How Can You Grow as a Digital Marketer? - Job Roles and Career Opportunities

Until the last decade, digital marketing was something that was almost unheard of. Almost all companies were satisfied with traditional marketing channels and did not see the reason to change. A fresh college graduate would have never thought about building a career in digital marketing.

However, standing in 2020, the scenario looks remarkably different. Digital marketing is not anymore a luxury or a ‘nice to have’ option but is a mandate for businesses that want to keep up with the competition. With the evolution of technologies, digitization, and rapidly changing market dynamics, digital marketing is the only way forward to reach their audiences.

Also Read: Importance of digital marketing for businesses

Today’s market is content-driven, and people believe more in what others are saying about a product rather than believing in traditional marketing gimmicks produced by televisions and newspapers. With this shift in marketing strategy and industry outlook, digital marketers are now in high demand, and if you know how to do it the right way, there is no dearth of career opportunities for you.

Also, If you are eager to start your career in digital marketing, then enroll in the digital marketing free course offered by Great Learning

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing can be referred to as online marketing that makes use of electronic devices like mobile phones, laptops and tablets to reach target audiences. Digital marketing is an umbrella that includes different online strategies of marketing, including social media marketing, search engine marketing, Search engine optimization, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing and much more.

With the increase in the use of digital marketing, the demand for highly skilled digital marketing professionals also has risen. So, let us understand why pursue a career in digital marketing?

Why Digital Marketing is a good career?

Digital marketing is a growing industry, and the opportunities are endless if you are willing to learn and upskill yourself. These are few reasons why digital marketing is a good career option:

The demand-supply gap: Digital marketing skills are in good demand, and there is a wide digital skills gap in the job market. To fill that gap, more skilled digital marketing professionals are required. As a result, the demand for digital marketing professionals exceeds supply by 44% that means that you should take advantage of this high demand, as per Marketing Hiring Trends.

Also Read: 36 Digital Marketing Interview Questions in 2021

Bigger budgets in digital marketing: The brands are nowadays putting more attention on digital marketing, and for that, they need highly skilled digital marketing professionals. The companies have started allocating bigger budgets for digital marketing that creates more pay and a number of career choices for digital marketing professionals.

In-demand skill: Digital marketing skills are among the most in-demand skills of today. As a result, you can become an in-demand professional. As per the below graph, digital marketing is one of the essential skills for marketers today. According to Marketing Hiring Trends, the most in-demand expertise was digital marketing while hiring marketers in 2018.

Scope in digital marketing: There is plenty of scope for the people who want to enter the digital marketing industry. There are more career choices across industries and technologies and is a progressive field. One can go for SEO expertise, social media marketing expertise or can become a content specialist. It all depends on personal interest, emerging technologies and career needs.
Get a good start in your career: In the digital marketing industry, you get many opportunities to start your career and set yourself. Right from the companies like Google and Microsoft to small startups, new digital marketing professionals allow you to showcase your skills and start your career.
Showcase your creative skills: Digital marketing jobs provide you with a room to showcase your creativity in day-to-day activities. Whether it is in writing, design or development of products and marketing or in improving customer experiences. The job does not get boring.

Also Read: Why Now is the Best Time to Become a Digital Marketer? Why to Become Digital Marketer in 2021?

What are the top career options for a digital marketer?

More and more students and professionals are now more than willing to take up a career in digital marketing. Digital marketing is a vast field and you can pick up a career option that suits your interests and skills. Some of the career options for digital marketer include:

Digital Marketing Manager

It is one of the highest positions in the digital marketing field. A Digital marketing manager should have at least more than 5 years of experience in the field of digital marketing. The main responsibility of a digital marketing manager is to look after the digital marketing strategies that help drive more traffic for the business and develop digital marketing campaigns to allure more target audience.

Also Read: Digital Marketing Strategies: Ultimate Guide to make a Digital Marketing Plan.

Content marketing manager

Content is the base of all channels of digital marketing. Whether it’s a website, blog, social media posts, or any other marketing materials, it has no value without the right content. Relevant content can build a brand, drive traffic and help sell a product.

The power of content is immense and it can’t be ignored. If you have the ability to write compelling content with a thorough understanding of how digital marketing works, then making a career in content marketing can be a fulfilling one for you.

