AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO

DIGITAL MARKETING
Your Guide to Modern Marketing
and Related Career Opportunities
in 2021
INTRODUCTION TO
DIGITAL MARKETING
Digital marketing — often referred to as ‘online marketing’,
‘internet marketing’, or ‘web marketing’ — sits at the
intersection of marketing and technology. It encompasses any
type of marketing effort requiring an electronic device or the
internet. And there are a lot of electronic devices connected
to the internet now, making digital marketing more business-
critical every day.

THE HISTORY OF DIGITAL MARKETING

The term ‘digital marketing’ was coined in the 1990s, yet its
complete usage and importance has risen only in the recent
past. As technology advanced rapidly over the past two
decades, digital media eventually became ubiquitous across
devices and channels. At the same time, marketers began to
recognize the burgeoning opportunities in reaching audiences
that could access information from anywhere at any moment
— as well as the challenges of this new fragmentation.
MODERN DIGITAL MARKETING
The current digital era is better equipped to unify customer
experiences across devices and channels, but it’s not perfect.
While marketers have more ways to cross-promote products
and services online, they also require sophisticated tools to
track behaviors and attribute data. As we begin to move
toward a cookie-less world, digital marketers are looking to
diversify technologies and strategies even more, in order to
make sense of data and apply it for the personalized
experiences consumers expect.

As if these challenges aren’t enough to navigate, the Covid-19

pandemic is also reshaping the digital marketing ecosystem.
Consumer behaviors are shifting as people continue to spend
more time at home, on devices, with different needs, habits,
and intentions than before. This has increased usage in some
areas of digital marketing, like social media, but reduced
spending in other areas, like paid advertising. Of course, this
fluctuates from month-to-month, but as digital marketers,
these ebbs and flows are all part of the job.

GOING INTO THE FUTURE

As a marketer — digital or otherwise — it is going to be
essential to have a complete understanding of the digital
landscape and the audience to achieve success. This
continues to be a challenge for the current crop of digital
marketers as there are a variety of protocols, specifications,
regulations, and interfaces across different digital media,
devices, and countries. To overcome this challenge, digital
marketers today have many tools at their disposal to monitor
— in real time — what is being read, for how long, and by how
many people. The data gathered is then used to analyze what
works and what doesn’t, in order to adapt and improve.

Let’s dig deeper into what digital marketing looks like to-
day, the benefits of starting a career in it, and what types of
roles are available in the fast-growing field that has become
mission-critical for any business, in any industry, to invest in
today.
 THE DIGITAL
MARKETING MIX
Reviews
Pay Per Click
Media Coverage
Display Ads
Guest Posts
Remarketing
Mentions
Earned Paid Retargeting
Social Shares
Paid Social
Influencers (Free)
Native Ads
Paind Influencers
(Your) Owned
Website | Blog
The Optimal mix
Profiles | Email
Leverages them all.
Social Pages Source

At its core, the field is based on The Digital Marketing Trifecta,

which represents the three types of media essential for
success in digital marketing:

Earned Media: Recognition you get for free, through

backlinks to your web page, media and analyst mentions,
and customer reviews and recommendations. This helps
strengthen your brand authority, and your domain
authority in search engines.

Paid Media: Paid advertising primarily used the drive

leads to the content on your website, and hopefully
conversions. This includes search ads, social media
promotions, and display ads.

Owned Media: This is the content you create and control

that creates the opportunity to drive earned media. Your
blogs, social media feeds, videos, website, and mobile site
all fall into this category

When earned, paid, and owned media are combined in a

balanced strategy, marketers set the stage for excellent
customer experiences. Not only can marketers reach the
target audience more accurately, but they also do so in ways
that are relevant, preferred and — perhaps most importantly
— expected as part of the buyer journey.

You can learn the basics of digital marketing by enrolling for

the introductory course at Simplilearn.

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 DIGITAL MARKETING
BENEFITS - THE BUZZ IS
AT AN ALL TIME HIGH
Opportunity. The demand for digital marketing
professionals has been on the rise, with new roles opening
up all the time. In fact, LinkedIn lists Digital Marketer
as the top in-demand job, including digital marketers
with SEO, social media, and content marketing skills.
Additionally, companies have been increasing their digital
marketing budgets in the last few years, yet there are still
more open roles than certified digital marketers available
in the market.

MOST DESIRABLE DIGITAL MARKETING

SKILLS IN 2020 - 2021
Data Analysis 42%

Marketing automation/software expertise 39%

UX design 37%

Graphic design 33%

Video production and editing 32%

Content editing and writing 28%

Coding/development 27%

Program/Project Management 21%

Social Media listening, publishing and advertising 19%

SEO/SEM expertise 12%

Paid media/programmatic advertising 12%

Published on MarketingCharts.com in November

2020 | Data Source : Altimeter, a Prophet Company

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 Fast Pace. The digital marketing industry is frequently
disrupted by new technologies, platforms and devices,
so there is always something to learn and apply to your
latest marketing strategies. Exciting new roles are also
opening up as AI, and augmented and virtual reality,
continue to mature.

