such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. Web marketing specialists who demonstrate improvements through ROIs will be more valuable to organizations than marketing specialists who speak in generalities.

2. Creativity

Data is only half of the web marketing specialist equation. It sits at a crossroads between practicality and creativity. Metrics can only help organizations track their creative endeavors’ efficacy.  Without the creative process, you don’t have web marketing.

Creativity can come in many forms in web marketing. Your web marketing specialists might have content writing skills. Or perhaps they can design a user-friendly website. They might even be able to visualize a grandiose web marketing campaign strategy. Regardless of which skills web marketing specialists possess, creativity is an integral component.

3. Resourcefulness

Here’s a scenario: your client’s click-through rate has plummeted. What do your web marketing specialists do? As with anything else in life, you need to adapt to survive in a competitive business environment. Data-driven creatives will have a competitive edge, but if your web marketing specialist can’t adapt to emerging problems, their creativity and logic will be useless.

The best web marketing specialists stay level-headed during crises. If web marketing specialists can persevere through adversity and devise creative solutions to potentially catastrophic problems, they have one of the highest-value attributes possible.

4. Competitive

Web marketing isn’t a static profession, it’s constantly evolving, and web marketing specialists must be able to outmaneuver the competition. Much of this ability stems from their thirst for knowledge in a rapidly changing industry. Between new platforms, algorithm updates, and ever-evolving tools, web marketing specialists can never rest on their laurels.

To progress in web marketing, specialists must constantly improve their skills. To do so, they need a competitive attitude.

5. Ownership Mentality

With an ownership mentality, all of these qualities come together. An ownership mentality eliminates excuses, proactively solves problems, always thinks of the competitive edge, and utilizes resources such as data to form their strategy.

Ownership mentality entails taking responsibility for one’s actions while remaining open to coaching. It’s tempting to place the blame on others, but it’s not a recipe for success.

6. SEO and SEM Skills

Content writing skills are imperative for web marketing specialists producing and content and branded messaging. However, their compelling content won’t wind up in front of nearly as many people without proper SEO optimization.

Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are the strategies that ensure your content gets eyes on it. These strategies drive traffic to your website and result in a deeper understanding of your marketing strategy execution.

Google’s algorithm constantly updates, and keywords are more competitive than ever. Your web marketing specialists need to understand how to incorporate proper SEO and SEM tactics into your content.

7. Writing and Editing Skills 

On the flip side of the SEO argument is the critical nature of your content team. If your content team can’t write well, it doesn’t matter how much traffic you direct to your website. People won’t like your product or service enough to buy.

Great content builds consumer trust, and in a world with so many options, trust is often the only differentiator for your company. If you can build trust with your clients or customers, you can succeed in your field. Writing thorough, relevant content that helps your potential clients is one of the most critical aspects of building trust with them.

8. CRM Skills

Now, for more on the trust subject. Customer relationship management represents your company’s ability to build a favorable experience for your customers. In today’s increasingly online, disconnected world, the companies that make emotional connections with their consumers will thrive. The companies that remain behind the internet’s veil and that appear impersonal will fail.

When building your clients’ websites, ask yourself, are you empathetic to their target market? How can you attach the customer to the brand?

9. Basic Design Skills

Most people skim content. They don’t read large chunks. Additionally, you need to consider what attracts customers to your content. Their initial interest typically doesn’t result from words. More often than not, consumers will make a decision about a brand before reading anything.

They will decide what they think about a company based on the way the design makes them feel. Web marketing specialists need to understand how to create a visually stimulating website design.

10. Social Media and Paid Advertising

Social media used to be simple. Now, reaching your target market requires more savvy on more platforms. You need to understand which hashtags, geotags, and proper posting schedules attract your target markets.

Some companies might also think paid advertising is as simple as throwing money at the internet and watching the traffic come flooding in. It’s not. Paid advertising is a highly strategic practice that requires keyword research and diligence. Without adequate knowledge, companies can lose tons of money trying to incorporate a paid advertising strategy.

Count on Quality

Web marketing specialists typically are jacks of all trades. They need to understand how to incorporate their specialty into the whole. For example, an expert content writer needs to know how their content fits into a design template. If they write engaging content that conflicts with design principles, their skills are useless.

Conversely, web marketing specialists may be tempted to attach themselves to a specific strategy that worked in the past. However, web marketing principles fluctuate quickly, and the best web marketing specialist understands how to pivot.