Coding for marketers: why learn it and how it can help

Coding is no longer a secret language spoken only by engineers and IT specialists.

In fact, it's swiftly becoming a powerful arrow in a marketer's quiver. Knowing how to code not only sets you apart from other marketers but also helps you level up your marketing game.

Whether it's about building a website or digging into data analytics, coding can greatly enhance a marketer's skill set and open up new opportunities.

What are these new opportunities, and why should you, as a marketer, be taking coding courses? That's what we'll explore in this blog.

Why Learn Coding?

You have probably heard how coding is the language of the future (if it isn’t already is), but what does that really mean for marketers?

First and foremost, knowing how to code allows you to have a better understanding and communication with technical teams. No more confused looks when discussing website updates or data tracking.

You become a T-shaped marketer. Learning coding allows marketers to become T-shaped professionals, meaning they have in-depth knowledge of their specialty but also possess skills and knowledge in other areas.

This makes you more versatile and adaptable, as well as able to understand the bigger picture when it comes to marketing strategies.

Not to mention, marketers who want to ascend the professional ladder need to be ‘T-shaped’ i.e. know a little of everything - enough to manage it all. So, think of coding as a way to go up in your career in the long run.

Ways You Can Use Coding In Marketing

But beyond improving communication, learning coding also has numerous benefits for marketers in their day-to-day tasks, some of which are mentioned below.

Keep Track Of Competitors

One of the biggest advantages of knowing how to code is the ability to spy on your competitors.

By understanding coding, you can easily analyze their website's source code and learn about their design elements, keywords, and marketing strategies.

Basically, what you do is "view source" on a webpage and you'll see the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code behind it. This shows you exactly how a page is built and what tools are being used.

This information can be extremely valuable when crafting your marketing strategies and staying ahead of the competitors.

You can always have a look at what's into what's working for your competitors and then use that knowledge to improve your marketing efforts.

Make Analyzing Data Easy & Fun

As a marketer, you're probably familiar with the tedious task of data mining. But with coding skills in your arsenal, this task can become much more enjoyable and efficient.

Suppose you have a huge data set about your target audience and their preferences that you need to analyze. Instead of manually sifting through the data, you can use coding languages such as Python or R for easily extracting and visualizing the extracted data.

By using coding to automate data collection and analysis processes, you can save time and gain valuable insights into customer behavior and trends.

This allows for more informed decision-making regarding campaign optimization and targeting.

Automation of Routine Tasks

Another significant advantage of learning to code as a marketer is the ability to automate routine tasks.

Marketers often find themselves caught up in repetitive tasks that consume a considerable amount of time. Knowing how to code can help you automate these tasks, enhancing your productivity and freeing up time for more strategic work.

For instance, with Python or JavaScript, you could automate tasks such as social media posting, email responses, or data entry. By automating these tasks, you can focus more on crafting creative strategies and engaging with your audience on a deeper level.

Improve SEO Strategies

With the ever-changing algorithms of search engines, having a strong understanding of coding can greatly benefit your SEO strategies.

By knowing how to structure a website's HTML, use meta tags, and optimize for keywords, you can help improve your website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).

For example, if you know how to use Schema markup, you can enhance your website's search appearance and increase its chances of being featured in Google's rich snippets.

Now, Schema markup is a code that you add to your website's HTML to provide additional information about the content. Not a common term for marketers, but for those who know coding, it can be a game-changer.

Having a basic knowledge of coding also allows you to troubleshoot any technical SEO issues that may arise, saving you time and money on hiring external developers or experts.

Your website's load time is slow, you can easily identify and fix the issue by looking at your site's code.

Better Understanding Of Digital Marketing Tools

From email marketing to social media management, there are numerous useful tools that marketers need to use on a daily basis. And knowing how to code can make accessing these tools much easier.

Especially marketing tools like HubSpot, Google Analytics, HootSuite, and WordPress can be used more efficiently by understanding how coding works.

You can create custom landing pages or emails using HTML and CSS, track customer behavior on your website with Google Analytics tracking codes, or use HootSuite to schedule social media posts directly from your coding software.

Even if you're not a coding expert, having a basic understanding of these tools' underlying code can significantly improve your efficiency and effectiveness as a marketer.

Coding Languages To Learn

No need to be overwhelmed by the vast world of coding.

As a marketer, you only need to learn the basics and focus on languages that will benefit your marketing strategies.

Some coding languages that are particularly useful for marketers include HTML/CSS, JavaScript, SQL, Python, and R.

HTML/CSS is essential for understanding website structure and design elements, while JavaScript can help with web development and data analysis tasks.

SQL is important for managing databases and performing complex queries, while Python and R are popular languages for data mining, analytics, and automation.

Even if you don't become an expert in all of these languages, having a basic understanding can greatly enhance your marketing skills and make you a more valuable asset to any team.

You can easily find online courses on these programming languages on sites like Codecademy, Coursera, and Udemy, or even attend coding boot camps focused on marketing-related skills.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, coding is not just for developers or IT professionals.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, marketing professionals should consider adding coding to their skill sets.

As a marketer with coding knowledge, you can improve your data analysis, SEO strategies, efficiency, and effectiveness in using digital marketing tools and automating routine tasks.

So why not give coding a try? It may just be the skill that sets you apart from the competition, helps elevate your marketing career to new heights, and helps you make an informed decision regarding strategizing.

Remember, even a basic understanding of coding can go a long way in enhancing your marketing skills and staying ahead of the game.