Even though it’s known as the Martech “5000,” there are

actually more than 7,000 marketing technology solutions
available. (Source)

Creative, Critical Thinking. Digital marketing calls for

problem-solving, innovation and new ideas, something
brands have been forced to exercise during the
pandemic. Brands need exciting and different ways to
stand out from the competition, and marketers who can
balance creativity with critical thinking are highly valuable
to the survival and growth of these companies.

Gig Economy. Digital marketers are taking on roles

outside the traditional office, especially with the advent of
the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, there are more freelance
and remote opportunities than ever before. Careers in
digital marketing are happening all over the world, with
more professionals working from wherever they feel
productive.

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DIGITAL MARKETING
CAREERS - PLENTY OF
GREAT CAREER PATHS
TO CHOOSE FROM

1. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

What It Is: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the method
of increasing traffic to a website by improving the rank of its
pages on a search engine — taking steps to help a particular
web page be seen before other pages on an internet search.
There have been many changes to search engine results
pages in recent years, so SEOs need to understand what
types of information are displayed and how to rank for them.

Not only does SEO involve enhancing the quality of content

on the web page — by ensuring there are enough relevant
keywords and the page itself is organized with subheads,
bullet points, and clear hyperlinks — but it also means the
site’s HTML code is optimized in a way that any search engine
can determine what is on the page and display it as a result of
a particular search.

Aside from SEO, there is SEM — Search Engine Marketing —

which employs SEO and other mechanisms, such as social
media marketing and paid searches, to increase brand
awareness, lead generation, and conversions.

Why It Matters: As more and more people use their devices to

access information, search engines are gathering information
and using it to improve the search experience. From this
growth, the SEO industry has advanced by leaps and bounds.
Thus, a certification in SEO prepares a digital marketer to
excel in this channel.

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Job Opportunities:

Without a doubt, there is major growth in the SEO job market,

with the U.S. showing an 81 percent increase in SEO job
openings from 2018 to 2019. What’s even more promising is
that even during the pandemic, these job postings were not
negatively impacted. In fact, they have significantly increased
during this time.

(Source)

An industry survey conducted by moz.com revealed 78 per-

cent of marketing professionals say SEO is part of their job
description. Working in digital marketing requires working
knowledge of SEO practices.

SEO specialists are needed now more than ever. With Goo-
gle changing the way it delivers search results based on user
intent, user experience, and buyer journeys, experienced
professionals must be ready to rethink existing strategies and
align websites with these updates.

The salary range for SEO specialists is $35,000-$64,000,

depending on experience.

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2. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
What It Is: Social media marketing uses published content
on social media sites to increase traffic to websites, promote
the brand, sell products, and protect the brand’s online
reputation. Brands frequently post their own content, but
many have also leveraged influencers who can build trust
and confidence in the brand from a reliable third-party the
audience believes in.

To succeed with social media, marketers need to have a deep

understanding of their audience — including which platforms
they spend their time on, and which types of content
appeal to them — to increase engagement with the content.
As consumers spend more time on social media, brands
have more opportunities to reach and connect with their
audiences.

Social marketers must also stay on top of the latest trends in

social media. Changes happen frequently in this channel, so
being informed helps keep your brand visible and relevant.

Why It Matters: Mobile users in the U.S. spend an average

of 53 minutes per day on social networking sites. To reach
audiences on social media, brands will need savvy marketers
who understand the nuances of each platform, and how to
use the channel to achieve specific marketing goals. Become
industry-ready with a certification in social media marketing.

Job Opportunities:
With the proliferation of influencer marketing, stories,
chatbots, and social video — not to mention the sheer volume
of platforms — careers in social media marketing have never
been hotter. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows an
8 percent rate of job growth for social media marketing
managers, from 2018 to 2028.

The average salary for social media marketers is $50,363,

according to PayScale.

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3. CONTENT MARKETING
What It Is: Content marketing is one of the most effective
forms of digital marketing. It delivers 3x more leads than
traditional marketing and costs 62 percent less. This area of
digital marketing focuses on creating and delivering high-
quality content online, including long-form content like white
papers and ebooks, websites, blogs, paid ads, and audio
and video content. While content marketers possess strong
writing and editing skills, they are also proficient in tools used
for content creation and management, project management,
and online audience growth.

Why It Matters: Content has become the primary ingredient

for success in an online campaign, so a career in content
marketing puts you in a great position to deliver a successful
digital experience. You can master the essential disciplines
for this channel by completing the certification in digital
marketing.

