A Career in Digital Marketing: The Discussion

The excitement surrounding the digital marketing industry today can easily be compared to the excitement that surrounded the IT/Software industry in the late 90’s too early 2000. Not only that, but these two industries have one more thing in common; just like at the beginning of IT/Software industry, it was easy to accelerate one’s career in a fast-growing industry, it is really easy and beneficial for anyone to join the digital marketing industry today and jumpstart their career to reach new heights. However, if you need more concrete reasons for joining the digital marketing industry and starting a career, keep reading this article.

Top reasons for starting a career in digital marketing:

• A combined study done by KPMG and CII states that by the year 2020 more than 20 lakh digital marketing jobs will be created in India. The profile for technical and analytics professionals is going to have a high demand. In the last few years, the demand for digital marketing professionals has only increased. Around 12k jobs related to this industry were posted on various online job portals, and every year the number is only increasing. Suffice to say, it is the best time to begin your career in this industry.
• Today a graduate without any professional experience can expect a salary of 10-20 thousand per month. Digital marketers can demand a higher salary due to the demand and supply gap in digital marketing. A Head of Digital Marketing in big companies can get from 2-3 lakhs every month. With an exceptional educational background such as IIT or IIM, people can earn more in this industry.
• The number of Smartphone users in India is increasing day by day. According to studies conducted by TOI, the number of internet users in India will be somewhere around 730M by 2020. Ours is the second largest internet population, right after China. So it is quite obvious that with such a growth in internet usage, the companies and startups are going to try and reach more audience through the internet, and the demand for digital marketing professionals is only going to increase.
• The overall growth in every industrial sector in India is bound to affect the digital marketing sector in a positive way; whether it is the increase of investment in the digital marketing campaign by big companies or the growth of Indian e-commerce industry. Becoming a part of the digital marketing industry has never before been more beneficial than it is now.

Types of job profile in the Digital Marketing industry:

There are a number of job profiles in the Digital Marketing industry that you can consider depending on your qualification and skills, such as –

• Digital Marketing Executive: this is an entry-level position. If you are a complete newbie to this industry, this is probably going to be the position you’d acquire when you join a digital marketing organization, or you can also join as SEO executive, SEM executive, Social Media Manager, etc. in this specific job profile, you’d have to work with a team leader or manager, conducting many tasks such as testing, content development, research, etc.
• Digital Marketing Specialist: after having at least 2 years of experience as Digital Marketing executive of SEO or SEM executive, you can be promoted to a specialist position such as n SEO expert or SEM expert, or maybe Content Marketing expert. In such a position, even though you would have to report to the manager, you’d still be expected to make a lot of the decisions independently.
• Digital marketing analyst: Agencies with a heavy focus on SEO, SEM, and Social Media Marketing have needed skilled strategic and analytic professionals. The professionals in this specific profiles act more like a guide or consultant for the team leader and manager. They contribute across several departments. A strategist’s job is to improve the overall effectiveness of digital marketing strategies being implemented by the agency.
• Head of Digital Marketing: this is the most senior profile for the digital marketing industry. Companies with an integrated marketing campaign, the digital marketing head reports to the Chief Marketing Officer, who is responsible for the entire marketing function for the organization.

The above roles, however, are not standardized. They vary depending on the organizations and what they need. But all these job profiles have tremendous growth possibilities and continuous learning, making them a great choice for career option whether you are a professional or a student.

Kinds of the organization that require a Digital Marketing professional:

The variety of job profiles and opportunities make the online marketing career seem like a bigger opportunity. There are basically three kinds of organizations that require Digital Marketing Professional.

• Digital Marketing Agencies: these are agencies who provide digital marketing services to the clients. These small, mid or large digital marketing agencies can offer services that include SEO, SEM, Social Media Marketing, etc. these days advertising agencies also offer digital marketing services. Working in such an agency means you’d be able to enjoy a variety of work due to the variety of clients, however, it’ll be very hard to delve deeper into working on one brand.
• Brands that require digital marketing professionals: there are many brands that require digital marketing professionals. These brands, instead of getting the services from any digital marketing agency, employ their own team for marketing their brand online. While you can enjoy a variety of work and clients working with a digital marketing agency, working for a specific brand lets you get an in-depth experience.
• Digital marketing platform companies: there are a number of digital marketing platforms such as Google, LinkedIn, Facebook etc. these companies have their own need for a digital marketing professional. The work type and experience varies with these companies when compared to working for agencies and brands it is a lot different. Job opportunities are limited but they have a much higher salary.

Except for these full-time jobs, you can also work part-time or as a freelancer, offering your digital marketing expertise to those who do not want to pay the hefty amount demanded by digital marketing agencies.

Important Skills to become a successful digital Marketing professional:

Added to the technical skills absolutely important for making it big as a digital marketing professional, there are a few other skills you would need to make sure of your success.

1. Analytical ability: it is a critical skill you need to be able to become successful as a digital marketing professional. It is key strength you have to possess to solve all and every problem you would face in your professional field.
2. Creativity: the digital marketing field needs its professionals to be quick and creative. The amount of content that you would have to create and handle, it is imperative that you have your creative skills on point.
3. A thirst for knowledge: digital marketing is a dynamic field where one is learning and evolving every day. So you have to be open to new adventures and knowledge. Having an open mind and thirst for new knowledge will serve you good for your career.
4. Good communication skills: good written and vocal communication skills are important. You need to communicate well with your client and audience and without good communication skills, you’d have to depend on external sources which are not always efficient.
5. Multitasking abilities: internet marketing campaigns in most cases include continuous activities. So you need to have some serious multitasking abilities to handle all the marketing campaigning tasks and make sure everything goes smoothly.
6. Passion for digital marketing work: the professionals in this field who are truly passionate about their work are a lot more successful compared to those who are not really passionate.
7. Networking skills: networking skills, especially online, is important for any digital marketing specialist to stay updated with the latest trends in internet marketing.
8. Tech savvy: since it is digital marketing, and most of it deals with the digital aspect of life i.e. with Smartphone’s, computers, etc, you need to be a little tech savvy. If not, at least being comfortable with technology is required if you want to make a career out of digital marketing.
9. Experimental tendencies: since it is an evolving industry without any defined rules and regulations for things, you have to have a little experimental ability. It plays an important part in making you successful in tricky marketing campaigns.

Conclusion:

So, in conclusions, we can easily say that a career in digital marketing is an incredibly attractive career option. With enough skills, training, and willingness, anyone can make it big in this industry. But it is not without its challenge. The digital marketing industry is growing rapidly and offering a career that offers growth and success with its own challenges. If you think you can easily handle the challenges while also carving out your own piece of success, then you should definitely choose Digital Marketing as a career option.