Career in Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide [2021]

What is Digital Marketing?

In olden days, marketing was all about TV ads or newspapers or leaflets. But with the easy access to the internet, marketing is also evolving. Marketing is now mostly about reaching your mobile and laptop screens, about popping up on your google search. And that is called Digital Marketing.

Digital marketing can be defined as a wide range of marketing tactics that mainly relies on the internet to reach and connect with the specific segment of the audience. Digital marketing consists of a number of Internet marketing techniques, such as search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing and so on. It also includes non-Internet channels such as short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), call back, e–books, and games. With marketing being

Objective of digital marketing is to engage customers in a two-way interaction: between the customer and the company. This interaction is attained by designing interactive digital media. It helps in understanding the requirement of the user with some kind of end user action. For example, to receive a free demo, a student might be required to register or fill out an enquiry form, benefiting the advertiser with a valuable customer or lead.

Who is Digital Marketing for?

Since the 90s when digital marketing was first introduced, it is changing the structure of marketing all over the world. With Digital Marketing setting new trends, it has become a must have skill for almost everyone.

Let’s find out who is digital marketing for:

1. Entrepreneurs:

With the help of internet and digital marketing, entrepreneurs can help their businesses by targeting the audiences that will be genuinely interested. Digital marketing can give you an access to audience without any geographical barrier. Effective planning and planned audience targeting Digital Marketing strategies have the highest potential to reach the right customers at a much lower price. It can create a big impact and earn loyal customers for any business.

2. Engineers and MBA:

With the MBA and engineer degrees losing the charm in todays job market, Digital marketing can be considered as the new mint maker. Knowledge of techniques of digital marketing can surely help the engineers and MBAs to get the roles as per their expectations as it will help you stand out in the crowd.

3. Students:

Digital Marketing doesn’t need any technical knowledge and hence is easily understandable. With more and more digitalization happening, job market has huge number of opportunities for digital marketers that can help companies in promoting the products and services online by creating the right kind of buzz with advertising. Pursuing the career in Digital Marketing can be of huge advantage for the students in today’s saturated technical market.

4. Housewives:

With the help of digital marketing, you can start your own venture where you can work at flexible hours. Being a freelancer can give you the choice to take projects according to your own pace. These activities don’t even require a lot of money to start.

What Does a Digital Marketer Do?

A digital marketer is responsible for creating brand awareness online. Digital marketer is the professional with the specialisation in growing revenue for the companies with the help of digital advertisements and communications. Some of the tasks of the digital marketing professional are:

• • Designing, managing and analyzing campaigns on digital platforms
  • Content writing, creating backlinks and Press releases
  • Designing websites and landing pages

Digital marketing has a wide range of jobs for every creative soul varying from being a content writer to a graphic designer and video editors.

Career in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing has become the most effective way for the promotions and marketing of products and services, reaching out to a targeted audience. It can be said that digital marketing is the fastest mode of advertisement and hence businesses from all the sectors are focussing on digital marketing activities.

According to the article by Business Insider, India’s digital economy is expected to touch $1 trillion mark by 2022.

Some of the reasons why digital marketing is a good career choice are listed below:

1. Diverse career:

Digital marketing industry provides a wide range of career opportunities like Digital Marketing Executive, Social Media Manager or Content writer.

2. Flexibility:

One can explore both full-time and freelance opportunities in digital marketing field as these jobs don’t need you to be in the office. You can work from anywhere at your own convenience. You can also explore the options of working on per project basis instead of number of hours per week.

3. Pay Cheques:

Companies know the power of digital marketing with the digitalization happening in every sector. Hence, the businesses are not shying to allocate huge budgets for digital marketing and professionals who can do that.

4. Be the Creative One:

If you want to let your creative juices flow freely, digital marketing is your choice of career. Its not some boring 9 to 5 job, instead it can provide creative opportunities with its vast pool of requirements for bloggers, content writers, Ad creators, video editors, to name a few.

5. Evolving Career:

The career in digital marketing is continuously evolving with the change in strategies. This is an attractive career for those who wants to stay updated with the current trends and wants to be the one experimenting in the career.

