Summary:  Digital Transformation creates a need for all kinds of professionals specialising in digital activities. Firms are seeing the need to invest building up their digital capabilities. There are a variety of career options now, especially when it comes Digital Marketing. Read about the career opportunities in this field for an aspiring marketing professional in the modern day.

The one thing that I see most frequently in every Q&A Forums is “what are the career opportunities in digital marketing?” etc. When I first started, I was not sure where would I land up as a digital marketer. Nevertheless, here I am, writing blogs and stuff.

Image portraying careers in digital marketing

We spend half or more of our time browsing the internet. In here, you can find everything –images, memes, viral videos, cringe posts, amazingly well structured blogs etc. If any of these has ever made you think of creating content, then my friend, you just found your career choice. It is Digital Marketing.

Cliché? Not actually!

I understand the first query that comes to the mind when choosing Digital Marketing is “is there scope?” Today, I am going to tell you everything that you always wanted to know about digital marketing as a career.

What is digital marketing?

Personally, I feel digital marketing is just traditional marketing pumped on the steroid called ‘internet’. In a more sophisticated way, you can say that digital marketing is the marketing of products and services using digital channels such as websites, social media platforms, search engines etc.

Digital Marketing, mobile device

Some of the most frequently mentioned and the most common constituents of digital marketing are Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay per Click advertising (PPC), Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing etc.

Digital marketing is like a puzzle and this article will help you in aligning every piece of it. Let me be your mentor to help you get closer to wherever you are willing to go in the field of digital marketing.  

Setting up the pathway

Before we start, let me talk about the “GOAL”. We both know that to be successful, you will need a defined and actionable goal. Some of the questions I asked myself when I started to explore digital marketing were:

How much money do I want to make?

What am I actually good at?

What type of clients do I want to work with?

Do I want to do it full-time or not?

These helped me to decide my end-goal so I could work backwards and start working on the desired pathway. I urge you to ensure that your goal is flexible, actionable, and measurable.  

Why digital marketing

Well, because we are witnessing the rise and rise of digital in India. Here are a few facts that are mind-blowing and should give you the required motivation.

• Number of internet users in India is likely to increase to 650+ million users by 2020.

• Rural internet users will contribute to >50% of the user growth in the next 3-4 years

• Female internet users in the urban areas is expected to grow to 40% by 2020.

• 65% internet users will be in the age group of >25 by 2020.

• By 2020, 40% of FMCG consumption is likely to be digitally influenced

• Mobile will be the preferred device for internet access for 77% of users

• Cost of online video advertising is reducing

• People are spending more time on the internet than on the TV

• E-commerce is booming in India and better days are foreseen (thanks to PM’s Digital India initiative)
  

Other than these, there is more data that you can easily find on the internet to prove the worth of digital marketing. However, let us focus on what you should concentrate on to start a career in digital marketing.  

Roles in digital marketing that you can opt

From interns to Directors, the available plethora of roles is vast. You can choose to build a career in domains such as SEO, SEM, SMM, Email marketing, Content, PPC etc.

Listed below are some of the major career niches that await you.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The never-ending hype with optimisation and keywords is something that you are well aware of by now. How about building a career as a Search engine specialist? Almost all businesses online want to make it to the first page of search engine results pages (SERP). You can build a lucrative career by learning the processes that affect the visibility of webpages in organic results.

You can start as an SEO Executive and grow further. Average yearly package in the SEO domain starts at around 3.6 lakhs per annum (minimum).

Social Media Marketing

If you love spending time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc., this might just be the perfect career choice for you. These jobs need a lot of creativity as the main aim of businesses using social media as marketing platform is to gain higher traffic, engagement, and conversions. In this domain, your work would revolve around creating content that demands attention and persuades the audience to share it.

You can start as a Social Media Executive and move up to the ranks of Social Media Director. Minimum package for social media starts around 3.2 lakhs per annum. To excel in this field, you will need to have a good understanding of your target audience, services offered, and demographics.  

Content Marketing

Content is the king in digital marketing. It matters the most and thus is a highly sought after profile. The entire idea of content marketing focuses on creating as well as distributing valuable and reliable content to attract and retain a defined audience to drive revenue.

There are various ways to make it as a content marketer. You can start with writing blogs, articles on niches you know about. Sprinkle a bit of SEO, a dash of PR and you got the perfect formula to excel! One thing with content marketing is that includes a wide range of services and thus needs you to be apt at beading your words. From Jr. Content Writer to Content Marketing Head, freelance to full-time, the options are many based on your caliber. In this field, skills supersede certifications.

Search Engine Marketing

It is a way of getting websites rank higher on SERP through paid advertising. A career in this domain needs you to master how search engines work. Google, Bing, Alexa etc. have their own algorithms, and you need to be aware of every update happening on the search engines to excel in this career.

Website designing and development

If you love tech, you got to love this profile. Every business needs a website these days. And, who else than yourself to create eye-catching, jaw-dropping websites? UX/UI development, website and graphic design, enhancements etc. – this profile offers a great package and remote/telecommute opportunities.

However, to make it big in this field, you will need prior knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, and J Query etc. other than certifications from reputed institutes.  

Conversion Optimisation

If you like creating and implementing goals based on analytics and tracking, you might want to learn about conversion optimization. One of the most dominant and rapidly increasing fields in digital marketing, this domain has a lot of scope.

To be successful in this field, you will need to be aware of the current industry trends, have a love for data, and a great eye for detail.  

Digital marketing courses

When it comes to courses in Digital marketing, the choices are many. You can opt for either online classes and certifications or regular classes. These digital marketing courses are designed to teach you effective digital marketing strategy.

Apart from the top-level courses, you can opt for short courses that include:  

• Inbound Marketing

• Growth Marketing

• Web Analytics

• Mobile Marketing

• Social Media Marketing

• Search Engine Marketing  

A quick google search on “top digital marketing courses in India” would fetch you numerous results, but are these results answering your real queries?

In fact, you don’t need to depend on certifications to be a digital marketer, but the certifications build trust and ensure that you’re perfect at what you do. A curated digital marketing training program provides you the much-needed mentorship, structured learning, and a chance to network with like-minded professionals.

Some of the best online options include Google Academy, E-marketing Institute, Udemy, Coursera, Alison. If you would want to do a regular certification, join any good digital marketing institute in your area. The choice depends on you.

The Next Step

While you’re learning and earning your certifications, wouldn’t it be great to get some hands-on experience in live projects. That’s where you can start by enrolling in internship opportunities or by building freelancer profiles on platforms such as Freelancer, Guru, Peopleperhour, PayPerContent etc.

Try building a robust portfolio in the process and share your work as much as you can on social platforms to gain exposure. Understand that feedback is essential. Take in the criticism and work on improving them. Only by being adaptive, you can reap the benefits of your efforts.

I hope that this article helped you in choosing digital marketing as a career.

To explore business opportunities, link with me by clicking on the 'Invite' button on my eBiz Card.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.