Technical Skills for Marketers -- gaining the skills you need to be indispensable
There's been a lot of talk of roles like Growth Hackers, Marketing Ninjas and Technical Marketers in the past year; regardless of if you subscribe to these labels, technical marketing skills are becoming a requirement to be a successful in online marketing. The marketers who know SQL, can write code or use PivotTables in Excel will be the most desirable and productive individuals in our industry. In this talk, Jamie will discuss the technical skills every online marketer should be developing along with strategies and resources on how to get there.
13. Determine an area for improvement
Repeat
purchases!
Let’s get more...
14. Devise a strategy
Hmm. Let’s send an
email to customers
who’ve made 1
purchase, but none
in the past 3 months.
15. Forecast the improvement
50,000 recipients (estimated)
This seems
worth my time.
27,500 see the email (55% open rate)
5,500 see the landing page (20% click CTA)
357 purchase (6.5% conversion w/ coupon)
$8,576 in revenue (357 x $23.99 average order)
16. Pull customer list from database
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE email IS NOT NULL
AND purchase_count = 1 AND last_purchase < ‘2012-06-01’
63,400 recipients
Hmm, looks like
more people
than I thought!
CSV
17. Wireframe the email, and write the copy
Let’s keep it
simple, and use
straightforward
copy.
18. Design and code the email template
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19. Instrument end-to-end tracking
URL with
Google
Analytics
campaign
code
Landing
Email
page with
system with
Google
robust Tracking code in Analytics
analytics place, and my page code
test click appears
in GA.
21. Evaluate results
Email analytics Google Analytics E-commerce data
$9,730 in direct
sales! My estimate
was very close.
Excel
22. Automate for ongoing success
Customer Database Email System
New customers data
SQL API
Scheduled
monthly email to
pre-configured list
Scheduled script to pull
new customers from DB
Let’s run this and add to email
campaign system through API
automatically
every month.
23. Correlate those that receive email with
purchases
Statistics work in Excel
Un-emailed users
correlation with
repeat purchase
.22
Email recipient
correlation with
repeat purchase
.67
Are emails
increasing
organic sales?
They are!
26. Technical Marke
ter yield: 1 kick-ass
employee
12 ingredients
• databases & sql
• forecasting/statistics
• web technology
• excel
• web development
• technical SEO
• web design & ux
• content platforms
• copywriting
• email technology
• analytics
• e-commerce tech
27. 1 Databases & SQL
Pull your own data. Understand how
databases work and create your own.
- Structured-query-language (SQL)
- http://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp
- http://sqlzoo.net/
- http://sql.learncodethehardway.org/
- Data types
- http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_datatypes.asp
- MySQL database server
- http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/mysql_intro.html
28. 2 Web development
Build web pages and emails. Use JavaScript to add
functionality. Utilize server side scripting.
- HTML/CSS
- http://teamtreehouse.com/library
- http://learncss.tutsplus.com/
- http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/
- JavaScript
- http://www.codecademy.com
- http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/the-best-way-to-learn-javascript/
- http://teamtreehouse.com/library/websites/javascript-foundations
- Scripting
- PHP: http://devzone.zend.com/6/php-101-php-for-the-absolute-beginner/
- Python: http://www.learnpython.org/
- Rails: http://railsforzombies.org/
29. 3 Web technology
Understand how HTTP and web servers work.
Harness the power of the query string.
- HTTP
- http://www.garshol.priv.no/download/text/http-tut.html
- Web Servers/Apache
- http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/tutorials.html
- http://articles.slicehost.com/apache
- http://www.devshed.com/c/a/Apache/Apache-and-the-Internet/1/
- .htaccess
- https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/htaccess
- http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/htaccess.html
- Query String
- http://www.dotnetfunda.com/articles/article974-how-to-work-with-querystring.aspx
- (need more resources here!)
30. 4 Web design & UX
Pick up some design skills. Give better wireframes to
your designers, or design it yourself.
- Wireframing
- http://sixrevisions.com/user-interface/website-wireframing/
- http://www.wireframeshowcase.com/
- http://www.balsamiq.com/
- Web Design
- http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/
- http://www.alistapart.com/topics/design/
- http://teamtreehouse.com/library
- Image formats
- http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/general/image-types-and-usage-in-web-design/
- Photoshop
- http://www.photoshop.com/learn
- http://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-training-tutorials/279-0.html
31. 5 Copywriting
Learn to write for the web, email and social
marketing channels. Be creative AND pithy.
