The rise of digital marketing over the past 20 years has been meteoric and especially so in India. With a rising middle class and an enormous growth potential moving forward, it is no wonder that digital marketing careers are on the rise. While they are mostly localized in the major cities and tech hubs that dot the country, demand in smaller tier 2 cities is still high.
What is Digital Marketing?
At its basic level, it is a collection of marketing disciplines related to the promotion of business in the online realm. While standard marketing involves traditional television and radio advertisements and newspaper sales copy, digital marketing is a very similar process, but focusing on digital assets such as social media and websites. It includes a range of disciplines either directly, like:
- User Experience (UX)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Content Marketing
Or indirectly such as:
- Backend Engineering (such as hosting)
- Certain types of data analytics
For this article, I will focus on direct digital marketing careers. Nonetheless, back end engineering careers are especially important when ensuring the backbone of the digital world. For example, an inefficient web host can bring things grinding to a halt, so certain websites like Fortune Lords exist to help digital marketers find the best options for their websites.
Why Is It Important In India?
With more and more people coming online and affordable mobile phones and 4G data plans becoming even more accessible, it is inevitable that a more significant proportion of international and domestic companies will compete for your attention online. It is estimated that there are nearly 700 million people online in India in 2020.
Moreover, the percentage of users with buying power increases, meaning more ad money spent to try and get your money out of your pockets and into theirs!
What Kind Of Qualification Do You Need?
Depending on where you have your heart set on working, it will differ from a bachelor’s degree to a simple experience. If you want to work at top level marketing companies, then you will need a firm grasp of traditional marketing techniques as well as specific IT competencies. If you are looking to start your digital marketing agency, then some real-life experience could get you started. Keep in mind that the higher your client’s budget, the more they will expect from you in terms of deliverables i.e., don’t just expect to be able to write a few blog posts and throw up some pictures on Instagram, everything must be data-driven and serve a purpose to deliver a return on investment.
Top 5 Digital Marketing Careers
Digital Marketing Manager
This is the top of the tree for digital marketing, so don’t expect this to be your first job! They will need to be at least competent in a range of disciplines and even those unrelated to digital marketing, including traditional business principles, sales, and negotiation. They are the first point of contact between the agency and client, and as such first impressions will count enormously. They will likely be managing a digital marketing team and, therefore, will need to possess strong interpersonal skills. They need to understand a raft of digital marketing disciplines because you will also be hiring team members. If they don’t know their job, they will find it challenging to hire the very best.
Social Media Manager
This role sounds simple, as though you will be surfing Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all day, but this is a vital component of any digital marketing job. They are the front-facing aspect of the company that hires them, but they are also the voice of the brand! They will also need to understand data with regards to advertising and A//B testing ad sets. A social media manager should understand what works in terms of content, and because results some far quicker than with other forms like SEM, they will often know first hand what is popular and what is holding a company back from increasing sales.
UX/ Graphic Designer
While these are two separate disciplines, I have placed them together as they share aspects and will often work closely together. A User Experience Specialist or UX designer will be in charge of creating the company’s website and landing pages. They will work with all of the other marketing team members to develop a website that flows well and converts potential customers into buyers. A graphic designer will most likely have a range of jobs to perform but will require a firm grasp of professional graphic design software such as Adobe. Ideally, a graphic designer will also have learned traditional design methods to represent their company or client best. They will need to assume an existing brand identity or even need to create a brand new identification from scratch entirely. This requires working very closely with the digital marketing manager and client.
Content Manager
Along with the graphic designer, a content manager will need to work extremely close with the manager and company to understand what they stand for and what KPIs are required to boost revenue. It is far more than merely writing content; it is the process of writing converting copy. Ensuring that the client is viewed positively by potential customers, a content manager will need to possess superior writing skills and understand the fundamentals of marketing to a new generation with a different mindset. Messages need to be snappier than ever before; they must learn when to trim away the fat and focus just on what’s important.
Email Marketing Manager
Email marketing is an essential aspect to either turn cold leads warm, or warm leads into buyers. There is much more involved than merely writing emails. They will need to test opt-in forms and understand sophisticated email automation software. By segmenting subscribers, they can sell to them precisely what they want or need.
Summary
Digital marketing is not as simple as it looks on the first inspection. It is a multifaceted discipline, and whatever your role might be, they need to work as part of a team to get the required results.
