Pathways to digital marketing careers

It’s everywhere – on your phone, on your PC; it may have even led you here. Digital marketing is the way businesses communicate and promote their products and services to the world. Though we may think of clickable ads and pop-ups as digital marketing, digital marketing requires a balance of creative and analytical skills to truly stand out.

Here are some of the pathways to digital marketing you can take in 2022.

Jobs in digital marketing

Jobs and opportunities in digital marketing are everywhere – you could work for a specialist digital marketing firm, a PR firm, or consultancy. Major corporations and large enterprise businesses may also have their own in-house marketing team – some medium-size businesses may also need marketing managers, which handle the strategic digital marketing while outsourcing the operations to digital marketing specialists.

There are many components to digital marketing – some of them on the creative side, others on the more technical side. Digital marketing management may need a bit of both of these skills. However, some of the more creative jobs in digital marketing may include:

• social media or community manager
• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) specialist
• copywriter or content writer
• graphic designer
• videographer or video editor
• public relations or communications.

Whereas the more technical side of digital marketing includes roles like:

• project manager
• digital marketing manager
• account manager
• marketing coordinator
• events coordinator or manager
• data analyst
• web developer/ux (user experience) designer.

As such, digital marketing requires a bit of flexibility when it comes to the role – you need to have imagination as much as you do analytical skills.

What do you need to study?

Marketing is the cornerstone of any successful business – whether it’s big or small. The Bachelor of Management or Bachelor of Business contains units on marketing as well as running a successful business. On the creative side of digital marketing, a Bachelor of Communication (Digital and Social Media) is crucial as much of digital marketing is crafting messages for specific audiences. In terms of graphic design, a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication or Bachelor of Communication (Media Arts and Production) may be looked upon as favourable by prospective employers. In terms of developing websites or data analytics, a Bachelor of Information Systems is a pathway into the technical side of digital marketing.

Soft skills

Marketing is as much about communication as it is relationships. Bill Tsouvalas, co-founder of Conquerr digital marketing says that networking is fundamental to success in digital marketing.

“Marketing a brand is also marketing yourself – that means attending events, meeting people, and building relationships with key people at all kinds of companies.”

Other crucial skills are time management – deadlines and deployments live or die depending on time – creative thinking and keeping up with trends in technology.

Going your own way – freelancing

The one lesson the pandemic taught businesses is that you don’t need to have a centralised office or workflow system to survive and thrive. Freelancing – starting your own microbusiness and working on contract for other businesses – is a viable lifestyle and career choice in digital marketing.

“At Conquerr, we use freelancers for all sorts of projects and there is a lot of work for freelancers in digital marketing if you make the right connections,” Bill says. “The interesting paradox in digital marketing is that your own skills at marketing yourself proves how well you can market other businesses. Collaborating with other marketers with niche skills means you can start your own virtual agency.”

The future of digital marketing

Though arguably the future of digital marketing is now. Students looking to study digital marketing may need to move ever deeper into big data, analytics, blockchain, video, and emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). This requires high levels of coding and computer skills. Web3 and the “metaverse” will be a fertile ground for marketing opportunities and products or services we may not have envisioned yet.

Featured image courtesy of Pexels.