Why Does Digital Literacy Matter For Marketers In Today's Age?

Since the development of the internet and technology, literacy has taken on additional meanings along with its classic definition as the ability to read, write, and understand written language. Digital literacy has become critical due to the overabundance of media and information in the digital world.

If you're interested in learning more about digital literacy and why it is important for marketers, read on.

What is Digital Literacy?

According to the American Library Association (ALA), digital literacy uses technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information. Digital literacy helps someone get a basic grasp of computers and enables them to comprehend, read, and create media.

Importance of Digital Literacy for Marketers

1. Social Media Equipments

Before jumping into open waters, we must first learn how to swim. Similarly, in this era of the digital world, marketers must equip themselves with social media before stepping into it. Getting accustomed to technology is the foundation of digital literacy. A marketer's odds of success and avoiding delayed content are higher the more familiar they are with the platform. Digital literacy gives marketers a competitive edge over rivals and how their audience consumes their content.

2. An Era of (Mis)Leading Story

In the age of COVID-19, scrutinizing information is critical. Media-literate marketers must understand the full context of what they're sharing or referencing in brand feeds, whether reviewing the source's credibility on a news story or understanding the entire backstory of a viral meme.

With Digital Literacy, everyone can distinguish between authentic content and conspiracies, even for theories with well-made video content. Marketers must respect their audience's requirement for current, reliable information as media producers and distributors.

3. Get to know Each Other.

An old marketing jargon says, 'Step in your customers' shoes to understand their perspective'. And it works too. Marketers can stay abreast of consumer mood and interest by following media trends.

Knowing your niche is only one aspect of this. Understanding their thoughts, difficulties, and how their behaviour changes is equally important. Marketers can better make decisions for their brand with this more detailed data.

4. The Age of Data

In this epoch, data is the monarch in the marketing world. Data helps marketers to understand consumers very closely. Fortunately, social media tools help gather enough information to analyze and report for effective marketing. Reporting on marketing initiatives enables deeper digital literacy and tremendous success by assisting marketers and other team members in an organization in understanding the efficacy of media campaigns.

5. The Never-ending Learning Loop

Marketing professionals actively participate in consumers' ongoing efforts to become more media literate. We all have to remain informed because fake or shady news is now common and appears in everyone's feeds. A constant effort should be made to keep up with changes in the social realm. A slight change in platforms and messaging trends, if not addressed, the results can suffer.

As our world relies increasingly on electronic and digitally connected gimmicks, digital literacy has become the need of the hour. As for marketers, digital literacy is a must for survival. To become an effective digital marketer, you need to understand the media tools, learn how to interpret data, research content authenticity and catch up with the ever-evolving trends.

While this may seem like a hell of a task, one can develop these skills through an MBA in Digital Marketing. Ranked 2nd Best MBA College in Kolkata by TOI, BIBS collaborated with the Global Industry Advisory Council to develop an industry-recognized curriculum for its MBA in Digital Marketing program. Students get to work on live projects and case studies and also develop practical skills with global exposure through an International Internship Program.

Transform Your Marketing Career with BIBS, an MBA College in Kolkata.