A digital marketer formulates, executes, and manages a business’s marketing campaign to generate leads and create brand awareness. They do that across the digital channels such as the business’ website, social media accounts, search engine ranking, online display ads, email marketing, and corporate blogs.
They also identify, evaluate new technologies, and synthesize web analytics to improve on ways to better communicate with the end consumer. To increase lead generation and spread further brand awareness.
What Does a Digital Marketer Do?
When you look at the job descriptions for two or more digital marketers working in different fields across the digital marketing spectrum, you will see a stack difference between the job descriptions; they might be worlds apart.
For instance, the work of graphic designers, copywriter, SEO experts, and email marketer are very different. Yet they are all within the digital marketing industry. Below we explore some of these job descriptions.
Pay-per-Click (PPC) Marketer’s Role
A digital marketer who does PPC marketing is behind driving sponsored content on search engines online. They create and design the company’s landing pages to ensure it is ranked as high as possible in search engine results pages (SERPs). That can be achieved by either organically by inputting relevant keywords, long-tail keywords strategically throughout the copy of the content. Or can be sponsored by paying the search engines to highlight the pages at the top of SERPs.
The ideal PPC marketer does thorough research and selects the right keywords, then organizes those keywords to make well-organized campaigns and ad groups. Search engines will reward such well-organized PPC campaigns by charging less per ad click, especially if the landing pages are satisfying to the online visitors.
PPC marketers are also expected to regularly keep up to date with changes happening in the search engine algorithms to ensure their copies comply with the prevailing standards. Otherwise, ranking high organically on a given keyword today, may not work tomorrow as the search engines keep redefining the rules of ranking webpages.
According to webfx.com, the top search engine in 2019 and their market share are as follows: Google 76%, Baidu 15%, Bing 4%, Yahoo 2%, Yandex 0.6%, Ask 0.2%, DuckDuckGo 0.1%, Naver 0.1%, AOL 0.04%, and DogPile 0.03%.
There is also the challenge of complying with various standards set by the different search engines. There are numerous search engines out there, and each has its own set of rules for indexing web pages. It, therefore, falls upon the PPC marketer to know which search engines are the company’s target customers using the most. Then curate much of the company’s copies in line with the given search engine’s regulations.
As a PPC marketer, it upon you to select which keywords rules you should comply with, as the various search engines have different algorithms. Your decision should be informed by which search engine program are your target customers likely to be, but generally, complying with Google’s standards will likely yield more fruits. Unless you are dealing with customers from China and to a small extent, Russia, in which case you should focus more on Baidu and Yandex, respectively.
Google Ads
As we have established, Google is the most popular search engine across the world. As a PPC marketer, you can’t go wrong, conforming to the standards set by Google. Below are key parameters, which Google Ads considers as a good PPC campaign:
- The Relevance of Keywords – You copy needs to have a relevant keyword list, prop ad text, and tight keyword groups
- Quality of Landing Page – An optimized landing page with persuasive content, which is relevant, the message clearly written and tailored to the needs of specific search queries, and a call-to-action score big in Google Ads’ books.
- Quality Score – This is the rating Google gives to the quality and relevance of your keyword, landing page quality, and general PPC campaign design. Marketers with high Quality Score have their Ads displayed more, and pay less per clicks
- Creativity – Google Ads also looks at the level of engagement your content elicits. Those written with a lot of creativity and are engaging are ranked higher.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A good SEO campaign will see your business website get more traffic, which could translate to more revenue. While it is not rocket science, there are some practices considered white hat SEO and others black hat SEO.
The white hat practices adhere to best practice standards set mostly by Google, while the black hat techniques try to game the rules. Eventually, search engines end up punishing such tactics. As a SEO marketer you will be expected to do the following:
Stay Up-To-Date With Search Engine Algorithms
The most significant task a SEO expert does is keeping tabs on changes in search engine algorithms. Your site might be ranking high now, in a few weeks or months, it may be at the bottom of SERPs. To avoid that, ensure you always know what new standards search engines, especially Google, are introducing when indexing web pages. Then effect those changes on your website.
Do a Thorough Keyword Research
The SEO expert should know what people are searching for online, and try to guide the copy on the company’s website to strategically have those search keywords. A website copy should never be written without first establishing all the relevant keywords that will be used by users searching for information contained therein.
That entails establishing synonyms and long-tail keywords. You also want to study the search trend over time to know the increase and decrease of use of certain words. Then effect those changes on your website copy to reflect the words consumers are using most to search for information.
