With knowledge of the key digital marketing career tracks, in this last section of the book, we will share key tips for digital marketing aspirants on the things to keep in mind while approaching a career in digital marketing.
Key tips for aspiring digital marketers:
- Know the terminology: It is crucial for newcomers in digital marketing to get their basics right in terms of key concepts and terminologies across major digital marketing areas like search, display, mobile, analytics, automation, etc. Learners should read from a variety of sources including marketing textbooks, online e-books, prominent digital marketing sites, etc., to gather maximum knowledge and exposure.
- Develop your personal brand: A strong and digitally active personal brand is important in present times to make the right impact in front of an employer. Being present on LiknedIn and Twitter is crucial, not only to be found but to also amplify personal messages to intended audience and make an impact with one’s knowledge and experience. Klout is a great tool which gives a score of one’s online influence and tools like these could be used to measure the digital brand value created over time.
- Follow the T-shaped model: As discussed earlier in the second section of this chapter, following the T-shaped model of learning is important as it lays emphasis not only on specializing in one key digital marketing area, but also having holistic knowledge of other areas without which a digital marketer will not be able to grow as a multi-faceted professional. Since most of the companies that start with digital marketing have budgets only for one or two resources, it is always useful for marketers to cross-function to improve their employability and market standing.
- Get certified: With the growing importance of digital marketing, certifications in multiple areas are now available from prominent associations, companies, and online training institutes with the most popular ones being provided by Google, Content Marketing Institute (CMI), Hubspot Academy, Coursera, MarketingProfs, Copyblogger, etc. These certifications stand digital marketing entrants in good stead to apply for digital marketing jobs across the spectrum.
- Hands-on experience is crucial: Digital marketing is quite an operations-led area wherein it is essential for practitioners to have hands-on experience to most of the digital marketing aspects be it e-mailing, campaign management, marketing communications, social selling, etc. Gather as much experience as possible working across multiple projects and assignments (if you are just starting) as it would help showcase your integrated digital marketing skills to prospective employers.
- Regular skill updation is a must: Digital marketing, being an ever-evolving field is hugely impacted by changes in business practices and technology. It is crucial for professionals to regularly update themselves on new product releases, platform changes, emerging media, etc. Not only is it crucial to keep oneself abreast of the latest news and reports, but also keep learning newer skills to map relevant market changes and develop sensible integrated future strategies for business.
- Grasp underlying technologies: Being a digital marketer, it is crucial to have a working know-how of key underlying technologies to work with developers, designers, and other web specialists to understand the impact of changes in these fields. A high-level knowledge of basic internet technologies, HTML, CSS and, if possible, a couple of languages would keep digital marketing aspirants in good stead.
- Be metrics driven: It is crucial that whichever area of digital marketing a professional wants to excel, he/she should have a complete metrics-driven plan and approach since all of digital marketing has to finally justify the cost of marketing to showcase intended RoI. A marketer needs to have a strong sense of the metrics which would be most strategic to measure for any digital marketing activity since without correctly identified metrics, any amount of effort might not bear fruit.
- Networking makes a difference: To market any commercial brand, product or even a company, it is crucial to network online as without strong networking, marketing can never function effectively. Aspiring digital marketers should identify and attend prominent industry meet-ups and conferences, and spend time interacting with professionals across varied profiles and experiences across the industry.
- Be passionate and eager to learn: Last of all, it is most crucial for any digital marketer to have intrinsic passion for the field and an eagerness to learn how operations are run at the most basic level since without that any career in digital marketing will be void of growth and a realistic impact.
Finally, as closing words, a career in digital marketing is emerging as one of the most interesting career options in present times, and involves the right mix of marketing, technology, content, design, commerce, consumer psychology, and many other fields of study. This field is changing the way marketing was being executed traditionally and with the power of attribution and precise knowledge of the customer, digital marketing is surely revolutionizing the way marketing has been performed for years. Those who have a passion to integrate knowledge across such multiple streams will stand good to make a dent in this rapidly rising field. It would not be wrong to say that in future, all professionals, be it from domain, functional, or technology side would need to be digital marketers in their own right if they want to survive and excel in the cut-throat businesses of the twenty-first century.
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