Ep 6: A Career in Digital Marketing

Summary

In this engaging episode, hosts Namrita and Simon delve into the dynamic world of digital marketing, discussing the variety of roles and skills required for a successful career. With nearly 25 years of experience, Simon shares insights on the importance of adaptability, multitasking, and storytelling in marketing. He emphasizes the value of both hard skills like data analysis and technology understanding, as well as soft skills including communication and tenacity. The conversation also touches on the overrated nature of certain skills like Photoshop and the significance of continuous learning in this ever-evolving industry.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Marketing is a diverse field with various roles such as SEO, social media, design, copywriting, branding, and advertising.
• 🔄 The nature of marketing work is dynamic and changes from day to day, requiring adaptability and multitasking skills.
• 📊 Data analysis is a crucial hard skill in marketing, as understanding data and its stories is essential for informed decision making.
• 💻 Familiarity with technology is important for marketers, as it is integral to most marketing activities and platforms.
• 🗣️ Effective communication is a key soft skill for marketers to convey their ideas and strategies to clients and teams.
• 🔄 Flexibility is vital for marketers to quickly adapt to changing objectives and landscapes in the industry.
• 🔗 Tenacity is important for enduring setbacks and continuing to test and learn until finding success in marketing campaigns.
• 📝 Planning is a critical yet often overlooked skill, necessary for running integrated and successful marketing campaigns.
• 👀 Being open to continuous learning is essential in marketing due to the ever-evolving nature of the industry.
• 🎓 While having a degree in marketing can provide a head start, it is not a necessity, and learning on the job is equally valuable.
• 🛠️ Some skills like Photoshop and coding are overhyped; basic knowledge is useful, but not essential for all marketing roles.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the episode discussed in the video script?

The main topic of the episode is about having a career in digital marketing and the skills needed for a successful career in marketing.

How long has Simon been working in the marketing industry according to the transcript?

Simon has been working in the marketing industry for nearly 25 years.

What roles has Simon worked in throughout his marketing career?

Simon has worked in various roles including SEO, social media, design, copywriting, branding, TV advertising, press radio, Google ads, and more.

What does Simon enjoy about marketing based on his experience?

Simon enjoys the diversity and the fact that marketing is different every day, as it allows him to work on a wide range of tasks and challenges.

What skills does Simon believe are essential for a marketer?

Simon believes that essential skills for a marketer include data analysis, understanding technology, effective communication, flexibility, tenacity, and planning.

What is Simon's view on the importance of a degree in marketing for pursuing a career in the field?

Simon believes that a degree in marketing is not essential but can give a head start. He emphasizes that learning on the job and gaining practical experience is crucial.

What does Simon consider as overhyped skills in the marketing industry?

Simon considers skills like advanced Photoshop usage and coding as overhyped, suggesting that basic knowledge is sufficient and that other skills are more important.

How does Simon describe the importance of storytelling in marketing?

Simon describes storytelling as critical in marketing, as it helps in selling the message and bringing people on the journey with the brand or campaign.

What advice does Simon give to those looking to start a career in marketing?

Simon advises them to be prepared for multitasking, constantly changing objectives, and to love the dynamic and exciting nature of the industry.

What does Simon suggest as the best approach for someone interested in marketing to learn and grow in the field?

Simon suggests being brave, tenacious, and not letting failure or doubt hold them back. He encourages finding one's own path and learning continuously.

What is the final piece of advice Simon gives in the interview?

Simon's final advice is to be brave, make things happen, and go for it, regardless of whether one chooses to study or not.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 The Dynamic World of Marketing

In this introductory paragraph, the hosts, Namrita and Simon, set the stage for a discussion on digital marketing. Simon, with nearly 25 years of experience, highlights the diverse nature of marketing roles, ranging from SEO and social media to design, copywriting, and even TV advertising. He emphasizes the importance of multitasking, adaptability, and continuous learning in a field that changes daily, from technology and consumer behavior to programming and algorithms. Simon's love for the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of marketing is palpable, and he advises aspiring marketers to be prepared for a career that requires constant adaptation and a keen interest in staying ahead of industry trends.

05:02

📊 Essential Skills for Marketing Success

This paragraph delves into the skills necessary for a successful career in marketing. Simon breaks down the skills into hard and soft skills, underscoring the importance of data analysis, technological understanding, and effective communication. He stresses the need to interpret data to uncover its underlying stories, the necessity of being comfortable with various technologies used across marketing platforms, and the ability to communicate compellingly with clients and teams. Additionally, he mentions the importance of flexibility, tenacity, and planning in achieving marketing goals. Simon also encourages continuous learning and adaptability, as the marketing landscape is subject to rapid changes.

