Advice

If your marketing isn't measurable, it's guesswork, and guesswork doesn't scale.

Digital marketing used to be a tangle of banners and email blasts. Now it's an ecosystem where data, creativity and ethics collide. After 15 years helping teams from Sydney start ups to Melbourne healthcare groups sharpen their digital chops, I'm still struck by how often people treat digital marketing as a series of tactics instead of a craft that requires both technical fluency and human judgement.

Why this matters: in Australia right now, almost every household is online. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 96% of Australian households had internet access in 2022 2023. That's not just reach, it's opportunity. But opportunity is noisy and fleeting. If you want to be heard, you need skills that mix analytics, storytelling and adaptability.

The landscape keeps changing, and so must you Platforms evolve, algorithms shift, privacy laws nudge marketing practice. Remember when third party cookies were a given? Now they're a relic for some advertisers and a strategic pain for others. Artificial intelligence isn't a neat tool you switch on; it's reshaping how campaigns are planned, personalised and optimised. If you aren't investing in continual learning, you're going to be left behind.

Here's an uncomfortable opinion: certifications and practical experience often outrank big degrees in digital marketing hiring. Recruiters will tell you they care about outcomes, can you demonstrate lifts in conversion, retention, engagement? A glossy diploma doesn't always show that. Some will disagree. Fine. But it's true in practice.

Technical skills that matter (and why) You don't need to be a developer. But you do need to speak the language of technologists and data analysts.

Analytics and interpretation: This is table stakes. It's not about dashboards for the sake of dashboards, it's about turning data into actions. If your metric is vanity, your decisions will be hollow. Learn to frame hypotheses, run quick tests, and attribute results properly. Be comfortable with A/B testing, cohort analysis and basic SQL or spreadsheet models. These let you prove what works.
SEO and SEM: Organic discovery remains the cheapest long term traffic engine. Knowing keyword intent, on page fundamentals and the interplay between technical SEO and content strategy will save you money and give you leverage when paid tactics get expensive.
Content Management Systems: WordPress, Shopify, headless CMS, they're not glamorous, but understanding them keeps you nimble. A marketer who can edit a landing page at 2am without ringing IT is valuable.
Basic coding literacy: HTML, CSS, familiarity with APIs and tags will get you a long way. Not because you should write production code, but because you will be able to implement and diagnose tracking, troubleshoot form submissions and talk to developers in their language.
CRM and marketing automation: Personalisation scales through systems. If you can design customer journeys and map out triggers, you'll create experiences that keep customers rather than just win new ones.
Paid channels and attribution: Paid social and search are essential levers. You should understand creative testing, bidding strategies and how to measure incrementality, not just last click attribution. A clear view of ROI separates good media buying from gambling.

Soft skills that make technical talent valuable Technical chops win you access. Soft skills win you influence.

Storytelling and communication: Data without narrative is sterile. Be the person who can translate a complex analysis into a short, persuasive brief. Tell the story of the Customer. Bring a campaign's why to life.
Creative thinking: Algorithms reward novelty. If every brand looks the same on the feed, novelty stands out. Creativity here isn't just flair, it's constrained problem solving. How do you tell a brand story in 6 seconds? How do you repackage long form content for LinkedIn and TikTok without losing the message?
Critical thinking: Don't worship the numbers. Question assumptions. Ask whether uplift came from creative, timing, or external factors. Causation matters.
Adaptability and learning agility: Platforms change monthly. Tools change weekly. Your capacity to learn quickly is a competitive advantage.
Emotional intelligence: Great marketers read the social temperature. They understand tone, sensitivity and cultural nuance. This is especially important in Australia, our audience is diverse and highly connected; campaigns that miss cultural cues can cause reputational damage fast.

Workflows that win (and the debate about outsourcing) A divisive take: I favour in house capability for strategy and creative direction, with tactical execution outsourced where it makes sense. Why? Because strategy requires deep Business context, an outsourced agency can't know the product's nuances or the sales team's hang ups in the same way you can. Yet specialised tasks, large scale video production, complex data integrations, are often better handled by experts.

Some people will argue the opposite, that agencies bring objectivity and scale. Also valid. The pragmatic approach is hybrid: build strategic competence in house, partner externally for scale and specialist skills. At Paramount we see the best results from tight collaboration between internal teams and focused agencies.

