The Birth of Digital Marketing
The mid 2000's brought about a kick start to the Digital
Marketing industry as there was a drastic change in the customer behavior -
people started searching for products online before a purchase on search
engines like Google. Later after 2010 it was obvious that people are more
tech-dependent than tech-savvy, social media rose and on average people were
spending a lot more time on the internet compared to the previous decade.
Obviously, as the internet became more prevalent so did
Digital Marketing. People from different backgrounds started working in this
new field and experienced workforce was more in demand. This desired industry
gave birth to agencies, courses, certifications and departments associated with
Digital Marketing. Now here we are where it has become one of the most
important and required sector in the marketing department of any company, the
most effective way to market you product with the least effort.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing is the part of marketing field which deals
with advertising on the online front. Digital Marketing mainly focuses on
"in-bound" marketing techniques, which is when we show our ads only
to people who might be the right target for our ad and find it useful.
Meanwhile, the conventional marketing techniques (out-bound) such as television
ads, newspaper ads, billboards etc. basically show the ad to anyone and
everyone. They put their product/ services out to the people, where as us in-
bound marketeers attract the desired audience to us.
Skills to Acquire to Begin a Digital Marketing Career
If you are new to this field or if you are thinking about
switching your career from a completely different stream, then you are at the
right place. Any kind of transition is difficult at the beginning, but a career
in digital marketing requires least amount of background qualification and
experience. This doesn't mean that Digital Marketing is an 'easy' stream, but
starting up in this field will not take up much from you.
- Basic Subjective Knowledge - Firstly, the basic knowledge about business management, marketing, accounting and the zeal to learn are a must before you begin. Since you are basically managing a business' online front, the cost, revenue and a lot of other metrics need to be monitored for the client.
- Programming Basics - Secondly, a little bit understanding of programming is a plus for adding tags for cookies or tracking and working in the background of a website for SEO. (I'll get back to these technicalities some other time) but trust me when I say this.
- Analytical Thinking & Strategical Planning - The third most important skill to brush up before you dig into this field is analytical thinking and strategical planning. If you end up working for huge retail clients then this skill will be very much required for designing plans and strategies for the campaigns and sort out the long reports to adjust the numbers accordingly (the clients always want the numbers).
- Microsoft Excel - This brings up to the fourth skill - Excel Sheets. It's always easier to work with excel sheets if you know the basic shortcuts and whereabouts of some important features, of course only the basic knowledge is enough in the beginning.
- Content Writing - The fifth key skill required is to exercise content writing/ creation, this is the base for being a Digital Marketing expert. Writing/ editing blog articles, writing ad copies, social media content/ ads etc. will be needed no matter what part of Digital Marketing stream you end up with.
Where Can You Go From Here ?
Once you familiarize yourself with these, it's time to look
at the different parts in Digital Marketing, of course these aren't the only
ones, but the broadened classification is pictured for you to understand the
basics, which includes:
- PPC- Pay Per Click Advertising - This type of advertising deals with ads which are placed in desired location on a website or network of websites, or on the search results page of a search engine, in which the sponsor of the ads pays to the publisher based on each click they receive on the ad.
- SEO- Search Engine Optimization - This is a method to optimize a website or a blog in such a way that they are recognized by the search engines and naturally show up on the top of results page to the user in need.
- SMM- Social Media Marketing - This type of marketing deals with advertising on the social media platform to very specific user demographic.
Furthermore, you will have an option to work with either of
the two work profiles below:
- Digital Marketing Agency - In an agency many companies tie up with them for their digital marketing services. You will probably have to deal with more than one client simultaneously, and will probably have a hierarchy of managers you will answer to. Agencies generally provide with all kinds of services in the digital marketing front, this will give you a chance to explore the spectrum and work with and learn from a lot of people.
- In-House Marketing Team - Most companies have an in-house marketing team, mostly because they want their marketing to be handled by people who study their services in-depth and stay focused on one entity. On the other hand, if managed by an agency it will not have full term focus.
Industry- wise there are two types of markets which you can
deal with:
- B2B Market - Business to Business basically consists of deals which involve clients who are businesses themselves. Your main goal as a marketer for a B2B firm will be to find other businesses who can benefit from your services. Your target audience are business owners and similar profiles from the type of industry you want to function in.
- B2C Market - Business to Customer in this type of market your audience are customers for your business. Your target audience will depend on the demographic you wish to execute for your business. For example a retail store which sells street wear would target similar audience which include the general public.
Initially it will be difficult to decide right-away solely
based on basic knowledge. As a fresher it is important to explore all the areas
to be able to decide which one suits you the best, this might take time but the
best suggestion would be to proactively participate in as many projects
possible, even if it's just as an attendee. Start with an internship and move
your way up as you gather experience.