Future Career Scope of Digital Marketing in India

The internet penetration in India, according to a report, is the highest in the world leaving US and UK behind. In the present digital era, almost everyone is present on the internet regardless of their age, gender or location. Acc to a survey around 79% of the people are using internet through their mobile phones. A company with business acumen can’t ignore these users, making the career in Digital Marketing in India relevant for growing the businesses.

With online advertising market in India growing a rate of 30% every year, there is a huge void for digital marketers. With the government supporting ‘Digital India’ & Indian start-ups even more jobs would be created in Digital marketing field. With the career in digital marketing, you will be ahead the curve where demand is more than supply, giving you the luxury of choosing the job on your own terms.

What are the Qualifications Required for Digital Marketing?

With a bachelor’s degree in marketing, analytics, mass communication or related fields, you have ample of skills to enter the digital marketing industry. Certifications are the new degrees in digital marketing world, that can help you understand the industry in a better way and makes you stand out in the crowd.

If you possess serious SEO skills, then you’re of immense value to the company. Being a digital marketer, you are important if you have the ability to write and appeal the users and/or knows the video editing using different tools like adobe, photoshop, pinnacle etc. that can make impressionable messages.

Is Digital Marketing a Good Career?

As per the data provided by statista.com As of January 2021 there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide – 59.5 percent of the global population. Out of these, 92.6 percent (4.32 billion) accessed the internet from their mobile devices.

With the customers reachable with the help of internet, from various demographics and locations, there is a vast growth prospect in digital marketing field. There is a surge in demand for freelancers because of many restrictions on offline activities. People are spending more time on internet than ever, so companies are at a constant look out for people who genuinely understand how the digital marketing works and how to maximise company ROI.

Thanks to the change in search engines policies, the people with the ability to write in depth articles with details are in higher demand, with companies prepared to pay premium packages. The surge in demand for content writers is around 450% in just five short years!! According to Burning Glass, the demand for content writers will increase further by around 375% over the time of five years. If you want to start your career in Digital Marketing so NOW is the best time to START.

Career/Job Opportunities in Digital Marketing

What are the jobs you can you do with digital marketing? Digital Marketing offers an abundance of career opportunities for both technical and creative professionals.

Some of the top career opportunities in Digital Marketing with their responsibilities are listed below:

1. SEO Specialist:

Responsible for SEO (search engine optimization) for both on-page and off-page that will increase the website traffic and improve the google rankings.

2. Digital Marketing Manager:

Responsible for building and maintaining the brand name for the organization through online presence with the help of marketing campaigns. Minimum of 5-7 yrs of exp is required in Digital marketing field for this role.

3. Social Media Marketer:

Focusses on increasing the target audience’s engagement by designing and implementing social media campaigns.

4. Web Analyst:

In charge of reports used for market research & analysis with the help of website analytics tools.

5. E-mail marketer:

Accountable for generating leads through email marketing campaigns to promote product or service.

6. Content Marketer:

Focusses on increasing the audience engagement by developing SEO friendly content, & optimizing website content. You need an immaculate knowledge of english language for this job.

Tips for Getting a Job in Digital Marketing

1. Course and/or Certification:

The first and logical step to enter the world of digital marketing is to familiarise yourself with the concept of digital marketing and tools and techniques used in the field. A carefully designed course or certification with hand-on training can give you the understanding of all the tools used in online marketing, SEO, mobile marketing etc.

2. Online Presence:

Creating an active blog on the websites like medium and Quora can be a good way to show your passion and motivation. Online presence can help you to understand and keep up with the latest trends. Make sure to update your skills on your social media pages regularly to display them publicly.

3. Get an Internship:

Experiences gathered during the internship period are valuable as they can give you a fair idea of the real digital marketing job roles and responsibilities.

4. Influencers:

Follow the influencers in the area of your interest to gain vital industry insights.

5. Networking:

It is an important part in getting the job. Network with the people in the area of your interest by reaching out to them digitally. Opting for free-lancing projects can also provide opportunities for networking while earning.

How to Start a Career in Digital Marketing?