Ethics, privacy and consumer trust This isn't a footnote. Data driven marketing sits on a social contract. Consumers expect relevance, but they also expect respect. Transparency about data use, opt in practices and careful personalisation are no longer optional.

A firm view: ethical marketing is a competitive advantage. Brands that are upfront about data use and respectful about targeting earn loyalty. Those that don't? They might win short term clicks but risk long term trust. In an age of increased regulatory scrutiny and savvy consumers, your marketing should be accountable. Period.

How to build a learning programme that sticks You can't rely on one workshop or box of e learning modules. Here's an approach that works in organisations I've coached:

Combine microlearning with deep practice. Short, practical sessions (90 minutes) for new tools; longer, immersive days for strategic frameworks.
Project based learning. People retain skills when they apply them. Assign a small campaign as the course capstone, real KPIs, real budget, real accountability.
Cross functional squads. Pair a digital marketer with a product owner, a salesperson, and a data analyst. That cross pollination solves blind spots.
Regular retrospectives. Make learning iterative. What worked? What didn't? What will we test next?
Mentoring and internal knowledge sharing. Senior marketers mentor juniors. Weekly show and tells keep momentum.

Tools and resources worth your time I'll be blunt: tools are useful, not magical. Pick a stack that matches scale and budget. For many mid sized Australian businesses, a sensible stack looks like:

Google Analytics + GA4 fundamentals (reporting, events)
A tag manager (to avoid developer bottlenecks)
An email/CRM platform (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce depending on complexity)
A CMS (WordPress, Shopify)
A paid media platform (Meta/Google) with a creative testing workflow
A BI/visualisation tool for cross channel dashboards

Don't overload. Better to master a few and integrate them well than to play tool roulette.

Learning paths that actually work If you're starting from scratch, here's a pragmatic pathway:

Month 1 3: Foundations, analytics basics, SEO fundamentals, social advertising principles, and practical CMS work.
Month 4 6: Applied skills, run a paid channel trial, build a customer journey in your CRM, deliver a content series optimised for search.
Month 7 12: Scale and strategy, lead a cross functional campaign, dive into attribution modelling, implement an optimisation loop.

Online courses and certifications have value, but choose wisely. Look for programmes that require practical deliverables, not just multiple choice quizzes. I'm pro certification when it demonstrates applied work. Some employers will value Google Skillshop or Meta Blueprint; others prefer evidence of results. Both are useful.

Networking, communities and the experimental mindset A subtle but critical point: digital marketing is social learning. The best ideas aren't in textbooks. They're in Slack channels, meet ups, and over coffee with a media buyer who's tried a new creative format. Join local chapters, attend a workshop in Melbourne or Brisbane, and participate in forums with practical exchange.

Also, experiment. Keep a small budget for "what if" tests. Some of the best insights come from intentionally ridiculous ideas that force you to think differently. Test, learn, rinse, repeat.

A few myths I'd like to kill now

Myth: More data equals better marketing. Not always. It's the right data plus the right question that matters.
Myth: You must be on every new platform. No. Be where your audience is, deeply.
Myth: Creativity is optional if you have good data. Never true. Creativity drives attention. Data guides precision.

The role of leadership Leaders often underinvest in learning because it's hard to quantify. Short sighted. A systemic program that increases conversion rates, reduces churn and raises lifetime value pays for itself. Leaders need to set a learning agenda, allocate time, and protect focus from the tyranny of the urgent.

Training isn't babysitting people through a slide deck. It's building muscle. The ROI shows up when teams can iterate quickly, reduce wasted ad spend and launch better products with clearer go to market thinking.

Final, slightly controversial view I think every senior marketer should be able to run a basic data model and write a brief that guides creative. If you can't do either, you are out of touch. That might sound harsh, but the discipline of modern marketing demands it. At the same time, please don't outsource strategy thinking to the cheapest consultant. Value your internal people. Invest. Train. Mentor.

We help teams do exactly that, practical upskilling that aligns to business KPIs, not just theoretical frameworks.

This isn't the end of the story. It's the starting gun. Keep learning. Keep testing. Stay curious.

Sources & Notes Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2022 23, reported 96% of Australian households had internet access in 2022 23. Publication: ABS.