Top Digital Marketing Areas as Career Tracks

With an understanding of how digital marketers can develop and position their careers, in this section, we would cover the top digital marketing areas which are opening up as career tracks for aspiring professionals. The T-shaped model provides a good framework which lists the most prominent areas and roles (see Fig.11.1).

Figure 11.2 The T-Shaped Web Marketer by Volume Nine

Courtesy: V9SEO/VOLUME NINE

The most popular and upcoming digital marketing career tracks include:

• SEO Manager: Search Engine Optimization is one of the most popular and sought-after career options for aspiring digital marketers. At the same time, it requires a lot of patience and skill on a day-to-day level, as the output is dependent on regular changes in search engines, keyword rules, rankings, etc. Key SEO career areas include SEO Analyst, Web/SEO Copywriter, Keyword Strategist, Link Builder, etc.
• PPC Executive: Most adjacent to a career in SEO is one in Paid Search Marketing which includes career options like Campaign Analyst, Campaign Manager, Account Manager, Copywriter, etc. With increasing digital and e-commerce businesses in India, this is one of the most sought-after careers and supporting this recent spurt is a lot of funding money being pumped in through advertising of start-ups and new-age internet firms.
• Social Media Marketing: With social media gaining highest prominence among digital marketing techniques with wide applications and integrations across other digital marketing areas, multiple career options have opened up in this crucial area. Key profiles include social media analyst, online community manager, communications specialist, apps manager, blogger, social media manager, etc.
• Content Manager: Content marketing being touted as the ‘next-big-thing’ in digital marketing is opening up a lot of interesting positions for digital marketers, key among them being content writers, design and multimedia profiles, web content editors, art directors, content managers, etc. There is also a growing demand for professionals who have combined Content +SEO skill sets as both of them together support content creation and discovery for newer leads.
• UX Designers and Developers: The need for brilliant and contemporary designs to create mockups, develop architecture design, and prototypes is ushering in a wave of career options for UX designers and developers, key among them being UX researcher, visual designer, interaction designer, information architect, UX managers, UX directors, etc.
• E-commerce Management: With e-commerce on a high growth track globally and especially in India, multiple technology, management, marketing and content-related jobs have sprung up in the past two years, prominent of those being e-commerce site development, web and application design, e-commerce payments management, search and display advertising, product marketing, content development, channel management, etc.
• Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing, though a very specific digital marketing area, has risen in stature with the rise of e-commerce and the possibility to cater to niche and local segments. It thus provides career opportunities (similar to the ones listed above for e-commerce) across multiple workstreams including design, technology, content, and commerce.
• Display Advertising: Display advertisers have an option to work directly with agencies, advertisers, internet start-ups, large IT companies as all of them need strong display advertising skills these days. The key roles offered to starters in this field include account executive, media buying, trafficker, campaign manager, programmatic buying manager, quality assurance executive, among others.
• CRM Specialist: With Customer Relationship Management tools coming of age and supporting multiple sales and marketing needs of firms, it is becoming important to have multiple specialists in CRM, those who have a knowhow of the tool in terms of technology, execution, analytics, and lead management. Key CRM career areas include CRM tool analyst, database administrator, data architect, digital marketing manager.
• Mobile Marketing: With mobile being the fastest growing platform on the digital side, it is no surprise that multiple job profiles have emerged specific to mobile marketing in areas of mobile technology, channel management, customer management, data, content, advertising, etc. Key roles include segment marketing manager, communications manager, platform marketing, mobile analytics, location services specialist, mobile campaign manager, mobile app marketing, customer acquisition manager, mobile advertising, and many more.

Apart from these, there are many other new areas which are gaining traction as digital marketing careers including inbound marketing, marketing automation, public relations, marketing analytics, community manager, video marketing, mobile apps development, etc. It is crucial that career aspirants thoroughly analyze which key areas they want to develop their expertise in and build in-depth experience in one of them for viable career differentiation, although it might be reiterated that an overall knowledge of marketing, technology, content, design, and commerce would stand all aspirants in good stead.