The digital marketing landscape is very vast and constantly developing. Not a year goes by without some sort of major development; whether that’s a new platform aiming to become a staple social media channel, a new type of ad format, or tweaking of targeting. capability. The list of opportunities (or potential changes) is unpredictable.
The role of digital marketing specialist is pretty sought after in a wide range of sectors. Very few industries still thrive on offline activities. Search engines, and now social media, are go-to sources of trust and credibility when it comes to identifying new products of services (from a B2B POV), or even for finding places to eat, shop or visit (from a B2C POV).
The role of digital marketing specialist, thus, is key to unlocking growth in an effective way.
So, what is a digital marketing specialist?
A digital marketing specialist plans, executes, optimises and reports on digital marketing activities and campaigns. Now, campaign can be a loose term. It can include any of the following, for example:
- Paid social media, i.e., LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram, Twitter, or other channels.
- PPC – executed through Google or Microsoft ads (previously Bing!)
- SEO – driving inbound opportunities through organic search
- Email marketing
- Website, microsite or landing page building
It’s the result of activity by a digital marketing professional who knows what they’re doing – from strategy through to delivery.
Even the campaign period – once an activity is live – is broad and varied. It’s not just the case of putting an activity live and seeing what happens.
The world has moved on from being OK with just execution. We’re now – and quite rightly so – much more focused on results and the return on investment (ROI).
Marketers are under increased scrutiny to drive results. That’s why having access to, or employing a digital marketing specialist is so key to business growth.
You need somebody driving your digital marketing activities forward that gets it. They get what it takes, and they know what needs to be done in order to drive results.
But that’s not saying that results happen overnight. And any decent digital marketing specialist will be open and honest about it; it takes time. And it takes additional factors to drive meaningful conversations.
It’s a case of combining profile and performance, brand and demand, for optimal results. A brand/business with no brand recognition or awareness will struggle to convert. A brand that is recognised will have much greater success when it comes to demand-gen / lead-gen campaign activity.