- Writing for the web
- http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
- http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-101/
- http://www.amazon.com/The-Copywriters-Handbook-Third-
Edition/dp/0805078045/ref=sr_1_3?
ie=UTF8&qid=1349289270&sr=8-3&keywords=web+copywriting
- Writing for email
- http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/hints-tips/em/
copywriting.jsp
32. 6 Analytics
Know how you’re doing. Evaluate performance
and determine how to make it better.
- Metrics/methodologies
- http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/web-analytics-demystified/
- Google Analytics
- http://blog.kissmetrics.com/50-resources-for-getting-the-most-out-of-google-
analytics/
- http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/google-analytics-tutorial-8-valuable-tips-to-hustle-
with-data/
- KPIs of Web Analytics
- http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/rules-choosing-web-analytics-key-performance-
indicators/
- Google Analytics Web Query Explorer
- http://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/explorer/
33. 7 Forecasting & Statistics
Predict the future. Create a forecast or budget. Run
correlations and regression analyses.
- Forecasting and budgeting
- http://www.slideshare.net/sirris101/building-a-2012-marketing-budget
- http://docs.cdn.marketo.com/Marketing-Forecasting-Whitepaper.pdf
- Statistics for marketing
- http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/09/regression-analysis-
basics-business.asp#axzz28GLwas9H
- http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Statistics-Dawn-Griffiths/dp/0596527586/
- ***
- Market research technology
- Google Consumer Surveys: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/
home
- Data publishers: Quantcast, Hitwise, Compete (questionable accuracy in my
experience)
34. 8 Excel
Become an Excel ninja. Use PivotTables to
find qualitative answers. Use VLOOKUPs to
- Excel
- http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/excel-skills-builderlearn-how-to-create-
spreadsheets-and-workbooks-use-formulas-and-perform-data-analysis-
FX102592909.aspx
- http://www.distilled.net/excel-for-seo/
- PivotTables
- http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/pivottable-i-get-started-with-
pivottable-reports-in-excel-2007-RZ010205886.aspx
- VLOOKUPs
- http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/vlookup-HP005209335.aspx
35. 9 SEO
Become an SEO-friendly web developer. Use your
knowledge of HTTP to fix on-site issues.
- On-site SEO
- http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/on-page-factors
- http://www.seobook.com/learn-seo/on-page-seo.php
- Redirects, rel-canonicals
- http://www.seomoz.org/blog/301-redirect-or-relcanonical-which-
one-should-you-use
- HTTP status codes
- http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/http-status-codes
36. 10 Content Platforms
Know how to publish your wonderful words and
code. Use the right tool for the job.
- Web Hosting
- http://www.w3schools.com/hosting/host_intro.asp
- http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/
- WordPress
- http://codex.wordpress.org/Getting_Started_with_WordPress
- http://learn.wordpress.com/
- Drupal
- http://drupal.org/documentation
- http://www.lynda.com/Drupal-training-tutorials/186-0.html
37. 11 Email Technology
Learn how to send email effectively. Utilize the
power of a robust email platform.
- SMTP Protocol
- http://utcc.utoronto.ca/usg/technotes/smtp-intro.html
- Deliverability
- http://www.aweber.com/blog/email-deliverability/email-deliverability-tips.htm
- http://blog.deliverability.com/best-practices/best-practices-standards
- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/16/best-practices-for-bulletproof-e-
mail-delivery/
- Email Platforms
- Transactional: SendGrid, Postmark, Mandrill
- Hosted: ExactTarget, Bronto, MailChimp, Constant Contact
- Automated: HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua
38. 12 E-commerce Tech
Learn to accept money graciously. Discover how
SSL works, PCI compliance and industry vendors.
- SSL
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Introduction_to_SSL
- http://onlamp.com/onlamp/2008/03/04/step-by-step-configuring-ssl-under-apache.html
- PCI Compliance
- http://www.pcicomplianceguide.org/pcifaqs.php
- http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/629-What-Is-PCI-Compliance-And-
Should-Merchants-Be-Concerned-About-It-
- Payment Technology and Vendors
- The full stack: Recurly, Stripe, Braintree.
- More on Stripe: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/so-you-want-to-accept-credit-
cards-online/
- The banks: Chase PaymentTech, FirstData
- The middlemen: Authorize.net, PayPal, Intuit Payments
42. THANKS!
Jamie Steven
Chief Marketing Officer, SEOmoz
@jamies
Editor's Notes
\n
We make SEO software.\nSEOmoz isn't sophisticated with our FP&A.\nBut we do have a complex marketing operation.\nWe don&#x2019;t have a sales team.\nMulti-discipline and multi-channel approach.\nYMMV- I&#x2019;ve come up as an online-marketer, and affects this advice.\n