10:03

🛠 Overhyped Skills and the Value of Adaptability

In this segment, the conversation shifts to the overhyping of certain skills in the marketing industry, such as proficiency in Photoshop or coding. Simon acknowledges the utility of these tools but suggests that they are not as essential as some might believe. He points out that basic tools like Microsoft Paint can still be effective for quick tasks, and platforms like Canva offer simplified alternatives for more complex design work. Similarly, while a grasp of coding principles can be beneficial, it may not be a long-term requirement for marketers as tools and platforms evolve. The key takeaway is the importance of adaptability and being open to learning new tools and methods as the industry progresses.

15:03

🎓 The Role of Education in Digital Marketing

The final paragraph addresses the question of whether a degree is necessary to pursue a career in digital marketing. Simon shares his personal experience, having studied marketing at university, which provided him with a strong foundation and a head start in his career. However, he asserts that a formal education is not a strict requirement for success in the field. Instead, he emphasizes the value of on-the-job learning, making mistakes, and gaining practical experience. Simon encourages those interested in marketing to be brave, whether they choose to pursue formal education or dive straight into the industry, and to approach their career with tenacity and a willingness to learn from failures.

Keywords

💡Digital Marketing

Digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to promote products or services. It is a key component of the video's theme, as the discussion revolves around building a career in this field. The script mentions various aspects of digital marketing, such as SEO, social media, and Google Ads, illustrating the diverse nature of the work involved.

💡Career Planning

Career planning is the process of considering one's skills, interests, and goals to decide on a career path. In the video, the hosts discuss how individuals should plan their education and skills to have a successful career in marketing, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptability.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of website traffic by improving the site's ranking in search engine results. The script discusses the role of SEO in marketing, highlighting the need for understanding technical problems and algorithms to improve a website's visibility.

💡Social Media

Social media refers to online platforms that allow users to create and share content or participate in social networking. The video mentions social media as a crucial part of marketing, where trends, creative ideas, and video creation are considered to engage with audiences.

💡Branding

Branding is the process of creating a unique name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product or service from others. The script touches upon branding as part of the diverse roles one might undertake in a marketing career, indicating its importance in shaping a company's image.

💡Data Analysis

Data analysis involves inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information. The video emphasizes the importance of data analysis in marketing, where understanding data tells a story about consumer behavior and campaign performance.

💡Multitasking

Multitasking is the ability to manage performing multiple tasks simultaneously. The script describes the marketing industry as requiring good multitasking skills due to the varied and changing nature of daily tasks and objectives.

💡Technology

Technology in the context of marketing refers to the use of various digital tools and platforms that facilitate marketing activities. The video mentions the necessity for marketers to have a grip on technology, including CRM, CMS, and automation tools, to succeed in the industry.

💡Communication

Communication is the process of exchanging information, ideas, or messages in speech, writing, or behavior. The script highlights effective communication as a vital skill in marketing, necessary for conveying messages to clients, audiences, and internal teams.

💡Planning

Planning in marketing involves strategizing and organizing the steps needed to achieve marketing goals. The video underscores the importance of planning as a soft skill, as it is crucial for running campaigns that perform well across multiple channels and align with market trends.

💡Overhyped Skills

Overhyped skills are those that are often considered essential but may not be as necessary as believed. The script discusses certain skills like Photoshop expertise as overhyped, suggesting that basic tools or platforms like Canva can suffice for many marketing tasks, and that the focus should be on adaptability and learning.

💡Education

Education in the video refers to the formal study of marketing or related fields as a way to gain foundational knowledge. The discussion points out that while a degree can provide a head start, it is not a necessity, and learning on the job and through real-world experience is equally valuable.

Highlights

Diversity in marketing roles with no 'average day' due to the dynamic nature of the industry.

Importance of multitasking and the ability to switch between different types of marketing tasks.

The necessity for marketers to understand and interpret data to extract meaningful stories.

The need for marketers to have a basic understanding of technology and its role in various marketing platforms.

The significance of effective communication in marketing, both internally and with clients and audiences.

The role of flexibility and tenacity in adapting to the ever-changing marketing landscape.

The underrated importance of planning in executing successful marketing campaigns.

The overemphasis on specific software skills like Photoshop, which may not be essential for all marketers.

The evolving importance of coding knowledge in marketing and its potential future relevance.

The debate on the necessity of a degree in marketing, with a focus on the value of on-the-job learning.

The encouragement for aspiring marketers to be brave, tenacious, and not be held back by failure or doubt.

The personal journey of a marketing professional, highlighting the variety of roles and skills acquired over 25 years.

The impact of technology and consumer behavior trends on the planning and execution of marketing campaigns.

The role of storytelling in marketing, and how to convey the narrative derived from data analysis.

