Python is the buzzword that’s making the rounds across all major business circles these days. Ever since data has become the focal point of business, programming skills is a feather that most serious professionals want in their caps.
For marketers, huge data sets are a part and parcel of everyday life. From processing large amounts of product data over a million years to figuring out which customer demographics responds the best to a shiny, new campaign, marketers may find themselves drowning in figures for a majority of their careers.
Learning how to code can help wade through some of these issues.
Should You, as a Marketer, Learn to Code?
While coding is in no way a panacea to all marketing problems, it can make number crunching and analysis simpler.
Some may argue that MS Excel does that job just fine – after all, a single spreadsheet can handle up to 2 GB of data. Yet, feed your Excel file over 50 MB of data at once and watch its efficiency and speed flounder. Moreover, with Excel, you will find yourself submerged under a pile of repetitive tasks, applying the same formulae over and over again across different products and clients. With coding, you can ditch the repetition and focus all that extra time on innovation!
Besides, with the world going digital, learning at least basic tech speak will only help your case with digitization and a stronger online presence. Here is how coding can help you up your marketing game:
- You can communicate with tech partners better about what exactly you want from your website or portal.
- You can save time and money with automating mundane tasks.
- You can build more targeted marketing campaigns using analytics.
- Programming will teach you better problem-solving skills.
- Coding will give you better digital marketing skills.
Choosing the Right Language
Once you’re convinced that coding can help you bring your a-game to the table as a marketer, the next step is to choose the right language. Several languages may come to mind: SQL, JavaScript, R, Python. For those who’ve done some research in this sphere, you will know that the contention is between R and Python for marketers, really.
While both languages are rooted in data science and subsequent visual representation, which can be a huge boon for marketers, there are some basic differences between the two. R is a functional programming language that was built by academicians and statisticians. Hence, the language is more nuanced. Python is largely object oriented, with user-friendly language that makes it accessible to non-math or non-tech folk.
Simply for its accessibility and ease of learning, Python for Marketers is a clear win, at least at the start of the journey. Moreover, Python is better at automation of manual data processes when compared to R. While R may be better for deep-dive statistical analysis, Python is more useful for deployment and reproducibility of said analysis. In short, Python for digital marketing is a sure shot to better visuals and consequently, a more engaged audience.
Four Ways Python Can Spruce Your Marketing Game
If you are still on the fence about whether Python for marketers will be useful enough, here are four ways to use the language in marketing:
1. Python for Marketing Automation
As already noted above, Python is great when it comes to automation. For instance, say you need to analyze weekly sales data every Friday. Instead of manually downloading it to Excel every week and then sorting through a slush pile of information, an appropriate Python script can pull relevant information from a database, write it onto a spreadsheet and sort it to your liking within seconds. You will only need to write the code once. In subsequent weeks, you can focus on data analysis and representation. Saved time, effort, and money!
2. Python for Campaign Automation
Say you bag an e-commerce client who needs an extensive marketing strategy that involves separate campaigns for each of its products. If the company has products in the tens, then individual marketing campaigns can be relatively easy to create. Now, imagine a client with 100+ products – creating and updating campaigns individually for each of them can be a nightmare. Python can help you automate the repetitive aspects of the campaign, thereby saving you a considerable amount of time and effort.
3. Python for Search Engine Optimization
In addition to content, social media, email marketing, video, ads, and promotions, SEO is an important component of digital marketing. Python for digital marketing can be a powerful tool that will help not only with automating the SEO process but also integrate all these components into an effective marketing campaign. Tools like an SEO analyzer in Python can help you improve your word count, meta descriptions, and on-page keywords to attract more traffic. Python will also help you check and fix broken links so your users have fewer error messages to deal with.
4. Python for Marketing Analytics
Apart from using Python for marketing research, automation, and optimization, Python can come in handy for analysis and visualization as well. Python can help with A/B testing to figure out which website version works best, generate keyword negatives, analyze user behaviour patterns, pinpoint campaign reach and outline demographics and help with decision-making in general. Python is also a great tool to analyze customer feedback. Using natural language processing, you can automate customer feedback processing and generate valuable insights.
Apart from these four ways, there are also many other ways in which artificial intelligence can be used by marketers, where Python would play a key role.
So, let’s look at how you can get started with Python!
How to Get Started
Now that you’re convinced about adding Python to your marketing CV, getting started on learning the language is fairly simple. Python is an open-source code, meaning that the resources to learn the language are available for free online. Download the program on Python.org as the first step.
Many online educational platforms like Coursera, Udemy and Udacity offer excellent courses to help you get started. For instance, Udemy’s Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming will have your basics covered. Or you could check out the Automate the Boring Stuff website directly to understand how to use python for marketing automation.
If you want to get started right at the basics, check out Coursera’s Python for Everybody. If you’d rather read, check out Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes for a pretty comprehensive beginner’s guide. To get answers from other fellow Python coders, post any doubts you may have on Stack Overflow, Reddit or GitHub to crowdsource solutions!
Key Takeaways
- Coding, though not necessary, can help marketers crunch data, analyze and visualize better.
- Python is the go-to programming language for newbie marketing coders due to its simple language, easy accessibility and wide-spread applicability.
- Python can be used for marketing automation, research, analytics and optimization.
- Python can be a boon for digital marketers, given its analytical and visualization capabilities.
- Since Python is an open-source language, you can get started with classes online.