To get into this field, you should have an impeccable grip over the language with a fair understanding of SEO techniques. You would be required to work in a team and need to liaise with different stakeholders to gather inputs, understand the content trend, what format works better in each of the marketing channels, etc.

Also Read: 20 Actionable Content Marketing Tips for Digital Marketers

Search Engine Optimization Expert (SEO Expert)

With a mind-boggling number of websites coming up every day, there is a cut-throat competition to rank on top of Google’s search results. However, experts say that quality content with strategically used PPC can help your website grab the first spot. Hence the opportunities for SEO experts are enormous.

As an SEO expert, you need to research keywords, analyze web traffic, develop a social media strategy, content strategy, plan and organize campaigns to improve ranking. Apart from the technical skills, you can thrive better if you have leadership skills and the skill to adapt yourself quickly. The Google algorithm is constantly changing, and so you need to keep on working on new strategies.

Also Read: What is SEO? Types of SEO & How it is Important for Business growth?

Influencer

If you’re an expert in your field with a niche and have a strong social media presence with a huge number of followers, you can become a social media influencer. As an influencer, you will promote the brand among your followers as you incorporate them in your daily life.

UX/Graphic Designer

The role of a UX designer is critical. It is all about how a user feels when he/she is utilizing the app or website. From the look and feel to the emotional quotient, you need to engage with your customers. Graphic designers visually depict the concepts and ideas to inform and inspire the audience and illustrate business value. They create layouts and designs for communication materials such as Ads, magazines, brochures, presentations and much more.

PPC/SEM expert

Have you ever come across those ads at the side/bottom/top bars when you visit a website? Or Google’s sponsored search listings in the search page? That’s the job of a PPC/SEM expert. As a PPC expert, you will be generating lots of leads for the company. You will do so by managing the PPC keywords, generating reports, managing the budget for ads, splitting different ad groups alongside working with content creators for writing the ads and graphics designers for designing the landing pages. PPC experts are always in high demand because of the value they bring to the table.

Copywriter

A copywriter works with different professionals within the digital marketing team. If you think you can write better than what you read online/offline, you’re an ideal fit for this job category. As a copywriter, you will be helping the social media manager to write posts that should go viral or help the SEO specialist to write web content that will increase the organic traffic of the website. You will also need to write ad copies and any other content requests that the organization may have. A degree in English with lots of creativity will help you to bag a job as a copywriter. You also have the option to transition to a Content Marketing Manager role once you gather enough experience.

With the constantly increasing popularity of social media channels, social media marketing is growing by leaps and bounds. The basic idea is to leverage different social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, etc., to gain the target audience’s attention.

As a social media marketing expert, you will have to understand how each of these platforms works and how you can hook your customers to convert them to leads. Along with building the company’s brand on social media, you will also have to take care of the promotions, content and do social media ‘listening’ to monitor what people are saying about your brand. This portfolio has high responsibility, and hence you can expect a handsome salary.

Also Read: Social Media Marketing Trends Benefiting Business

How to start a career in digital marketing?

Getting a job in a high growth industry can be complex. However, the digital marketing field is a diverse one. It includes professionals with diverse skill sets who can be creatives, analysts or techies.

Also Read: Digital Marketing Resume Sample | How to make Digital Marketing Resume

Once you decide to enter into the digital marketing industry, be open to more knowledge and experience. Read more and more and aim to have a broad understanding of the industry that should include and not be limited to Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Content Marketing, Pay Per Click marketing, copywriting, web analytics and much more. Read some blogs, which will guide you to this vast industry. Here is the list of few blogs that you can consider reading:

You can also start freelancing your services as a digital marketer, content writer or as another role. Start writing your blogs, create social media posts, write text for ads and learn keyword research.

You can also take an internship in one of the startups or marketing agencies to learn actual industry work. Last but not least, get a job and learn on the job. This would help you a lot in building a rewarding career in digital marketing.

Also Read: Top 10 Startups in India – Everyone Should Know

The good part is, unlike other industries or job roles; you do not need any formal qualification or degree in order to start your career in digital marketing. All you need is your interest, knowledge, talent and skills to learn and build a career in the field.

Why become a digital marketer in 2023? Benefits of being a digital marketer

The business world has been gravitating towards a digital revolution for quite a while. However, this year’s pandemic has accelerated this move quite drastically. Perhaps the only good carryover from COVID-19 is that it has compelled us to look for alternatives to traditional ways of conducting business.

