Digital Marketing as a Career Choice

Great Rewards of Digital Marketing as a Career Choice in India 

Over the past decade, Digital Marketing has transformed the Marketing landscape with a 360-degree swirl. By being cost-effective, easy to measure, giving real-time results and guaranteeing a high return on investment,  Digital Marketing is in tremendous demand. Irrespective of whether a business is small, medium or big, everyone is making their way towards it.

Needless to say that while  Digital Marketing has provided an amazing marketing platform to businesses, it also offers promising career opportunities to individuals. As businesses are showing more interest in Digital Marketing than ever before, the demand for skilled digital marketing professionals is continuously rising. According to Marketing Hiring Trends Report of 2018, 69% of companies planned to hire digital marketing professionals in 2018.

While the demand for digital marketing talent is 59%, the active supply is just 19%. So, with more companies showing interest in digital marketers, the gap between demand and supply is greater than ever.

The Landscape of Digital Marketing As a Career Choice

Digital Marketing industry is booming like never before. This rising trend of digitalization has created an opportunity for businesses to expand their horizon in the digital sphere and has created the need for digital marketing professionals. Experts say India’s tally of 300 million smartphone users could grow by more than 50% in the next few years. This rise is directly going to amplify the state of the digital marketing industry in India.

Is Digital Marketing a Good Career Option in India?

There is a wide gap between the demand and supply of digital marketing professionals. According to a recent study by CII & KPMG, Digital Marketing Landscape is expected to generate over 20 Lakh jobs by the end of 2020. Ironically there are not enough digital professionals that can meet this demand. As a matter of fact, this creates a competitive advantage for aspiring digital marketers and students pursuing digital marketing to elevate their career.

Taking other statistics into consideration, there are more than 18K jobs on Digital Marketing posted on Naukri.com. And if you follow such postings closely, you’ll find that the trends have been increasing.

Overview of Digital Marketing as a career option 

Digital Marketing is an amalgamation of different Internet Marketing channels and a Full-Stack Digital Marketer requires proficiency in each. However, not everyone can be a “Full-Stack Digital Marketer”. Naturally, there are various job profiles under the Digital Marketing umbrella that one can excel in. The most prominent roles in Digital Marketing with the skills needed in each are: 

Digital Marketing Executive

• Implementation of digital strategies

• Tracking Conversions

• Data Analysis

• Creating & Measuring Campaigns

Digital Marketing Specialist

• Data Analysis

• Creating Digital Marketing Growth Strategies

• Implementation of SEM

• Excellent knowledge of social media, website metrics and best practices

Social Media Marketing Manager

• Creativity & Innovation

• Copywriting, Writing & Editing

• Research & Planning

• Community Management

• Excellent Communication & Relationship Building Skills

Search Engine Optimization Specialist

• Critical Thinking

• Researching

• Competency with Technology

• Flexibility & Analytical Skills

• Content Writing

Search Engine Marketer

• Critical Thinking

• Problem-Solving

• Competitor & Market Analysis

• Campaign & Budget Management

Content Marketer

• Creative Brainstorming

• Content Curation

• Writing & Editing

• Project Management

• Search Engine Optimization

• Speaking and Presentation skills

Affiliate Marketer

• Problem-Solving & Decision-Making

• Creativity & Marketing

• Data Analysis

• Money Management & Leadership

Inbound Marketer

• Analytical Thinking

• Problem Solving

• Excellent communication & time management skills

• Proficiency in marketing automation and blogging software features

Email Marketing Specialist

• Excellent written communication

• Project Management

• Proficiency in marketing automation technology

• Familiarity with analytical & database tools

Web Analytics Specialist

• Problem Solving

• Data Visualization

• Strong Communication

• Adaptation & Technical Skills

So, here we see that a plethora of options are available and an aspirant can easily choose the profile that suits his interests and skill-set.

Top 5 Reasons To Choose Digital Marketing as a Career Option

1. High Demand for Digital Marketing Professionals

According to McKinley’s Marketing Hiring Trends report, digital marketing hiring was 32% above average & digital marketing still remains the top area of demand for marketing talent with grabbing 59%. The demand for Digital Marketing professionals is ever increasing. A majority of businesses have already turned digital leading to an increase in the demand for Digital Marketing Professionals.

