There\u2019s a fabled, mythical beast that prowls the jungles of digital marketing. They have no issues with running and analyzing crawler data, offering suggestions for server-side redirects, building remarketing audiences, implementing tag management solutions, speaking of Data Layers, copy-pasting code from Stack Overflow, configuring bid managers, and speaking at conferences presenting on all the aforementioned activities. However, for some reason, they still claim that they are \u201cnon-technical\u201d, or \u201cjust marketers\u201d.<\/p>\n
This archetype is only enforced by conference presenters who actually apologize<\/em> before showing a slide that might have some JavaScript (heaven forbid!), or by bloggers who do the same if they need to show some code or even a screenshot of an HTML template in their articles! What\u2019s up with that? If it\u2019s necessary to include code to get the point across, then why not just present it without treating it as some bogeyman that needs to be exorcized through ridicule?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why focus on dumbing things down for this imaginary, unskilled audience, rather than tactfully steering them towards a path where they can enhance<\/strong> their technological aptitude?<\/p>\n I just don\u2019t get it. The whole polarization of non-technical vs. technical is silly and artificial, and nothing irks me as much as this constant undervaluing of the human capacity to learn new things. Code allergy should be a thing of the past by now. Why not instead embrace the fact that our industry is rife with opportunities to not only understand more about the technology stack we work with, but also to combine this technical know-how with our marketing skills for some true hybrid insight?<\/p>\n Anyway, my point is that if you\u2019re working in digital marketing, you are already \u201ctechnical\u201d. I\u2019m really sorry about this, but that\u2019s just the way it is. Non-technical (digital) marketer<\/em> is an oxymoron.<\/p>\n You already possess a set of skills that requires training, education, and a technology-oriented mind to handle. You are firmly situated in a continuum of learning, which doesn\u2019t subscribe to a binary world of \u201ctechnical\u201d vs. \u201cnon-technical\u201d, but rather comprises a vast number of skills that each conspire to make you better at what you do for a living.<\/p>\n In fact, it\u2019s impossible to categorize the complexity of human experience, yet for some reason we find ourselves doing so in our daily routines, and (sub)consciously subscribe to prototypes that don\u2019t really exist. This is why job titles suck – especially those that imply proficiency in some skills (and, via inference, lack thereof in others).<\/p>\n \n \n Subscribe to the Simmer newsletter<\/a> to get the latest news and content from Simo Ahava into your email inbox!\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n If you work in digital and you\u2019ve always considered yourself \u201cnon-technical\u201d, the first thing to do is accept the fact that you\u2019re not. Indeed, you are a \u201ctechie\u201d, a \u201cnerd\u201d, and a \u201cgeek\u201d (choose which one works best). The main question is what skills you currently possess, and what learning track you\u2019re on.<\/p>\n To help you with this discovery, I recommend looking at people in your industry to see how they\u2019ve evolved over the years. There are so many folks out there who possess the tech skills required to successfully navigate the digital ocean, and you can rest assured they weren\u2019t born with this talent. They\u2019ve had to study, learn, work, toil, starve, and sweat to get to where they are now.<\/p>\n To get you started, take a look at what Aleyda Solis<\/a>, Annie Cushing<\/a>, Mike King<\/a>, Mike Arnesen<\/a>, Carmen Mardiros<\/a>, Mark Edmondson<\/a>, David Vallejo<\/a>, Dan Wilkerson<\/a>, Linda Lawton<\/a>, and Annemarie Klaassen<\/a> are doing and sharing. They are just a handful of skilled people out of a multitude, who, in addition to being really good at what they do, are extremely generous with knowledge transfer and inspiring others to improve.<\/p>\n Also, take a look at the MeasureCamp<\/a> (un)conference. It\u2019s mainly around digital analytics, but the concept is brilliant in that it minimizes ego and sales pitches (two things that kill any good conference presentation), and instead focuses solely on sharing and learning together.<\/p>\n Other than that, dig deep inside you and find out just what part of your current skillset is lacking. Why do you call yourself \u201cnon-technical\u201d? Is it because you don\u2019t know how to code? Head on over to Codecademy<\/a> to rectify that. Is it because you don\u2019t understand enough about the browser stack to be confident in your technical SEO skills? Take a look at The Technical SEO Renaissance<\/a> by the inimitable Mike King to see where technical SEO is today. Or perhaps you\u2019re interested in mobile optimization<\/a>, web analytics<\/a>, and conversion optimization<\/a>?<\/p>\n There\u2019s something for each gap in your skill set.<\/p>\n So, all you need to do is roll up your sleeves and get to work. Once you accept the fact that you\u2019re not \u201cnon-technical\u201d, it\u2019s just a question of opening the flood gates and letting the deluge of knowledge carry you away.<\/p>\n![\"Non-technical](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2017\/07\/non-technical-marketer.jpg\")
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\n The Simmer Newsletter<\/strong>\n <\/p>\nWhat can be done?<\/h2>\n
So should we stop reinforcing these stupid, arbitrary silos?<\/h2>\n