As consumers continue to be confined to their homes, marketing experts across industries started improvising their strategies to accommodate this change. More than ever, digital marketing strategies are helping businesses to meet users where they are available.

Digital marketing is increasingly becoming the go-to option for businesses around the world because of a number of reasons. If you are considering moving your business models to adapt to digital marketing, now is the time to do that. The entire business world is more open to change now than ever before. If you are a business owner who wants to learn the basics of digital marketing then this is the time to get adopt to this new world. More importantly, these unprecedented times of social distancing, self-isolation and home quarantine are changing user behaviour for times to come. Consumers are discovering new ways of engaging with brands and that in turn will impact their purchase behaviour and decision. Hence, this is a best time to become a digital marketer.

Benefits of Being a Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing Helps Your Budget
Digital marketing is the Present and the Future
Digital Marketing Targets the Right Channels of Communication
New Tools and Technologies to Boost Growth
Improved conversion Rates
Scale at Ease
Training and Upskilling is Easy

Digital Marketing Helps Your Budget:

This pandemic might have impacted businesses across industries adversely and cash flow might have become a problem for many. However, that’s not to say you can’t continue business as usual or even scale it up under such circumstances. Digital marketing is, in fact, the perfect solution for everyone who is looking to cut back marketing expenses and improve their ROI. Unless you are investing in paid campaigns, most of the regular digital marketing practices are quite low cost. Whether it is the expense of creating your website and keeping it running or reaching your audience through social media, email, or content marketing, digital marketing will bring down your costs significantly.

2. Digital marketing is the Present and the Future:

Smart devices have become an indispensable part of our lives today and research have shown that the average screen time for an individual is significantly higher than it was even two years back, generating interesting and valuable data. If anything this trend is only going to grow in the future. Marketers keen on growing their businesses are tapping into this digital space. SEO has emerged as an important tool in a marketer’s kit because having an online presence is not enough. A good SEO strategy will help your online content appear at the top of the search engine ranks so that it is more accessible for your audience.

Also, If you are interested in learning SEO from the scratch then enroll in this SEO Course offered by Great Learning

3. Digital Marketing Targets the Right Channels of Communication:

Meet your audience on the platforms where they are spending a vast majority of their time. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest are the top-performing channels and see huge footfalls everyday. Take your game to the right channels so that you meet your target audience halfway through. By doing so you are also establishing yourself as a brand that cares about your customers. Instead of broadcasting through billboards and traditional TV ads you are opening up a two-way communication channel. Digital media campaigns often enable your audience to reach back with feedback. In fact, you can personalise the customer experience each time you engage with them, thereby building brand loyalty.

4. New Tools and Technologies to Boost Growth:

With analytical tools like Google analytics leading the brigade, the field of digital marketing is now equipped with a number of effective tools for easy dissemination of content for a wider reach of audience through emails, SEO, social media and more. You will also find tools that will help you A/B test your campaigns to understand which works better with your audience. Monitor and analyse your performance continually to understand trends of what’s working for you. Marketing tools are continuously evolving to keep up with the demands of the market. The industry itself has grown and started showing better results than traditional marketing at times.

5. Improved conversion rates:

The moment you create your website you give your audience an easier route to reach your business. Unlike traditional marketing where you advertise your product and leave it to them to call your service or visit the local shops for your product, digital marketing is all about enabling your customers to make purchases easier and faster. Once they visit your website, they are actually only a few clicks away from the product purchase, as every detail required (product information, purchase details etc) are already available online.

6. Scale at Ease:

Digital marketing is democratic. It gives you a true chance to compete with the big players in the market. Whether it is the competitor research or the scale of your business, with digital marketing the process is more transparent. Being updated with your competitor’s strategies will help you understand the market better and improve your own campaigns. You can also scale up at any given time because with digital marketing all your strategies and results are measurable.

7. Training and Upskilling is Easy:

Upskilling in this domain doesn’t take huge investments and most of the courses are available online. The pandemic has made us all homebound, leaving us with the extra time that you can invest in yourself. There are several digital marketing courses available online that will help you understand the core concepts, applications, and best practices of the domain. Picking up a new skill will engage your cognitive powers in an effective way and also improve your chances of understanding the current market.

However, if you take up a digital marketing course or a degree in digital marketing in India, it would be an add-on to your resume. You can check out online digital marketing program that are career-focused and help you get a job in the top companies.

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