We live in an era where most businesses thrive on the online platform. There are several e-commerce platforms that do not work as the typical brick and mortar structures. Now, they don’t have the same customer base as the traditional shops. So, all they have is the internet user base. So, they use all types of platforms like social networking sites, emails, google advertisements and so on to tell about their products. This gave rise to a new area of marketing that is digital marketing. Gradually this area is picking up the pace and is serving as one of the offbeat yet interesting career fields.
What is Digital Marketing?
Many of you may be unknown to the term. We have generally heard the terms management in marketing or simply marketing jobs. The addition of the term ‘digital’ gives it a whole new perspective. Digital marketing is the use of digital platforms to reach out to the customers who spend considerable time being online. Several surveys point out that the number of internet users is increasing on a daily basis. So, the digital marketers ensure that their product or some idea reach to reach out to the maximum. You must have noticed that you get several pop-up ads. Most of the time you don’t pay attention to them. But, some definitely catch your attention. You may buy that product. Imagine the extent of users that get the same product in the same way. Other than that, you will come across advertisements on your facebook account based on your likes. Even your google searches have small advertisements on the whole page. All these are the growing scope of digital marketing.
Advantages of being in the field of Digital Marketing
By now, you must have realized that you are very much surrounded by the cobweb of digital advertisements. Unknowingly, you are even a part of it. So, what are the advantages of being employed in this field?
- You stay in touch with all the latest happenings in the world.
- You get paid handsomely.
- You have the opportunity to reach a wider user base.
- There is great scope for creativity. You can work in the niche of your choice.
- You can even be an online researcher. This way, you will have a better practical approach and analysis of the data.
Digital Marketing Courses
An obvious question, how do you get into this field? If you are completely naive to online writing and advertisements, you can begin by taking the google’s certification programme in digital marketing. This will give you a deep insight into the field and will also allow you to know your abilities. After that, you can opt for a various diploma or certificate courses in digital marketing.
As a matter of fact, even some IIMs (e.g., IIM Jammu) offer short-term certificate courses in this field. But the most important part is self-practice. You need to make your online presence felt. Create a blog and write regularly. The writing quality or topic is not so important initially. But regularity is ! so, write regularly. Your skills will develop with practice.
Career Opportunities and Job Prospects in the Field of Digital Marketing.
- SEO Executives: As an SEO executive, you will be primarily responsible for improving the traffic on your client’s website. There are a number of techniques and apps available today for doing this. you can use the google analytics to track the number of visitors, number of visitors who turned customers and so on. With time, this role has gained much significance. If a company website receives fewer visits, it means that its product will also face lower purchase. So, this role involves mostly accelerating a company’s familiarity with the internet user base. You actually need to have an experience greater than 5 years to reach this position. Salary depends upon a number of factors. Your track record, educational qualifications, SEO skills and obviously set of skills. As a fresher, you will get something around Rs.3 Lakh to Rs.4 Lakh per annum but experienced ones can get about 40LPA!
- Content Writer: One of the most common and often the first step to digital marketing. A content writer is involved with creating niche-specific and target audience specific content for the client’s website. You can begin working as a freelance content writer or can join some agency. There are many agencies that will allow you to interact directly with the client. This way, you will get a better glimpse of the market demands. Initially, content writers get paid on the basis of words per article. You will make better with time and experience.
- Search Engine Marketing Specialist: The digital marketing is a new field. And, a search engine marketing specialist is newer. In this role, you will be required to plan, execute, analyze as well as guide a company’s SEO strategy. Nowadays, many people claim to be an SEO expert but all they do is keyword stuffing. Your skills in this field completely depend on your ability to create genuine content. Also, you should not indulge in black SEO tactics. You also need to give those subordinate to you. Here, the knowledge of HTML, CSS, javascript and SEO writing will come in handy. If you have a good command over the analytical tools especially google analytics, it will be an added advantage. Your salary depends very much on your experience and also the company you work for. Usually, the salary ranges from Rs.15000 to Rs.35000 per month.
- Social Media Manager: There is a strong presence of many companies on various social media. You must have seen that big brands like Coca-Cola or Samsung, all have a page on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Someone needs to manage these pages. Keep them updated with the new informant. Ensuring that they are interesting enough for the visitors to increase traffic. You also have to foresee a trend and make sure that the company’s social presence is not affected by it. Hosting different online campaigns, quizzes and advertisements on a regular schedule is a must. Now, this role is actually the mid-level one i.e Social Media Managers. Being a Social Media Manager you can earn something starting from Rs.30,000 per month depending on the company and also your experience.
- Inbound Marketing Manager: This position is subject to the positional hierarchy in your office. Many workplaces have a single marketing manager to look at all matters. But, if you get the role as an inbound marketing manager, you will be more into planning strategies. You will be responsible for creating plans for increasing traffic, optimizing leads and also conversion rates. You will be basically responsible for attracting more customers through the marketing tactics.
- Conversion Rate Optimizer: In the world of digital marketing, CRO refers to the steps taken to convert the page visitors into customers. Most e-commerce platforms need this position. They have a website that is visited by millions. But it is not always sure if they will buy something. As a conversion rate optimizer, you will be responsible for increasing this proportion. You have to ensure that a large chunk of visitors buy something. For this, you will plan, analyze and execute different attractive offers. This is a very lucrative field. It is here to stay. With so many e-commerce growing up, this position will acquire more importance. You can expect Rs.4 Lakh to Rs.5 Lakh per annum from giant firms. Even the smaller ones pay pretty well.
- E-mail Marketing Expert: You must have noticed that you get lots of promotional emails that mostly lad in your spam folder. You may not notice them but they are also a marketing strategy. Many do end up in your primary inbox. You may get interested and buy the product. An e-mail marketing expert is responsible for overseeing all these matters. They have to create attractive email content, analyze the target audience and then send them. You basically need to have a good knowledge of the analytical tools and a knack for predicting the time when your readers access their inbox.
- Automation Expert: Digital marketing is all about being the lead in the game. With so many automation tools on the market, it is better to use them for efficiency. If you are from the technical background, you can get into this field. You will be handling the automation department of your marketing firm. From creating automated programmes for CRO to sending the promotional emails, you will be having a lot of work. With experience and updated skill set, you can expect to earn up to 11 Lakh per annum.
- Marketing Analyst: A digital marketing firm needs the expertise of an analyst to review its strategies. If you are an analyst and have keen eyes for studying figures, this is your field. You will be studying the marketing trends, your firm’s digital agenda and its comparison with the market competitors. You will also be responsible for suggesting ways to improve the market position depending upon the available data. With the talent gap of a whopping 37%, this field is in utter demand of trained personnel. Like all another analytics field, you will be handsomely paid. You can expect something around 10-15 LPA. If you choose to work with big firms, this will be definitely higher.
- Mobile Marketing Expert: When we talk about digital marketing, mobiles are an integral part. Most people access their social networking id from the mobile. They have their emails and also blogs on them. As a mobile marketing expert, you will be engaged in creating mobile friendly advertisements. You may find yourself managing the creation and distribution if promotional SMS. This field is also in talent crunch. So, if you have got skills for being a good mobile marketing expert, you can expect a high salary.
With the boundary between digital and traditional marketing diminishing, those who are more adept in the former field are at the edge. They have better job prospects and more opportunities to grow. This is the field of tomorrow. And, trust us, this tomorrow is just a few years away. So, if you are currently undergoing any digital marketing course, do it with all your efforts. If you are planning to do, be concentrated. You are on road to be one of the busiest and efficient marketers. Harness the digital world and be its flagship marketing expert.
