Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the various marketing activities that make up this varied, fast-paced industry. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing focuses on marketing efforts that take place primarily online. Strategies and campaigns work to encourage internet users to convert into customers or users of apps/websites.
Interested in digital marketing jobs? Read on to find out why you should work in digital marketing, what skills employers will be looking for, and which degrees will help you get a foot in the digital marketing door.
- Why work in digital marketing?
- What careers are available in digital marketing?
- What skills are needed to work in digital marketing?
- What degrees help with a career in digital marketing?
Why work in digital marketing?
Working in digital marketing offers a unique blend of creativity and technical expertise that can be highly satisfying. From using specialist software and tools to analysing and interpreting data, it’s an ideal field for those who either want to focus on a particular niche or grow a diverse skill set. Digital marketing can significantly impact a business’s success, which can be highly rewarding. It’s also pretty easy to measure and track success!
Digital marketing is a rapidly evolving industry driven by the boom of e-commerce and social media, meaning there are plenty of prospects for those looking to work here. Not only are opportunities abundant, but you can work in digital marketing across a wide range of industries and niches, all based on your preferences.
What careers are available in digital marketing?
Digital marketing as an industry offers many different career opportunities. Here’s a selection of common areas:
Paid Media
Paid media requires the purchase of media to place advertisements in front of the optimal audience and on appropriate platforms. Paid media advertising can include pay-per-click campaigns, display advertising, social media advertising, affiliate marketing, search engine marketing, and sponsored content. Other more traditional, yet still digital, paid media advertising includes television and radio advertising. Paid media campaigns are often easy to measure and establish results. Metrics can consist of impressions, engagement, and clicks on a campaign or how much website traffic is generated. A benefit of paid media is the ability to reach a large audience. It also allows for segmenting audiences to ensure marketers reach those who the product or service will be relevant to.
Job titles can include Digital Media Coordinator/Manager, Paid Media Executive/Lead/Manager, and Digital Marketing Coordinator/Manager.
SEO
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a term that describes helping search engines to better understand the content on a website. Optimising a website will help to show the website higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), meaning users should find the website easier.
SEO can be split into two categories, technical SEO and content SEO. Technical SEO involves improving the build and back end of a website to improve its visibility, speed, structure, and performance on search engines. Content SEO looks at creating keyword-targeted content that helps web pages rank higher in search engines. SEO can be measured through analytical platforms such as SEMRush and Google Analytics.
Job titles can include SEO Specialist, Content SEO Executive, and Technical SEO Executive.
Content Marketing
This is all about creating and distributing digital content such as blog posts, eBooks, webinars, social media posts, video content, podcasts, and infographics to attract, engage, and retain an audience. Content should be relevant and provide value to the defined audience, offering them either information or entertainment. It can also require a knowledge of keywords and SEO as detailed above. Through content marketing, businesses should experience increased sales by generating leads, improving customer engagement, and increasing customer loyalty.
Job titles can include Content Marketing Executive/Specialist, Digital Marketing Specialist, and Content Creator.
Website Development/Website Design
Website marketing is the process of building and developing a website to market a business online. Many skills go into website marketing, including SEO and content marketing detailed above, but also user experience (UX) design and coding. UX design is the process of developing a website to improve the user experience. Coding is a digital language such as HTML or CSS, used to programme and design the website. Website development can include creating website prototypes, conducting user research, understanding user psychology, and designing wireframes and user flows.
Job titles can include Website Designer, Website Developer, UX Designer, and Digital Marketing Specialist.
Email Marketing
Email marketing involves using email to connect with an audience, build brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, and promote a product or service. It helps to drive traffic to a website, increase sales, or offer valuable information. A great function of email marketing is segmentation, allowing for tailored communication with an audience at a specific point of their customer journey.
In addition to being a measurable channel through open rates, click rates, and bounce rates, email marketing provides opportunities to combine creativity with technical skills. Crafting visually engaging emails often involves designing with HTML and CSS, while A/B testing enables marketers to experiment with different designs, content, and strategies to optimise performance and outcomes.
Job titles can include Email Marketing Executive/Manager, CRM Specialist, and Digital Marketing Executive.
Social Media
Social media marketing involves creating content such as videos, images, and written content to connect with audiences, represent the brand, and build an online presence. Creativity is needed in making visually engaging content and a strategic mind to understand metrics and navigate the ever changing algorithms of platforms. While social media marketing can drive sales (especially through paid social media), its main goal is often to create brand awareness and build trust with an audience.
Job titles can include Social Media Coordinator/Manager, Digital Marketing Executive, Performance Marketing Manager, and Content Creator.
Affiliate Marketing
This is where marketers work with people and businesses to promote products or services. It is a performance tactic where the individual promoting the product or service will earn a commission for referring new customers and driving sales. Affiliate marketers may use various methods for generating sales such as search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, or search engine optimisation.
Job titles can include Affiliate Marketer, Content Creator, Affiliate and PR Manager, and Affiliate Community Manager.
What skills are needed to work in digital marketing?
If you want to pursue a career in digital marketing, there are skills you need to focus on, just like any industry. In digital marketing, soft skills are just as necessary as hard skills. There are some digital marketing paths, like videography or graphic design, for which you’ll need to provide evidence of your training and experience with potential employers. You can do this either with a portfolio or by sharing your education credentials.
But for more than a handful of digital marketing avenues, you’ll build up your experience as you go, starting either in an internship or entry-level position. And to get started here, this is where you want to demonstrate your soft skills. Think things like strong communication, being a team player, attention to detail, problem-solving, creativity, working under pressure and tight deadlines, and juggling different priorities.
You’ll also want to show your competency in or willingness to learn marketing-specific skills. These include analysis, creative thinking, understanding your customers and target audience, technical know-how, project management, and general IT skills.
What degrees help with a career in digital marketing?
If you’re interested in a career in digital marketing, there is more than one specific degree you can have. Degrees in business, advertising, and marketing are all great options, but communications, IT, English, journalism, or other humanities can be just as helpful. Employers tend to focus more on your experience, potential and skills rather than just your degree, but having one under your belt can give you an edge. This comes down to how competitive the industry is. To stand out even more, taking relevant courses in areas of digital marketing that interest you will only help to boost your CV.
Want to learn more about other careers available? Check out careers in other industries or look for jobs on the Unitemps website.
This article was written by Lois Neville.
Last updated on 26 November 2024
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