We are going to try to clarify in this contribution today two questions about digital marketing: the first, what the term means; the second, what is the scope of it, at the same time that we will assess what areas are of the future for careers in the field of digital marketing.
Regarding the meaning we have to take into account that it covers a wide range of disciplines, specializations and subtopics. Although it is still common to find specialists in digital marketing who possess a number of very outstanding skills, the technological acceleration is demanding from all disciplines, in particular the field that encompasses digital marketing, more and more specialization, what we could perfectly call an expert segmentation, because specialization is increasingly becoming the norm.
And in terms of scope, it is still impossible to measure it after the great transformative impulse produced by Covid-19 that has forced all sectors of the economy, especially services, to make adjustments in an accelerated way in a digital transformation that was in the making and there was no choice but to finish it. In most known situations, they have had to implement it from scratch, but with the advantage that all people were predisposed to connect and continue working online due to the pandemic.
But we are controlling the public health situation with the vaccination of at least 75% of the citizenry with the two full doses, which is facilitating the return to full activity in all sectors, so digital marketing we are sure that will suffer a very strong impulse and will even have to adapt to new demands of the organizations.
What we have noticed is that companies instead of looking for “specialists in digital marketers”, being of different sizes and industries are publishing ads in which they typify like this: “specialists in search engine optimization”, “copywriters”, “conversion experts “and the like.
Therefore, to respond to the scope we have outlined above, we are going to share six digital marketing roles that have been highly valued by employers in recent years. At the same time, we will try to glimpse what its behavior and evolution may be in the medium term, but especially what the business school programs will have to contain.
Hence, some digital marketing careers may cover these areas:
1st) Marketing in social networks.
2nd) Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
3rd) Content Marketing.
4th) Writing and email marketing.
5th) Optimization of conversions and analysis.
6th) Electronic commerce marketing.
For the 1st), which corresponds to marketing in social networks, a series of skills are required that goes from content creation, analysis and market research and paid advertising, to monitoring the infrastructures to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) clear to your clients and employers.
Obviously, a postgraduate program that seeks to grant a certain level of specialization to this area of digital marketing will have to take into account emerging trends in the social media space, such as the relatively recent rise in influencer marketing, which requires these professionals are willing to adapt their strategies and cultivate new skill sets on an ongoing basis.
For 2nd) referring to search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), it must be taken into account that search engines are the preferred tools among web browsers to locate information and find products. Google, for example, receives an average of 63,000 unique searches per day. This reality shows no signs of change in the short term.
You also have to consider that both search engine optimization (SEO) and the closely related field of search engine marketing (SEM), which generally comprises paid advertising methods, have increased in complexity in recent years, for the reason that search engines are becoming more powerful and intelligent, a trend that will continue in the coming years as well.
For this reason, it is natural that an area with sufficient content is considered to be a postgraduate specialization program for any business school, either in person or online, because we know that search engine specialists must be trained and take advantage of its wide experience in conducting SEO campaigns on the web and off the web. In addition, the competence of the company in which the specialist works or advises, also has other specialists and surely they have delved into web-based programming languages, usability testing and advanced analysis, among other skills.
In other words, all training and education in this particular segment of digital marketing it tastes like little, given the speed at which technological innovation events occur and the changes in practices that have to be implemented in companies if they want to continue competing on equal terms.
For the 3rd) content marketing, you have to understand that this domain is a form of marketing that leverages original and often practical written, visual and audio content to generate new leads and engage existing customer bases of companies.
The so-called inbound marketing differs from traditional forms of marketing in that it is non-invasive. Unlike traditional marketing that often interrupts and upsets current and potential customers, content marketing helps people solve problems for which they actively seek solutions. Relevant products and services are advertised alongside or within helpful content.
Content marketing has proven effective in all global markets, and in 2020, an estimated 70% of marketers were actively investing in dedicated campaigns. However, standing out online is not easy, because there is also a huge amount of high-quality free content that grows every day.
What are content marketers up to? To the task of creating attractive content that fulfills at least three functions: a) that it is useful; b) that stands out for its way of expressing itself and detailing itself; c) that shines and has an impact so that it forces the reading.
And this is essential in a crowded market in which potential customers have to make consumption decisions, so the analysis of the return on investment (ROI) of marketing spending is increasingly demanding from companies to their departments will need to rely on robust and rigorous content marketers that implement accurate tracking and analytics frameworks.
For 4th) copywriting and email marketing, all forms of digital marketing require a text-based copy of some form. Whether it is content for social media posts, paid ads, video content, website landing pages, email text messages, sales proposals, or any other marketing medium, the responsibility invariably rests with the copywriters.
Do not make the mistake of believing that copywriting is simple. It may seem at first glance, as they say, on the surface, but in reality, it demands much more than polished writing skills and the reality of this specialization is much more nuanced.
Good copywriters are experienced digital marketers who also need to have the ability to conduct extensive market research, test variations of different marketing assets, and drive incremental, data-backed improvements against key performance metrics. And all this knowledge requires a minimum process of training and theoretical-practical training that some highly specialized postgraduate programs can provide.
d For 5th) regarding the optimization of conversions and analysis, it should be understood that the term “analysis” refers to the systematic analysis of data. Since the Internet has existed, good data management has been essential for all types of organizations. It is the key to having information, because if they are not systematically ordered and with refined technical criteria, the wide range of opportunities that exist for companies in their online activity, which can now access data on the behavior and preferences of customers with relative ease, it would destroy the productive and / or distribution potential of that organization due to poor management of data marketing.
They can use this data to optimize their products and customer experience accordingly, generating more sales and higher levels of customer satisfaction.
However, understanding large amounts of data is not an easy task. Generating actionable information from raw data sets is a complex and highly specialized process. Data analysts, who combine digital marketing and technical skills, work in this area.
As the amount and complexity of user data continues to increase, data analysts are among the most sought-after marketers. Leveraging data in the right way can be hugely advantageous for an online business, providing vital competitive advantages and customer insights.
Finally, for 6th) referring to e-commerce Marketing, it must be taken into account that new e-commerce stores are launched daily and there are few signs that this trend will slow down in the short term. Therefore, with this boom in online commerce there has been a parallel demand for specialist professionals in this area, who have to have the ability to apply a variety of resources that marketing offers to meet the specific needs of online retailers. These resources cover paid advertising, social media, search engine optimization, conversion optimization, and more.
Ecommerce marketers are often tasked with coordinating teams of marketers to ensure that key ecommerce performance metrics are achieved.