Job Opportunities:
Careers in content marketing have risen to prominence in
the past few years and show no signs of slowing down.
Companies are projected to increase their spending on
content marketing by an average of 73 percent, with another
42 percent hike projected two years in the future. Clearly,
companies are spending on content marketing, but are also in
need of professionals who can make the most of that spend.

The average U.S. salary for content marketing managers is

$68,231.

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4. MOBILE MARKETING
What It Is: Mobile marketing is marketing on or with a mobile
device, providing customers with time- and location-sensitive
information to promote goods, services, and ideas in a more
personalized way.

Why It Matters: Due to the pervasiveness of mobile devices

and fast connection speeds, mobile marketing is an essential
part of any digital marketing strategy. In order to reach
audiences on these devices, brands need to be better-
equipped to develop, execute, and monitor mobile marketing
campaigns. To succeed, brands need mobile marketing
specialists to help them connect with target audiences in
exactly the right moments. In order to learn the best practices
used to interact with the mobile consumer, address security
and privacy issues, and launch mobile campaigns that impact
sales and brand loyalty, you can enroll in a Mobile Marketing
certification course from an accredited institute.

Job Opportunities:
Consumers now spend more than four hours a day on their
smartphones, and approximately half of all worldwide online
traffic is generated through mobile phones. With the ubiquity
of mobile devices — and the countless applications being
accessed for social, search, email, voice, video, and payments
— the need for mobile marketers is evident. LinkedIn currently
lists nearly 8,000 mobile marketing jobs in the U.S. alone, and
mobile marketing is the highest paid skill of digital marketing
skills in demand.

The average salary for mobile marketing managers is $74,874,

according to PayScale.

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5. WEB ANALYTICS
What It Is: Web analytics is all about tracking and analyzing
how people use your websites and applications, so that
you can improve site performance and implement better
marketing campaigns.

Why It Matters: With the volume of data available on analytics

platforms, marketers have more opportunities than ever
before to monitor performance and make changes in real-
time. To master how to improve visitor activities on your
website or maximize inbound traffic, you first need to know
how people have been responding to similar websites,
what their preferences are, and how they interact with your
website. The Web Analytics Certification course helps you
develop comprehensive expertise and find the right tools to
assess visitor behavior on websites.

Job Opportunities:
As user data on sales, purchase history, site interactions, and
search activities multiplies, so does the need for qualified
personnel to collate it into usable data — the web analyst.
Despite the high demand for web analysts, moz.com found
there is a lack of qualified ones in the industry.

The median salary for web analytics positions in the U.S. is

$66,200.

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6. PAY PER CLICK (PPC)
What It Is: Pay-per-click (PPC) is an online advertising model
where revenue comes in through sponsored click-through
advertisements. In short, a website displays an advertisement
but is only paid if that ad is clicked by users, and advertisers
only pay for the ad when users click on it.

PPC advertising takes place on search engines as well as

social media platforms. To experience success in PPC,
marketers must understand the advertising standards of each
platform, how to bid on ads and adjust spending, and how
to interpret data and specific metrics. Specialists are also
responding to shifts in consumer behavior online due to the
pandemic, by analyzing campaigns and budget to make the
most of advertising spend.

Why It Matters: Pay-per-click (PPC) and cost-per-click (CPC)

are the money drivers in the internet world. They are one
of the fastest ways for brands to generate awareness, grow
leads, and complete conversions; however, the technology
can be complicated.

To make the most of PPC advertising spend, brands need to

work with highly knowledgeable specialists who understand
how to interpret data and use insights to make cost-effective
decisions. In order to learn the basics of campaign setup,
campaign economics, landing pages, managing campaigns,
and advanced PPC concepts, you can enroll in a Pay Per Click
(PPC) Certification course.

Job Opportunities:
According to searchenginewatch.com, PPC specialist was the
second-most sought after job profile across several online job
boards.

With the median salary for a PPC expert around $53,370, PPC
is another lucrative niche for a digital marketer.

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DIGITAL MARKETING
CERTIFICATION TRAINING
Simplilearn offers a comprehensive training program in
Digital Marketing. The course provides in-depth coverage of
every component of a complete digital marketing campaign
including, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Pay
Per Click (PPC), Conversion Optimization, Digital Analytics,
Programmatic Buying and Marketing Automation. Our course
is delivered with a blend of online self-learning, live virtual
classrooms led by industry leaders, and hands-on projects.

Digital Marketing Certified Associate Certification Training

from Simplilearn

95 hours of blended learning

Instructor-led online mentoring sessions

Walkthroughs of 35+ Digital Marketing tools

Designed for OMCA, Google Ads & Analytics, Facebook,

and YouTube exam preparation

10 rounds of Mimic Pro and 7 rounds of Mimic Social

simulations

For more information on Digital Marketing,

visit our resources section.

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