A few days ago, I was talking to a friend. We were catching up after a long time. I asked what his son was up to.
He said, "Oh, my son is doing okay. He is in his final year of B.Tech, Computer Science. Honestly, my wife and I are quite worried about his future."
I knew that he'd always wanted his son to become an engineer. I expected him to be happy about it. It was quite surprising that he was worried, instead.
"Why're you worried? Didn't you always want him to be an engineer?" I asked
"I did. But, you know the job market right now. We're worried if he'll find a good job in web development."
I was wondering what to say, when my friend asked me this.
"You run a digital marketing agency, right? It's very in-demand right now. Do you think my son will benefit from learning digital marketing?"
I've been asked this question a lot of times. And my answer to this is usually, why not?
If your son is interested in web-development, learning digital marketing will definitely help boost his career. He will need to sell his skills. DM can teach him how.
He asked me if I could give his son an overview of digital marketing and help him understand the basics. I agreed.
I also think it'll benefit others like him. So, if you're an early-professional or a student interested in web-development, this blog is for you.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing might sound like a new, fancy skill. But in simple words, it is marketing done digitally.
The basic concepts and approach to marketing remain the same. The only thing that has changed with the web is the medium.
Digital marketing includes everything from website-development to running Google ads for promoting your services and products online.
How will learning digital marketing help me as a developer?
In this era of digitalisation, businesses are going online. They spend money on creating websites and other digital assets. Now obviously, they want to use it to scale their business.
This is precisely where you can be useful.
Picture this.
You work for a company and have developed a beautiful website for a client. Now they wish to run Google Ads to promote their business. To run the same effectively, you need to be technically sound.
Everyone prefers one vendor who can do multiple things, instead of separate vendors for every service. If a vendor can create a website and can do a campaign on Google and Facebook as well, they'd prefer that.
Else there may be coordination issues, in case there are technical glitches. Worse, there may be accountability issues, with one agency blaming the other for the lack of conversions.
If you know how to run Google Ads, you become a valuable asset for your company. Because of this, you can get a better payout, along with chances of your career growth.
Digital marketing knowledge also opens up new avenues for you.
Here are 3 ways you can gain from it.
- Stand out from the crowdEvery time you apply for a job or send out a proposal to a client, there are 100 others applying for the same opportunity.Why should an employer or a client pick you above others?Digital marketing is a rising trend. Employers and clients are constantly looking for people who can wear multiple hats. It helps them save time and money. If you're the one who is a developer who has basic understanding on digital marketing, you automatically up your chances of bagging a job.
- Start a side hustleFreelancing and remote working is huge right now. I'm sure you've heard about successful freelancers who are their own bosses. If you're envious of their lifestyle and wish the same for yourself, digital marketing is one of the best career options.If you aren't confident about succeeding as a freelancer, you can always try it as a side-hustle along with your current job.Learn a new skill. Earn some extra bucks. And live the life of your dreams.
- Have clients and employers chase youWouldn't you like to be in a scenario where people are approaching you to work for them? Maybe a client or an employer. I know this sounds a bit odd, but it's not unrealistic at all. This happens.If you're good at what you do and consistently deliver fantastic output, this can be your reality.
A word of caution
While this seems like an exciting career opportunity, don't get too excited. You should always know what your core skill is. If you're good in coding, then stick to it and use digital marketing as an additional skill. Don't make it your primary skill.
As mentioned above, Digital Marketing is marketing first. As a developer, you may not be well-versed with various marketing techniques that a typical marketer does. Thus, it's essential to work alongside a marketing expert.
We hope this gives you some food for thought.
In our tech training program at Pigtail Pundits, apart from making you a skilful tech, we also train you with all Digital Marketing basics so that you can stand out from the crowd. Check this out and if it interests you, do sign up for the program.
Have a question about the tech training course?
Please join us for a live Q&A session on 9th January 2021. My team and I will answer all your questions. Treat this as an opportunity to get to know your trainers, learn more about this course and get answers to all your questions about this