2. Specific Educational Qualification is not Required

Candidates from any educational background can be a part of the Digital Marketing industry. No specific academic qualification is required. Unlike other industries where particular academic qualification is required, Digital Marketing is literally meant for everyone whether you are B.Tech graduate or an MBA pass out, even freshers have their share of opportunities. All that matters is your passion for learning Digital Marketing, consistent efforts, language proficiency, and basic analytical skills.

3. The Digital Marketing Industry is Booming

Taking the current statistics in India, there are around 4.1 billion Internet users & 51.2% of the world’s population is online. According to a study by Gadgets 360, India is expected to cross 530 million smartphone users by 2020. India has crossed the internet users mark of 450 million in 2017. Initially, India took 10 years to increase the internet user base from 10 Million to 100 Million. By taking advantage of the digital revolution, it took only 3 years to grow from 100 million to 200 million and 1 year from 200 million to 300 million.

Nonetheless, India has already become the second largest Smartphone market after China. Along with the growth of the e-commerce platforms, the usage of social media sites has also increased. These statistics are a perfect indication of the digital revolution in our daily lives.

4. Highly Paid Jobs

Digital Marketing is one of the high paying job profiles in India. The average salary of a Digital Marketing Professional is Rs 15,000 – Rs 4 Lacs depending on the experience and position. Well, the law of demand and supply is applied here. As it has been observed that the demand for digital marketing professionals is quite high while the supply is low, the remuneration for skilled digital marketing professionals is also quite high. Generally, compensations are higher where skills are scarce.

5. Recession Proof Career Opportunity

There are a lot of marketing professionals who have seen faced the worst phase of the recession. Well, another reward for choosing Digital Marketing as a career choice is that Digital Marketing is free from recession. Digital Marketing works without the help of external resources and is immune to external changes. Also considering the fact that Digital Marketing is continuously evolving, this proves that Digital Marketing is a long-term concept.

According to a recent survey by Netscape India, 75% of marketing analysts expect that Digital Marketing investment is going to increase. Furthermore, dependency on digital platforms has also increased. This proves that digital marketing holds much potential because of its effectiveness and direct communication. Because of Digital Marketing’s worth in the Marketing landscape, it is a reliable and recession proof career option for aspiring digital marketers

Top 5 Skills You Need For A Successful Career in Digital Marketing

Taking into consideration the ever-increasing growth of digital marketing, the demand for skilled digital marketing professionals has also increased. Companies are looking for digital marketing professionals with a perfect blend of skills and expertise. Here are a few skills that every aspiring digital marketer should possess to build a rewarding career in Digital Marketing.

1. Communication Skills

Digital Marketing profiles include a lot of communication whether done internally with the team or externally with clients. Thus, good verbal and written communication skills are required for profiles in Digital Marketing domain.

2. Creativity

To create unique marketing ideas, Digital Marketers need to have a creative instinct in them. They need to be creative enough to create, formulate and execute new ideas and strategies with the help of their creativity.

3. Networking

To create unique marketing ideas, Digital Marketers need to have a creative instinct in them. They need to be creative enough to create, formulate and execute new ideas and strategies with the help of their creativity.

4. Analytical Skills

A lot of data gets generated within the Digital Marketing Landscape related to the target audience, competitors, consumers, etc. This arises a need for having analytical skills to resolve a huge amount of data in simpler forms.

5. Innovation

As a Digital Marketer, one needs to be highly innovative in trying out new things and be proactive enough to grab the attention of the target audience in the highly cluttered internet space.

Closing Thoughts

The above-mentioned statistics are proof that Digital Marketing is moving ahead with a rapid pace. By providing promising career opportunities, Digital Marketing has become the latest trend amongst aspiring marketers and entrepreneurs. However, if you are also looking forward to starting your career in digital marketing, the best way to do it through a professional digital marketing course. That will save you a lot of time and give your thoughts an organized direction.