With the growth of the internet around the globe, interest in working in the digital marketing arena is growing. The idea might seem outlandish at first, but really, digital marketing just means marketing on the internet. In that sense, it’s not that special or new. However, it’s a fast-growing area with search engine optimisation agencies looking for young, motivated people who have a knack for their type of work.
Let’s look a little closer at what a career in digital marketing is all about.
Helping New Businesses Establish Themselves Online
One of the toughest things for new businesses is to get known when they’re just starting out and don’t have much money to splash out on marketing. By appearing high up in Google for relevant searches, this does the marketing for them as it drives new visitors to their site, some of whom may become new customers.
As an example of the type of work that a digital marketing agency performs, let’s examine link building. A link building company helps businesses establish themselves online by arranging inbound links from other respectable websites to their client’s site. The idea is that it’s a kind of informal voting system; when five people think you’re great, then other people will too, by association. Similarly, creating a backlink profile for a business with quality links from different sources helps a new business get seen in Google and other search engines.
Gaining Entry Doesn’t Always Require a Relevant Degree
While it’s always useful to have a Computer Science degree when working in the digital marketing field, having a degree is not always necessary. Anyone applying for a position must have a working knowledge of the latest software being used to craft pay-per-click advertisements, research keywords or to find profitable niches to explore.
When you have built up a portfolio of provable online marketing efforts – sites that you’ve ranked on page one of Google for different search terms or successful ad campaigns that you have run on Google or Facebook’s ad platforms — that holds a lot of sway with interviewers. Ultimately, a degree doesn’t prove that you either have the right knowledge or that it’s relevant in today’s market reality. Being able to show what you can do before starting the job often gets you a 90-day trial period and then the rest is up to you.
Advancement Through Knowledge & Expertise
Enthusiastic people dedicated to advancing their knowledge and expertise are likely to go far in progressive agencies. Most younger companies look specifically for people who don’t want to stand still. Encouraging staff to learn more, especially in a fast-moving field like digital marketing, is essential to continue providing a service to clients that’s relevant, not outdated. The old thinking that things shouldn’t be altered “because that’s the way it’s always been done” simply doesn’t work in agencies because of the pace of change. Staff must embrace this reality rather than fight against it.
There are many opportunities to work in the digital marketing field and make your mark. Even within this arena, there are specialists who work just with content marketing, infographic marketing, video marketing, ad campaign creation and management, or search engine optimisation. You don’t have to be pigeonholed and can try your hand at different types of roles to see which one suits your personality and skillset the best.