Write a Copy Meant for Human-Readers, Not Search Engines
After doing the above, a SEO marketer might be too preoccupied with topping the SERPs. That their website copy is written with 100% conformity to the search engine set guidelines, but not easy to read for the average human. Remember, you are writing these content for people, not the search engine crawl bots. You are better off writing something the average customer can understand, at the same time checking it conforms to the search engine guidelines.
Highly Engaging Content
Your content must provide real value to visitors on your website. Search engines will know the content is outstanding by the number of users engaging with the content, leaving a comment, keeps coming back to the page, stays longer on the page, and share with other people on social media.
That calls for creative writing that catches the attention of the visitors. The value of creative writing cannot be taken lightly, as Google Panda can penalize your site for posting short and unengaging content. Take care not to repeatedly post about the same topic, as Google Panda may perceive you to be a content farm, which it discourages.
Keyword Placements
Google’s search bots peruse hundreds of billions of web pages online every day. They are designed to skim through the web page copy and identify the keywords for indexing. Understanding how they skim will enable you to strategically place the keywords where they can be easily found, thus ranks first for the given search.
Though the rules keep changing, but at the very least, the keyword ought to be on the title, first paragraph, within at least one H1-heading and in the last paragraph. However, the keywords concentration should not exceed 2.5% of the total words within the copy.
Off-Page SEO
Much of what has been said above falls under the on-page SEO, things a marketer does to their website to improve its SERPs ranking. Some activities take place away from the site that can improve the website ranking. Activities like inbound linking (backlinks), and if the link is from a very authoritative website, the better.
As a marketer, you can take on off-page SEO by doing things like guest blog posting to other websites and have them link back to your site. You can also give your audiences eBooks and whitepapers do download and have links back to your website.
Technical SEO
How the website itself is designed also plays a role in its SEO ranking. Search engine likes giving user-friendly information, packaged in a user-friendly format. That packaging refers to web design and its viewability across multiple devices with various screen sizes.
A SEO marketer needs to ensure that the website’s CSS, security standards, mobile, and desktop friendliness all conform to the industry’s best practice standard.
Social Media Marketing
Much of the world population is on social media, as it provides an effective platform to keep in touch with family and friends. Over the years, it has also become a platform where businesses can reach the masses fast and cost-effectively. A social media marketer is tasked with putting the company’s message out there, and they do so in the following steps.
Define the Organization’s Goals
The Social Media Marketer (SMM) must first establish the business’s goals on social media. Is it to sell more units, provide information, or provide customer service? Yes, these days, consumers reach out to brands via social media in case of any questions or complaints. Once the goal has been defined, the SMM will work toward achieving it.
Establish Who Is The Intended Audience
Social media is awash with people from all backgrounds, most of whom are likely not interested in the product or service the business is selling. Therefore, it is time and resource-saving to identify your target customers amid ‘the universe’ that is social media users. After which, design content tailor-made to your target audience.
No Two Social Media Are Equal, Chose The Best For You
Let’s take, for instance, Twitter and Instagram as an example. If you are in the landscaping business, Instagram, having been built from the ground-up to showcase pictures and videos, will better serve to showcase your portfolio. Twitter, being text-heavy, might not be the best platform to showcase your portfolio of previous work done.
Content Is King
Just like with your website copy, social media posting needs to be engaging for the target audience. That calls for creative writing and graphic design for multimedia postings such as pictures, infographics, and videos. You also need to be consistent in your postings; that means maintaining a consistent brand image and keep postings regularly. If you are not going to do that, you should not even start in the first place.
Don’t Flood The Timeline With Just Your Content
Nobody is a monopoly of information, and you cannot possibly create all the information in the world that your audience may need. Therefore, it is advised that now and then share content from other sources that are relevant to your audience. Marketing experts call it sharing curated links, and it gives your followers confidence in your content if you are confident enough to let them know of other sources.
Email Marketing
Email marketing refers to developing a relationship with your prospective clients through email messaging. Think of it as direct mail of the old day, where businesses sent potential clients mails using the postal services. Email marketing is the same, except the messages are sent electronically.
At its worst, email marketing is those unsolicited emails that keep filling your spam box with messages along the line of ‘Get this product X that will turn your life around overnight for just $X …’ and some crap like that. That often occurs when a business buys an email list online from shady websites with questionable user data protection and privacy policy.
At its best, email marketing is the act of keeping your customers informed so they can make the best decision on their next purchase from your business. Note, they must first have subscribed to your emails, and not you barraging them with unsolicited emails.
