Many of those who have had a calling to the industry, have discovered just how broad the marketing umbrella really is.
Digital marketing, an industry in itself, is just one of many threads which make up the marketing industry as a whole. It comes with its own disciplines, for example, search, social media and email and is constantly evolving.
The debate about which label best defines the digital marketing industry in ongoing. It is often referred to as online marketing, internet marketing, web marketing or inbound marketing. Regardless of the description, increasing numbers of companies are embracing digital channels and as knowledge and understanding improves, are better integrating them into broader marketing activity.
If you’ve ever found yourself sharing a great piece of content or thought ‘why does that product follow me around the internet?’ then perhaps the digital marketing family is one in which you belong.
We scratch the surface and take a look at what it takes to be an effective digital marketer and draw insight from Joe Friedlein, Browser Media’s Managing Director about what he looks for in a candidate considering the move into the world of digital marketing.
Although formal digital marketing qualifications are few and far between, the ability to be versatile is extremely important. Of course it is advantageous to be analytical with data and be data driven as a whole. The ‘test, measure & learn’ mentality is a good one to have. Joe believes that to be good at digital marketing requires a wide range of skills. To be able to marry creative thinking with statistical analysis does not come easily to everyone.
Here at Browser Media, Joe is less interested in formal qualifications, preferring a demonstrable hunger for learning about digital marketing instead. He said “It remains a young industry and there aren’t really any qualifications that I believe are more worthy than hands-on experience.”
The hunger to learn often presents itself as a willingness to get hands-on experience. This isn’t a reason to disregard degree level qualifications altogether, they are very much deserving of merit in their own right. However, it is experience that may differentiate you between candidate one and two. The CVs that catch Joe’s attention are those that show that the individual has real experience with digital marketing. However, this doesn’t always have to be in a professional context – it is always impressive when a candidate has created a personal blog, for example.
Ask anyone working in the industry and they’ll speak of the constant changes in work method they face as often as week to week (we can thank Google for this). Some relish in this environment as it is a very rewarding industry but that’s not to say it isn’t without its challenges. Joe went on to explain, “The industry has matured and there is, thankfully, no room for blaggers… the successful digital marketer has to be versatile.”
These are just a few elements that we think help create an effective marketer. If you’re an aspiring digital marketeer, these ten tips are well worth a read or if you’re looking to gain further qualifications in the industry then head to http://bit.ly/1vOQIWK.
I leave the final word with Joe. “Successful marketers do not sit around on bean bags all day. They require sound business acumen, creativity, resourcefulness and a good dose of determination and grit. Any employer worth their salt will want some proof that an interviewee can demonstrate these skills. Don’t expect an easy ride.”
