Careers in Digital Marketing: Content Writer, Marketing Analytics, Social Media & Campaign Manager

By Atanu Ghosh - A faculty at Calcutta Media Institute (CMI) and IIM Udaipur

Digital marketing is now a mainstream marketing technique for organisations. While this has opened many career options for students, it has also created confusion.

Students are unable to decide whether to take up post graduate study in digital marketing and, if so, which specialization in digital marketing is aligned to their interest. The reasons for this confusion are many. Digital marketing is a disruptive technology. Professional career options in this field are constantly evolving as industry finds newer areas where digital marketing can contribute effectively to business. The scope of digital marketing itself has changed significantly over time. Digital marketing was originally considered to be a specialized brand of marketing communication or advertising where digital media (e.g. search, online display, social media, email, etc.) were used for effective brand communication. Digital marketing has gone much beyond that. It is now a cross-functional discipline consisting of elements of marketing, sales, advertising, customer relationship, technology and business strategy.

The good news of all these are that students of digital marketing have now a plethora of choices to match their interests. The bad news is that students need to clearly know what these choices are, what kind of skills are required to take up these choices and whether those match the interest they have. In order to bring clarity in this clutter, let us understand the various industries and job roles where a digital marketing professional has opportunity to work. Each of these job roles may require different skills and aptitude. Hence, selecting the ones that align with the student’s interest, aptitude and ability is of utmost importance.

Digital Marketing Jobs in an Advertising Agency

The first and the most obvious sector is advertising. Most ad agencies recruit digital marketers in large numbers. But the job role of a digital marketing in an ad agency can differ significantly within as well as among various ad agencies. There are primarily four types of jobs that a digital marketer can do in an ad agency.

Social Media Manager – The first one is that of a social media manager. In this job role the incumbent is expected to manage social media accounts of the client, create a content strategy, upload content regularly on the social media and run paid promotional campaigns on social media. The key skills required in this role are knowledge of various social media and associated third party tools and basic understanding of marketing principles. Some recruiters also expect basic knowledge of photo and video editing and content creation to be effective in this role.

Content Writer – The second job is that of a content writer. In this job role the incumbent is expected to create original content for brands. Content, as we all know, are of four types – text, static image, audio and video. Creating content in each of these media require specific skill in that media. When companies say they are looking for content writers they usually mean text content. However, it is always good to clarify what kind of content the incumbent is expected to develop. As content writers the incumbent needs to have a penchant for writing. Students from language and literature, liberal art, journalism and mass communication background tend to do well in these jobs. Along with creative writing skills the incumbents are expected to have knowledge of how to make their content “SEO-friendly” i.e. “liked” by search engines like Google. Knowledge of using different software platforms for creating and editing content for digital media e.g. content management systems (CMS) like Wordpress and tools like Instant Article in Facebook will be a plus in seeking a career in this area.

Campaign Manager – The third job is that of a campaign manager. In this job the incumbent is expected to strategise, plan, budget and execute campaign for brands in various digital media like search, online display, social, e-mail, etc. A thorough knowledge of digital campaign tools is a must in this role. There are various tools in the market. Some of the popular ones are Google Ads, Double Click Bid Manager, Facebook Ad Manager, AWS Digital Marketing Platform, Adobe Marketing Cloud, Google Analytics etc. Making digital media plan, budget and analyzing campaigns for calculating return on investment is an important part of the job. The campaign managers need to work closely with the technical team (i.e. website and mobile app developers) for seamlessly integrating the digital campaigns with digital assets of organizations. Thus the campaign managers need to be proficient in using computers, have fair amount of marketing acumen and must be comfortable with numbers. Basic software programming skills will be an added advantage in this role. Students from science, commerce or engineering background tend to love this career option.

SEO – The fourth type of job role is that of a search engine optimizer. Many organizations combine this with a website or mobile app developer role. Good software programming knowledge with basic acumen on consumer behavior is required for this role. Proficiency in certain tools like Google Search Console, third party tracking tools, etc. is required. However, if the job role focuses more on “off-page SEO” then the role may tend towards that of a content manager job profile. It is very important to get clarity in this area. Else, students may land up in a job that is completely contrary to their interest, skill and ability.

Many organizations and brands have started building their in-house digital marketing teams instead of outsourcing the work to agencies. Aspiring digital marketing professionals may find good career opportunity in these organizations. Many brands outsource the execution to agencies but keep a small team in-house to strategise, plan and supervise the work of agencies. Students joining these roles need to have very strong foundation in marketing areas like brand management, consumer behavior, media planning, etc. They need to have a 360 degree view of digital marketing methods, techniques and tools so that they can make informed choice and guide the agencies. Students need not acquire deep skill in any specific tool or technique but must have sufficient breadth of knowledge and conceptual understanding. Having an analytical mind and being good with numbers is required for this role.

Career in Marketing Analytics

Analytics is an important area in digital marketing. Students interested in career in marketing analytics may need to augment their digital marketing knowledge with that of core analytics including big data, machine learning, deep learning, text mining, etc. Students with analytical bend of mind and those who love numbers and programming may find this career exciting. Students from engineering, mathematics, statistics and quantitative economics background may do well in this career. Very lucrative career options are available in this area in core software and technology companies, analytics companies and in in-house analytics teams in large corporate.

Adtech companies develop and deploy the sophisticated technology for digital marketing. Leading names in this area are Google, Facebook, Amazon, Adobe, etc. Apart from these global giants there are many boutique firms in this area. Adtech firms extensively research on emerging technology areas like artificial intelligence and blockchain and their applications in the field of digital marketing. Digital marketers who have a strong mathematics, statistics or computer science background can aim for these extremely lucrative global career options.

Thus, career options in digital marketing are many. The need of the hour is to choose the right one that fits the student’s interest, aptitude and ability. There are plethora of digital marketing courses offered in the market. It is very important to deep dive into the curriculum and pedagogy of these courses so that students are aware of the areas of focus in these courses and that they are aligned to the career option that students are interested in.

Some courses like the one offered by Calcutta Media Institute are designed such that students are given an exposure to most of the relevant areas of digital marketing in the span of one year. Students can then find their interest and choose a career path that specializes in an area that excites them most.

About the Author

Atanu Ghosh, a faculty at Calcutta Media Institute (CMI), is an Entrepreneur, a Founder-Director and CEO, a Mentor, an Angel Investor to Start-ups and a Digital Marketing Evangelist. Atanu has a distinguished career spanning more than two decades in various industries and countries.

Atanu is an Adjunct/ Visiting/ Guest Faculty in areas of ERP, E-Commerce and Digital Marketing in leading academic institutions of India like IIM Calcutta, XLRI Jamshedpur and Praxis Kolkata. Atanu has been a distinguished and key note speaker in leading forums and industry associations of India like SAPPHIRE, CII and Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. Atanu is also a Consultant and Advisor to Government organizations, companies and start-ups in areas of IT Strategy, ERP, Digital Media and Analytics Strategy, etc.

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