In the current economic climate, digital learning has become more important than ever before. Whether you’re working as an ex-pat, a freelancer, or looking to set up your own business, learning digital skills can help to accelerate in your career. With much of the world in lockdown, there has never been a better time to learn a new digital skillset, all from the comfort of your own home.
Learning a skill will help to pass the time you now have available and will also help to increase your value to the market. As times are changing, employees with the more varied and valuable knowledge and experience under their belt will have the most advantage if a business is ever hard-pressed to decide who they can keep on, and who they have to let go.
Those who run their own business can learn valuable skills to either keep them afloat during this time or to hit the ground running as things return to normal.
While many people have used the time they now have to catch up on TV, it has now got to a point where every show on Netflix has now been watched twice. Rather than watching another re-run, you can begin challenging yourself and learning new skills as a result. Here are 5 of the best digital skills you can learn in 2024.
1. Learn How To Learn
Now, we know what you’re thinking. How could I possibly learn how to learn? In school, there certainly isn’t a topic on this. There’s a big difference between learning and retraining just enough information to put back out for a passing mark on a standardized test, but learning, retaining for the long term, and actually being able to both apply and build off of the information you’ve learned is vastly different.
Secondly, school is designed to be a learning environment with the resources and setting to best allow you to learn new information. Your home is quite different. There are plenty of distractions, and fewer people to call upon for assistance.
Lastly, once people leave, they tend to give up learning altogether. This causes the brain to forget how to actually learn new information! Or at least learn as effectively as possible.
There are many online courses that can teach you how to learn again, which will make your whole experience significantly more rewarding.
You will be able to retain more information from the courses you take and better apply them in your own work. Out of any skill you choose to learn in the future, the hours you put into learning how to best learn that skill will never be wasted.
2. Social Media Marketing
In the past, Social Media Marketing was somewhat overlooked as it was different from alternative marketing methods. However, in 2024 it has become one of the most in-demand skills in the digital market. Businesses now understand the importance of building an online presence as well as converting leads to sales.
Access to relevant and clear content is a main priority in social media marketing. According to SaaStopia, generating social media marketing content becomes much easier when utilizing AI powered writing software.
From Social Media Marketing in terms of running effective and successful Facebook, LinkedIn and Google ad campaigns, to Content Marketing where a tone and business persona is really developed and an eager fanbase is cultivated, these skills are in high demand from both small business owners all the way up to the largest franchises and enterprises.
There are a number of online platforms you can learn such as a skill, such as JamesHopkinsCoaching, who help teach individuals the skill of digital marketing so that the students can set up their own agencies and continue to comfortably live and work remotely.
Social media marketing is only an aspect of digital marketing that you should be looking into. However, it’s not the only thing you should be putting your focus on. There are many tactics you can apply into making your digital advertising efforts successful. Now that several social media platforms have gained the spotlight and have nearly replaced most of the traditional ways people would convene and interact with each other, it’s only reasonable to think about ways you can capitalize on it.
SMM is different in many ways compared to other forms of promoting your content, brand, or business. It can be very challenging especially if you don’t keep a close eye on emerging trends – which is highly dynamic, and can change within the span of a few hours. Blogs like OnlineBizBooster make it easier to keep up with changes in algorithm as well as keeping ahead of viral content ideas.
3. Digital Design
Websites, Apps, and Digital Services all require a user interface for the final consumer. As a result, the skill set of a digital designer to create an effective user experience has become a leading skill among employers and freelancers.
As an effective digital designer, you can help managers create an effective user interface that entices customers and helps to develop the reputation of a brand. Well designed and implemented digital products can drive more traffic, more leads, and more sales to a business, and professional and high-quality Digital Designers can charge handsomely for their services.
4. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest issues within the modern business environment and is predicted to expand as the internet becomes more prevalent throughout the world. Learning this skill will allow you to help businesses keep their data safe and are also a service that businesses are willing to pay for.
As security continues to advance, so do the threats against it. With cybersecurity skills, you can help reduce a company’s risk as well as consult them on how they can improve their security as a whole. As more and more businesses make the shift to offering online services, allowing or requiring their employees to work remotely, and implement new technologies, the demand for Cybersecurity experts will only continue to rise.
5. Mobile Expertise
It has now been reported that smartphones are more commonly used than desktops. On top of this, it is predicted that the digital native Generation Z are set to make up 40% of all sales by the end of 2024. As a result, organizations need to hire experts to thrive over the next decade. They will need to adapt their strategies in accordance with these changes, taking a mobile-first approach to ensure the customer has the best experience from their phone.
Learning this skill will allow you to leverage mobile-optimized video communications for companies in order to enhance sales and engage with the new generation of customers. You can also learn how to take advantage of apps, which have slowly started taking over traditional internet shopping. Learning this skill now will put you ahead of the competition and allow you to bring real value to companies and their clients.
What do you think about these skills? Are these skills you think will be valuable in the future? Or do you believe alternative skills shall take precedence over them?
