Researching the Jobs Market in Your Digital Specialty

It’s a digital world and technology is evolving all the time! Given that this is the direction that business is moving in, companies are working hard to get on this bandwagon, and spending is growing to find and retain talent in this growth industry.

So, if you are a digital marketer with education and digital savvy, and you’re looking to make your mark, what is the best path forward?

The Evolution of an Industry

Digital marketing represents a huge opportunity for companies of all kinds and all sizes. With knowledge in the various specialties such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), and social media, working as a digital marketer can be highly lucrative.

It’s not enough to promote your brand. Companies need to provide meaningful, relevant content to their intended audience and be mindful of their experience. Companies also need to be able to gauge success in campaigns by gathering and synthesizing data. Not only does this help determine return on investment (ROI), but it also helps companies to determine their next steps in marketing strategy.

However, in much the same way that a digital marketing campaign is successful when you employ a targeted strategy, you need to become adept in developing a job search strategy to land the most coveted digital marketing roles. To help you do this, ask yourself questions, such as:

• What strategy do you use when marketing a business?
• Do you research what your audience seeks and then create relatable, valuable content that they receive willingly?
• Do you use analytics and tools to scour the web for opportunities?
• Do you do research on your competitors and try to learn from their success?
• If this is how you market a business as a digital marketing professional, shouldn’t you apply the same approach to marketing yourself to recruiters?

Building a Digital Marketing Resumé

Given that digital marketing is still a pretty young industry, you may not have yet had many years of experience on the job. That doesn’t mean that you aren’t qualified! It comes down to understanding the skill set required to be a top-notch digital marketer and presenting yourself to recruiters in that context.

There are certain things that you should pay attention to when building your resumé as a digital marketer. It’s about presenting your brand (you) in a clean, concise way, with an emphasis on skills, your message, and the unique value that you would bring to the organization that you are targeting.

Avoid infographics and busy design elements. Present your information in short paragraphs or with bullet points. White space is your friend! Make it easy for the recruiter to locate and consume the necessary information right away.

Be meticulous with spelling and grammar checking. Attention to detail matters a great deal in digital marketing, so reflect this in your resumé.

Find creative ways to articulate your value proposition, preferably by demonstrating what your skills can accomplish and what impact they will have on your target market. For example, are you great at creating content? Then say that you create content that influences others, or that you are adept at creating content that is impactful and persuasive. Show, don’t tell!

Research your target companies. Have your resumé and cover letter reflect the target company’s tone, language usage, and brand. Success comes down to knowing your audience. (Sound familiar?)

How to Find Opportunities

Although there are plenty of jobs in digital marketing (and the number is growing all the time), it can be a challenge to identify those opportunities. How do you find them? Good old-fashioned relationship-building through networking is a tried and true method of locating opportunities, especially those that aren’t advertised. Get into the trade show circuit with the goal of building connections face to face.

Given the global reach of this industry, your networking needs to extend to the digital space, both to locate posted positions and to foster as many relationships as possible that might lead you to your next digital marketing role.

That is where ongoing and active participation in online communities and social communities is essential. Participating in communities on Facebook and LinkedIn is a great way to interact with others and promote your personal brand. Do searches based on your geography or your area of interest.

Engage with online communities as well, because social communities are different from online communities. Where social communities are about people connecting, online communities are more about sharing content.

Online communities are helpful in connecting you with job prospects and building contacts, but they are also helpful in keeping you on top of trends and technology in the digital marketing space.

Here are some suggestions for online communities.

Digital Marketing Community

The name of this community (Digital Marketing Community) says it all! You can connect with like-minded people, locate cool events to network at, and learn ways to hone your skills.

Growth Hub

Growth Hub is a hot spot to connect with recruiters but is also an excellent resource for industry news. Staying on top of developments within the industry can help you anticipate opportunity.

DMA Mobile & Digital Community

The DMA Mobile & Digital Community is a great place to share best practices with other marketing professionals. They include all digital platforms.

Job Websites and Job Boards

Job boards are a great place to look for opportunities. But which ones have the best opportunities? Where are you most likely to find a match for your skill set? There are a number to choose from, but here are some popular ones.

Mashable

Mashable is edgy and a hot spot for job seekers and recruiters. The Job Board boasts 45 million monthly unique visitors and 25 million social followers. It is very popular with consultants, bloggers, marketers, and mobile programmers.

Mediabistro

For those serious about landing cool media jobs, Mediabistro is your first stop. The focus here is on social media marketing jobs.

The Drum

Looking for work in the digital space? The Drum caters specifically to creative professionals on a global basis and is a popular spot for digital marketing, PR, design, and social media.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the digital equivalent of physical networking. Enabling you to establish a wide network of influential contacts and share valuable content, LinkedIn not only provides digital marketers many solid job leads, but it also provides a unique opportunity for digital marketers to establish their brand visibility.

 CrunchBoard

The draw of CrunchBoard is that it is tech job central, so it is a good place to gain a foothold into tech and digital marketing. Jobs are shared on the job board and through a newsletter and social media channels.

Build Your Own Online Presence

If digital marketing is all about promoting brands succinctly through digital channels, then you need to build your online presence strategically. Not only does this demonstrate your skills at creating and promoting a brand, but it can be a valuable tool in separating you from your competition. It is a unique chance for you to develop and share your message, all while controlling the narrative in your favor.

Start in much the same way that you would for another marketing campaign. Define your audience. Who do you want to work for? What sort of roles do you see yourself having? How do the companies you’re applying to consume their information? How can you connect in the most relevant and effective manner?

Create valuable original content or curate and share enriching content through your own social media (and participate in several different platforms). Comment often in forums or online communities around your niche to promote your active engagement with other members of the same market.

Consider getting your own domain name and a business email address. This is great for polished optics. Include a bio and a headshot. Write a blog. Not only is this a valuable source of content, but it can also go far to establish yourself as a subject matter expert, which will legitimize your path up the career ladder in the eyes of recruiters.

In the age of a constant stream of content, it can be hard to sift through what matters. Participating in an online community can help you do just that, as well as connect with potential recruiter and job opportunities.

Some Final Tips

Make sure that you are aware of the latest trends and technology when it comes to digital marketing. It is a quickly evolving space, so to stay abreast of new developments! Be versatile. Since the barriers between different departments and roles are dissolving as the digital marketplace evolves, it is to your benefit to be able to act and react ahead of market trends.

Be prepared to experiment with projects, and be ready to accept praise for a job well done or apply lessons learned to strengthen your next digital marketing strategy. Pick a couple of areas of specialty, but be generally knowledgeable in all areas of digital marketing. Remember that advertising is evolving rapidly towards digital-first mediums. So, in order to make yourself most appealing to potential recruiters, make sure that you are well versed in social media and live chats.

These are your best bets for landing a dream digital marketing role.