The email marketer needs to personalize each email sent out to each customer, something that will go a long way toward creating a relationship. For instance, a business can send out an email to a customer on their birthday, giving them a discount on a purchase. Such a move will go a long way in making the customer feel valued, thus creating loyalty. Below are some helpful tips on email marketing:
- Create your list of contacts rather than buying random emails online. That’s how your emails keep hitting brick walls; the owners of the email did not explicitly subscribe to your emails.
- Adhere to the CAN-SPAM Act, which spells out the acceptable standards for commercial emails, including the receiver getting the option to unsubscribe easily and sender giving their name and address in the email.
- Don’t be sale-sy all the time. Instead, use your emails to build a rapport with the customers by giving them helpful insights about your product.
- Adhere to a schedule. If you have been sending emails once per week, say Tuesday mornings. Stick to that schedule, don’t go silent for a long time, and then start flooding their inbox because suddenly you have ‘a lot of news to announce.’
Content Marketing
Content marketing refers to the act of creating content for the company’s digital assets (website, blogs, and social media) and then promoting them online to get as much viewership as possible. The work of a SEO and content marketer are intertwined, and in a small organization, you will find one person taking both roles.
The content manager will be tasked with writing the blog posts, ebooks, and whitepapers. They may also work with graphic designers and videographers to come up with infographics, pictures, and videos.
Affiliate Marketer
An affiliate marketer will approach another business and have them redirect traffic from their website (the 3rd party business site) to the business’ website in a referral program. The business will then pay the 3rd party business for all the web traffic brought to the website from the referrals.
For instance, let’s say the marketer is working for a computer making company. They could approach a tech news site like TechCrunch, Verge, or Mashable for a referral, which could be done in the form of an editor reviewing their latest device. Do the pros and cons and offer a link back to a landing page on the company’s website.
Online Public Relations
An online PR manager works like their traditional counterpart, except the positive image they are trying to create for a brand is being done on the internet platforms. It involves posting a positive brand image across blogs, news outlets, and independent reviewers’ websites.
In the old days, businesses with online presence used to churn out content online but hardly reacting to the feedback they get, whether good or bad. However, modern PR dictates that a business should respond to feedback given online, as it makes the company appear approachable and human.
It humanizes the company, and that’s is why you will see even the biggest brands in the market, reacting to comments made by people on their postings on social media. There is a dedicated team for social media that addresses any questions or concerns users are posting on the posts made by the company on social media.
Front-End Web Development
There are many aspects of digital marketing, such as SEO, that are hinged upon the structural and development integrity of the business’s website. The work of a front-end web developer is to ensure that the coding for the front of the business website runs smoothly and is in compliance with the latest web development standards. These developers integrate the markup languages, scripts, design, and framework of the front-end of the website, ensuring that it is user-friendly.
Marketing Automation
Digital marketing is a broad spectrum of fields, some more important than others. It would be costly and time consuming for companies to hire a specialist in every field to do the task regularly. Thanks to marketing automation, some of these fields can be automated and run semi-autonomously.
The work of a Marketing Automation specialist is to automate marketing tasks that do not need a daily hands-on operation. Tasks like social media postings can be created at a specific time and then scheduled out when they will post throughout the week or month. The same thing goes with emails and SMS messaging.
Data Science
We live in the digital information age that makes capturing of data more straightforward, faster, and affordable. That means for someone out to collect data, they will quickly get terabytes of data. Data scientists are the professionals who analyze these data, identify relevant patterns, and the possible economic opportunities waiting to be capitalized on.
These professionals often come from technical backgrounds such as computer science, actuary, statistics, modeling, math, and analytics. They also must have a strong business mind to identify the commercial application for the opportunities they discover in the data.
Growth Hacker
Growth Hacking is a relatively new field of digital marketing, and it entails a specialist, or rather strategist, coming up with creative and affordable plans that will help the business scale up fast. They are often found in startups looking to grow their market base quickly without breaking their bank accounts.
Inbound Marketer
These are marketers who specialize in identifying probable customers for your brand out of a bunch of customers. Then come up with strategies that will see the traffic from the right set of customers flow back to your brand. As opposed to an outbound marketer, who try to market your brand to everyone, and just about anyone.
More often than not, the target of outbound marketers is not interested or in need of your product. With inbound marketers, they first identify who may be in need, then come up with strategies that will make sure these customers know about your brand. Then rope them in towards your business.
To Sum It Up…
The above are some of the most popular digital marketing jobs around. Generally, a digital marketer’s job entails, using digital platforms where a lot of the consumers are spending a good amount of their time to establish a relationship between the business and the consumers.
Article provided by, The Digital Marketing Recruiter – a recruiting firm focused exclusively on filling digital marketing positions throughout the USA
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