Why Coding is an Important Skill for Digital Marketers

digital marketers discussing their work

Let’s face it. Jobs are becoming more interdisciplinary, especially in the digital sphere. In the last year, there were over a quarter million jobs advertised seeking hybrid talent. For digital marketers, the breadth of knowledge required seems to grow every day. 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.

But why? Why not just leave it to the professionals? If you work at a small company or startup then you already wear many hats and learning basic coding skills will only make your job easier. For digital marketers who have access to a team of developers, you may be surprised that learning to code will make your job easier, too! And best of all, it will make your marketing more innovative and effective. Here are three reasons digital marketers should learn coding skills:

digital marketers discussing their work

It will enhance your marketing toolkit

Wouldn’t it be nice to successfully resize an image or italicize text without calling in an entirely different team of people? Possessing just a basic knowledge of HTML allows you to make these small changes on your own, saving time for both your team and theirs. In fact, familiarity with a handful of programming languages can boost the effectiveness of many basic digital marketing tactics. For instance, create better looking custom email campaigns and execute basic A/B testing with a little knowledge of HTML and CSS. With a basic understanding of JavaScript you can automate Google Adwords and it’s JavaScript and HTML that will allow you to embed and track analytics.

It will help you understand what it takes and what’s possible

On a very primary level, learning to code will help you understand the technology you work with. While making use of the technologies available to you as a digital marketer may feel like enough, your competitive edge lies in your comprehension of how these technologies work. Grasping what’s even possible empowers you to find inspiration independently, rather than just looking at what others have done. Learning to code will provide you new opportunities to pursue innovative ideas.

It will improve communication with developers

When rolling out a new marketing campaign, how many issues come out of a misunderstanding between the digital marketers creating the plan and the web developers implementing it? Learning the basics of a few programming languages and even knowing the lingo can go a long way to preventing unnecessary miscommunication. Understanding the process will help you get the most out of your time and budget; possessing the knowledge to have an informed discussion with the people who will implement your ideas allows you to speak more clearly to cost and timeframe.