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A beginner’s guide to digital marketing
This rising number of Internet users in Bangladesh signals a peak for the local digital marketing industry. Digital marketing–any kind of electronic marketing–is now everywhere: Facebook, Instagram ads, influencer marketing, content marketing, videos and so on. There’s a very high chance that someone on your friend list or one of your classmates has worked in digital marketing before. One might even go on to say that one of the starting points for aspiring digital marketers or even future corporations is working in a digital marketing agency or learning about the basics from one’s own home.’
This begets several questions: why is working in a digital marketing agency often the first step for fresh business graduates?
Nomrota S Anushka, Junior Analyst at Anchorless Bangladesh, opines, “It is okay to think joining agencies is a good start because it definitely is. But relying solely on the agency to equip you with the skills that you need to become a good marketer is a red flag.” “Pick up skills that you may want to passionately master going forward. Agencies are anything but easier when you want to focus on a single aspect of digital marketing and the learning never ends if you’re curious enough,” she adds.
Adnan Khan, Founder & CEO at Scratchboard, says, “Joining an agency at the start of your career helps to learn from people who know more than you. It also helps you to figure out what you’re good at, whether that is scriptwriting, designing, media buying, copywriting, making memes and creating content. It’s also possible to free-lance by specialising in a particular skill like copywriting.”
“This can be a good field to explore if you’re a debater or know how to have an impact with words, copywriting is a useful skill to have. You’ll be writing any text that the customer will read e.g. billboard, captions, text in between videos, SMS.
What skills are crucial for digital marketing?
“I consider professional code of conduct, organisation skills and research skills to be absolutely essential as this enables you to deal with any challenge that comes your way. Even a basic idea on copywriting, strategy, design and just boosting on Facebook gets you a long way,” said Adnan, who has more than 5 years of experience with his digital agency.
“Although these are very basic skills which you can learn on the go, if you can show these skills as an entry-level employee, agencies get blown away.”
From the student’s perspective, Nomrota added, “Data analysis, communication and creativity is what makes a marketer sufficient to pick up things along the way. The ever-transforming marketing industry has been dynamic and erratic and the ability to change and adapt with the wind is a skill every marketer should possess. Online courses are a good place to start, but what does the trick is enthusiasm for the work coupled-up with technical know-how to be able to interpret data and analyze consumer behaviour.”
Of course, she had to face certain challenges in her time as a digital marketer. “The initial challenges during the phase when I was learning was understanding the thought process that goes behind in segmenting the market and using the right marketing tool and social media channel to unleash the true potential of your strategy. What helped me to overcome this was getting more familiar with how each channel works, understanding how Facebook analytics works, observing how the target market reacts to different types of content and figuring out what works best.”
What prompts one to go for the ‘
agency-life’?
Peer pressure may lead one to explore digital marketing as a potential career choice. But, it’s more important to figure out first what piques one’s natural curiosity and whether that can somehow lead to a thriving career in digital marketing.
Farhat Zishan Chowdhury, Communications Executive at Dotlines, didn’t plan his marketing career from the get-go. While his marketing major may have introduced him to this world, it was his love for reading and writing that stirred his interest in the possibilities of digital marketing.
“When I was in my 2nd or 3rd year, the marketing industry was moving from analogue to digital-first ecosystem. What excited me most was the idea of content marketing. How can you move people into brand awareness and brand conversion in the digital ecosystem and media buying?”
For Adnan, his interest stemmed from the hit series ‘Mad Men’. “I was awestruck with how they used creativity to shape perception and monetised it. I also used to organise events like football, FIFA tournaments and concerts back in high school. The experience of marketing for those events definitely gave me confidence. Plus, it was easy to get started without any investment.”
What challenges does the industry face?
Farhat says that the challenges are numerous. “Firstly, the Bangladeshi audience is limited only to a single communication channel: Facebook. Many are still not familiar with LinkedIn, Instagram, let alone Twitter and TikTok,” he says.
“There’s the issue of audience understanding. We need to publish awareness content too. We cannot solely depend on conversion content which reduces engagement. Basically, we’re staying in the same place.”
On the other hand, Adnan opined that the industry today has very few barriers to entry where anyone with basic knowledge of photoshop and keywords can easily make their own agency. The problem, thus, is that a lot of clients waste time and money on these agencies who lack a deep understanding and knowledge of marketing fundamentals. This results in these agencies being unable to meet their client’s business objectives.
“I expect the industry to keep growing. The ones to succeed will dominate niches like food, fashion, e-commerce and corporations and specialise in certain parts of digital marketing like media buying, copywriting, influencer marketing etc. as opposed to a jack of all trades. They’ll have a focus on true value and ROI instead of gimmicks and fluffs,” said Adnan.
How do you develop yourself as a digital marketer?
“Curiosity,” said Farhat. “It is important for marketers to stay curious and constantly ask questions. Why is the customer thinking like this about the product? Defy the odds and break conventionality if necessary. You don’t always have to do things the way they are always done. Especially in the current age where the digital marketing ecosystem is changing very fast.”
“Secondly, marketers need to be driven by numbers. At the end of the day, they’re working for the business and must keep track of whether the marketing is driving up sales or even views or not.
“Thirdly, know about pop culture. Creating marketing content that your audience finds relatable can have a huge impact.”
Both Farhat and Adnan agree on lifelong learning. Farhat encourages us to keep track of the current changes of tools like Facebook algorithms and Instagram’s latest IGTV.
For strengthening his skills, Adnan follows several online blogs and marketers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Biaheza, and Russell Brunson. He also suggests the books ‘Dot-com Secrets’ and Seth Godin’s ‘This is Marketing’.
“Follow the big international brands like Nike, Starbucks, Mcdonalds and study what they’re doing and why it makes them so successful,” Adnan shares his insights.
What career prospects can young digital marketers expect?
According to Adnan, the field of digital marketing provides three different kinds of career prospects.
The first is for those who are very passionate about client service and can work on different projects simultaneously at ease. These people love creative expression. For them, it would mean staying in the industry and climbing up.
The second is for people who too are creative expressionists but prefer to add value in specific aspects and create a business, instead of getting a fixed salary.
The third is for people who know how to brand themselves well, like influencers and content creators. In this case, marketing basics and theories are still the same.
While this article is just an introduction to the vast scope of digital marketing, we have tried to make this as comprehensive as possible for every young individual out there, eager to make a mark in something exciting.
Zakia Sameen Noor