Digital marketing is an extremely broad field that is constantly expanding. Almost every day new possibilities arise, which in turn respond to the needs of the market and help professionals in the sector to connect their contents and products more closely to the market.
However, in order to correctly implement all the changes and remain at the forefront of the sector, digital managers cannot focus exclusively on content strategy as they must also know or have some slight knowledge of programming languages. That’s how they will make a difference.
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What are programming languages?
Programming languages are a set of codes that just like real languages (and they certainly are a language), allow web designers to implement an instruction or command into a computer application or web page. The idea is to build a communication system between the machine and the programmer that allows the latter to monitor any program response to all kinds of different actions by other users.
Just as you would do with other languages, there is a series of symbols, algorithms or keywords that, when entered in the corresponding spaces, make the program in question execute the intended command. This includes everything from the criteria for storing and retrieving data to the opening of pop-up windows or the validation of an electronic payment. It is clear that faulty programming can result in a poor user experience.
What are the main advantages for Digital Managers?
Being able to handle some of the main programming languages can bring numerous benefits to Digital Managers. From the outset, your position as a digital salesperson will be much stronger, since your pages and applications will be more complete for clients and online users.
In line with the above, your role as a web programmer will help you stand out in the job market, arousing the interest of companies and other professionals in acquiring your services or offering to collaborate in a specific project. After all, these are specific skills that are in high demand in the current job market.
For their day-to-day work, the digital manager who has programming skills can establish a much more effective relationship with other programmers or web developers. They can request additional tasks from them and evaluate their offers. The same can be said about application development, for which programming language knowledge is essential.
With regards to the more customer-base side of the digital managers’ role, it is clear that a good command of programming languages will lead to the launch of better marketing campaigns. The ability to attract new users and increase customer loyalty will be greater.
Finally, another great advantage is the ability to communicate directly with the APIs of other websites. The Application Programming Interface allows you to establish a relationship between different systems. This can be used, for example, to include a map on your page from the Google Maps application.
What are the best programming languages for Digital Marketers?
There are dozens of great programming languages out there, depending on the specific needs of the website and the projects that the digital manager has in mind. However, there are three of them that currently stand out in the market: Javascript, Python and SQL.
Javascript
This is the most popular programming language for web developers. It’s considered to be a kind of “lightweight” programming language. It offers multiple animation possibilities and facilitates interactivity on any website. In addition, this system is used by both beginners and experts in large digital companies. Furthermore, many of the codes used in applications, such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, DoubleClick and Facebook are developed through the Javascript language.
Python
Python is a communication module especially used by online marketing professionals, who value its advantages for data analysis and its remarkable performance. Thus, it is not uncommon to find this language in ambitious digital marketing campaigns, with features such as data mining, SEO indexing or monitoring the performance of competitors, which are all automated. This is why the Python module is clearly geared towards almost exclusively professional use.
SQL
Technically speaking, SQL cannot be considered as a conventional Programming Language but Structured Query Language, since its features are geared towards the management of a large database. But we have included it here since it serves to make queries in order to easily retrieve information from databases, as well as make changes to them. To give you a very useful example, we could say that SQL is more like Excel for programmers that allows digital managers to obtain highly comprehensive and updated reports. As a suggestion, consider using this module in combination with data provided by Google Analytics. Without a doubt, it will be a winning combination.
