With today’s internet reliance, digital marketing jobs are a hub for building long-term and in-demand careers. In fact, it’s estimated there will be a 12 percent increase in demand by 2022, with salaries rising steadily. Since digital marketing is a broad industry, there are a wide range of positions that require a diversity of skillsets. From specialist roles to general digital marketing roles, there’s a huge demand across the board for online marketing professionals. In this post, I cover some of the positions and how you will know if you are the right fit.
How Students Can Select the Right Job in Marketing
Social Media Specialist
With the demand growth up 35 percent, a social media expert is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies through social media platforms to positively maintain a company’s image. You must track metrics and work as a team to develop outreach through strategized social media communications.
If you don’t like talking to people, this isn’t the job for you. You must communicate and engage with people to build interactions by being resourceful to establish connections. You must think creatively to understand a company’s core vision and goals to develop their brand. Plus, you need to think on your feet to quickly resolve any issues that may hurt a company’s reputation.
A role as a social media specialist offers high job satisfaction, and you’re often able to work remotely. Although there is no formal education required, many employers want to see a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or a related field.
SEO Professional
SEO experts need to be extremely creative and highly analytical by nature. Strong communication skills are a must to explain and understand highly technical functions. Plus, you must stay on top of the latest trends and techniques because algorithms are always changing.
This field has experienced notable annual growth and is expected to increase even more. Companies want to see a bachelor’s degree in the field to prove your capabilities analyzing, reporting, and implementing effective strategies to broaden a company’s online reach.
Project Manager
Project managers are responsible for overseeing the concept of an idea and then executing the appropriate method for completion. Taking multiple variables into account, such as design, development, and supervision, you’ll observe the project to ensure it’s completed by the appropriate deadline.
Successful project managers work well with a team (lots of meetings) of people to not only see the big picture, but to actively achieve goals. You must take direction while having the ability to make informed decisions that will promote the outcome of the project. So, you must be able to handle stress well.
Employers seek those that have a background in strategic marketing, marketing management, project management, and budget management. Plus, you must be well versed in marketing communications.
SEM Specialist
SEM specialists work in a number of settings with various job duties including planning and implementing strategies and goals for optimization results, such as keyword research and developing marketing campaigns. Responsibilities often include auditing and delivering content and creating detailed reports to keep up with the latest trends and concepts for search engine marketing.
You must have excellent communication skills to work with other departments and individuals, while being able to work independently. There’s usually teleconferencing and traveling to remote offices so you need to be flexible and goal oriented while juggling multiple tasks.
Although very little training is needed for entry level positions, a bachelor’s degree and two to four years of experience are required by most employers. Also, generally people who are strong in math, statistics and economics do well.
Email Marketing Manager
Email marketing mangers start and implement email marketing campaigns to help keep customers and businesses informed about the latest company happenings, new products and services, and other communications.
Email marketing managers determine the best way to help companies reach customers through written word to promote development. They assemble and organize a large email data base while working with marketing managers, website designers, and content production mangers.
You need a creative understanding of how to reach customers while having great verbal and written skills to accurately portray company messages to influence customers. Many companies require email marketing managers to have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or communications.
Public Relations
Basically, a public relations representative acts as the liaison between a company and the public with a high level of concentration in community and media relations. They help a company work internally while building the publics’ image of the company. In some cases, they may work with marketing and budget planning to coordinate efforts.
A job in public relations requires a high level of organizational and strong interpersonal skills. It’s not a job for someone who’s shy because you must be comfortable speaking to people with good communication strategies.
Typically, companies prefer those who have advanced degrees in the field to plan special events, coordinate incentives with marketing team members, and conduct press outreach.
Analytics Manger
You’ll deal with a number of applications to help structure, manage, and extract data about a company and related factors. Then, the information is used to develop analytical approaches to answer business questions. The strategical approach must be high quality to provide user reports and information that’s used to create actionable results to move a company forward.
Analytics managers need a firm grasp on analytical procedures and the use of related software to develop results. You must be naturally productive while enjoying tedious tasks because many members in the marketing team will depend on you.
For the best employment opportunities, a background in Big Data Analytics, people management, project management, and statistical analysis will open more doors. A high level of business intelligence and strategical marketing are definite pros to a good position as an analytics manger.
Online Affiliate Marketing Manager
Holding a relatively high satisfaction rate, affiliate marketers are responsible for effectively managing and creating affiliate marketing programs by conducting research to increase company profits and brand loyalty. This may include handling online media content, eCommerce programs, and promotional support while working directly with marketing teams to communicate goals and progress.
You need good communication skills to effectively convey ideas and concepts through the company. A bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field is preferred, as well as prior experience. You must have strong analytical skills while having the ability to multitask in typically fast-paced environment. Affiliate marketing can get a bit spammy, so you need to watch out for that side of the business.
Web Developer
A website developer operates in numerous sectors, each with a special skillset needed. Web developers are needed to write specific codes to generate webpages, access data bases, and business logic servers. They work with website designers and content producers to write, modify, and debug software for websites to promote a company’s image and online visibility. They also test and document the software for optimal performance.
You need great oral and written communication skills, as well as the ability to present ideas in a team environment. By identifying and understanding client needs, you must problem solve and have good consultation skills.
Most employers want to see at least a bachelor’s degree with knowledge of programming languages like Javascript, HTML, and CSS. You must be able to rid codes of viruses and understand relevant hardware.
Website Designer
Website designers are in high demand with a 5 percent growth. A website designer plans and establishes websites for interactive technologies for clients. They communicate with customers and work directly with internal teams to make sure websites meet the latest code standards. They also provide technical support to solve website problems while giving clear and concise feedback. Overall, they ensure the creative elements of the site are in line with the brand to incorporate the creative look of each element.
It can be a tedious task so you need a passion for coding and the ability to quickly manage multiple projects at once. You need a keen eye for detail and work as a team player to conceptualize, create, design, develop, and promote website communication with the use of graphic design software.
Employers hire those with a high experience level and prefer those with at least a bachelor’s degree. The more knowledge you have with coding software, the bigger your advantage. With a background in marketing and technology, you’ll have an additional leg up.
Content Writer
Content writers adhere and adjust to meet content calendars with strategy and availability to translate business objectives into compelling content. You must have the ability to write, edit, and publish to reach a specific audience by monitoring and adjusting content to meet specific brand guidelines. You’ll work in collaboration with others to create accurate content based on a specific subject.
Content writers must be self-motivated with high quality writing and editing abilities. You must be able to adapt to a number of writing formats and topics while remaining flexible to meet deadlines. The ability to see the big picture by brainstorming the appropriate approach will help reflect marketing visions.
Often, companies prefer those with bachelor’s degrees in journalism, communications, English, or marketing. However, holding several year of experience and firm knowledge of industry standards can sometime make up for the lack of education.
As online marketing continues to grow, the number of specialists needed will continue to rise. As long as you’re able to keep up with the latest skills, trends, and procedures, you’ll have a viable career with excellent job advancements that will continuously be in demand.
Sources:
- PaySacle Human Capital
- “Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Mangers” Bureau of Labor Statistics
- “Digital Marketing Careers” Smart Insights