There are several career paths that you can follow to start a successful career in Digital marketing. There is no fixed way to start or grow in your career but here we have tried to formulate some of the options.

With the bachelor’s degree in marketing:

• • Complete graduation in marketing → Gain online professional certification in digital marketing → Gain experience via internship or freelancing → Apply for a job or become a professional freelancer.
  • Complete graduation in marketing → Work as an intern → Take a masters degree in digital marketing → Build your own brand via blog → Apply for a job.

Without bachelor’s degree in marketing:

• • Graduation (any specialization) → Get an online certification in digital marketing → Subscribe to blogs for free learning resources → Start a website or blog → Network → Find a job or work as an independent consultant.
  • Graduation (any specialisation) → Master’s degree in digital marketing or related specialization → Start a website or blog → Internship or job.

Top Digital Marketing Skills

Digital Marketing is a career where you don’t need a degree to start your successful career. Most of the institutions have been blindsided by the digital marketing, but there are some skills that are important for companies to be present in the employees.

Digital Marketing Core Skills

• • Keyword Analysis: Ability to search and analyse the keywords and to integrate them in the content, that will be beneficial in the ranking.
  • Creative Skills: World of digital media getting richer in the direction of rich media ie images, videos, infographics, etc. Skills to use programs like photoshop, final cut pro, video studio are in high demand.
  • Analytical Analysis: Ability to understand the customer behaviour on the basis of campaign results.
  • Customer Behaviour: Deciding the strategies to increase the ROI for the campaigns by understanding the customer behaviour.
  • Content Creation: Impeccable and intuitive writing skills that shows the strong command on English language is a must for content creation. Used to create blogs, websites, ads.
  • Customer Engagement: Ability to communicate with the customers to engage them through regular updates and posts. Used in email marketing, social media communication.

Digital Marketing Soft Skills

Soft skills include the ability to interact with the members of the team and outside the team effectively and harmoniously to achieve targeted results. It is the responsibility of the digital marketer to make people understand what and how they need to complete the task.

With the fierce competition in digital marketing world, creativity and continuous learning attitude is of utmost importance. Change in the policies in the digital world will keep you on your toes. If you want to be the part of the competition, you need to learn and experiment promptly.

Salary in Digital Marketing

• • Digital Marketing Manager: The average salary for a Digital Marketing Manager with 4-8 years of experience is Rupees 8,09,777 in India. The salary can range between ₹4,00,000 to ₹18,00,000 depending upon your skills.
• • Social media marketing manager: Social Media Manager earns an average of ₹695,519 with 5-9 years of experience.
• • SEO Specialist: SEO Specialist with 5-9 years of experience earns an average of ₹483,175, with salary ranging from 3 to 7 lakhs.
• • Search engine Marketer: Average salary of a SEM search engine marketer is around ₹392,364.
• • PPC analyst: Average salary of a PPC analyst is around Rs 2,85,000. Depending on the skills and years of experience, it can go up to Rs 6,04,000.
• • Web analyst: Average salary for a mid-career Web Analyst is ₹505,929 with 5-9 years of experience.
• • Content marketing manager: Content Marketing Manager earns an average salary of ₹870,769 with 5-9 years of exp.
• • Content writer: With 5 or more years of experience in content writing field, you can expect the upgradation in your position with a team of writers to lead. Expected salary ranges between 9 to 15 lakhs per annum.
• • E mail marketer: The average salary for an email marketer in India is around ₹408,810 per annum that can vary depending on the skills you possess.

Summary

Digital marketing has taken the world with a storm and is gaining momentum by each passing day. With more and more people are getting online, the prospects in digital marketing career are immense. With the right set of skills, Digital marketing is a lucrative career that offers flexibility of working hours and wings to your creativity. You can choose to work with the firm full-time or can be a freelancer.

Aim higher and always be ready to learn new things in the digital marketing field. If you want to enter the world of digital marketing, check out EthansTech. Call us or fill an enquiry form and our team will be happy to answer all your queries regarding the course we offer.

Hope the information provided in the blog will help you start a career in digital marketing.