The importance of having a grasp of various technologies used across different marketing channels.

The advice for marketers to be prepared for multitasking and adapting to constantly changing objectives.

The discussion on the overhyping of certain skills in the marketing industry and the focus on adaptability instead.

The perspective on the value of a university education in marketing and its impact on early career development.

Transcripts

[Music]

um hello and welcome to another episode

of

marketing i am namrita and that is simon

hope you are having a good day

and today uh i wanted to talk about

career in digital marketing and

marketing in general and how like people

should plan

their skills and their education to have

a successful career in marketing and

obviously you have been

working in this industry for such a long

time so what does a day in your life

look like

and yeah what does an average day in

your life look like

i mean the the great thing about um

marketing is is it's hard to have an

average day um

i've been in marketing for nearly 25

years as you know and you know in that

time

um

i've done a lot of different roles um

you know i've worked in i've worked in

seo i've worked in social media worked

in design and copywriting and branding

and tv advertising and press radio and

and of course you know google ads and

yeah copywriting you name it really over

the years i've been very fortunate to to

work in a very diverse set of roles and

you know for me one of the reasons i

love marketing is because it is it is so

diverse and it is so

different every day from one day to the

next and

you know at the moment i spend

you know i spend days looking at you

know how we're going to make an

advertising campaign work in the us and

how we're going to bring thousands of

people

on a journey for a new app or a new

experience

which you know brings in technology

it brings in

uh your trends around data and consumer

behavior and psychology um and then

you'll switch from that to you're

looking at a website how you can improve

the seo and technical problems and you

start to go into programming and

algorithms and then you flip over to

social media and start looking at at um

you know what what's trending over there

and creative ideas and uh video creation

so

yeah i think it's hard to say what a

typical day looks like um you know i

think you need to within marketing be

good at

multitasking um you need to be good at

switching your brain we've talked about

left and right brain marketing in the

past i think you need to be pretty good

at switching between those

in marketing um

you know and and because i run a

business these days of course there's

other things i have to think about and

less interesting things for marketers

around finance and and hiring and things

like that um which are very exciting

things to have to do but but a very

different discipline

but you're having done

quite a bit of area in

quite a bit of work in the area of

things like finance in the past myself

and and done a lot of of hiring and

managing leadership

things over the last 20 years as well

i find that that marketing is one of the

most

diverse areas hr is also pretty diverse

and from my experience with with some

fantastic people in hr but it's it's

right it's very challenging you can be

doing something completely different

from one day to the next whereas in some

roles you're doing very very similar

things one day to the next so i'd

recommend that in marketing but i'd say

anyone who's looking for a career in

marketing especially in a generalist

role um be prepared

to be on your toes multitasking um and

having constantly changing objectives

and landscapes from one day to the next

because even if you don't your job and

your priorities stay the same the

technology and the the industry that you

work within is going to change whether

you like it or not so so you know it's

exciting it's dynamic and i love that um

and if you're going into marketing make

sure that you love that too i suppose is

the best advice

yeah i i just love how you know you have

to pretty much do the same thing but in

different ways each time which is which

makes you learn more things and it's

just an exciting approach to life it's

not the same thing that you have to do

hundred times you have to

do something new

with your approach every single day for

the same company and yeah it's just just

very exciting in a point of view so um

what do you think our

skills that will um

allow people to be so dynamic and be

able to change and you know work

according to the industry so whatever

yeah i think that there's a lot of a lot

of skills that you need in marketing as

i say no it differs depending on which

role you're in of course marketing is

incredibly broad people often think

about marketing as advertising but

that's really yeah one percent of

marketing um is incredibly

broad um area um so it does depend but i

i break skills down into hard skills and

soft skills as as many people do

and i think there are um there are some

hard skills that most marketers need and

one of those is

some form of data analysis now if you're

in a pure creative role then perhaps you

don't um but those are few and far

between and you may even argue they're

not really marketing roles if you're

purely

creating um but most most roles will

need some level of data analysis whether

you're in advertising or seo and even in

some creative roles you want to

understand how your creative has

performed certainly in social media i

mean you really look across the board so

the ability to

understand data and what it's telling

you um your life is all about stories

really and and what what you want to

take from the data is what is the story

that the data is telling you okay not

that number was 10 and now it's 15.

okay great okay we can we can read from

that has gone up for 50 by 50 but why

what's what's caused that what's the

story behind it why is always the

question to ask with data so

understanding how to interpret data um

is is a really important skill um

you're understanding technology to an

extent as well um

you know tech being a technophobe is a

hard thing in in marketing you don't

have to be a technophile you don't have

to be an innovator and an early adopter

but you need to have a decent grip on on

technology because you're going to be

using it pretty much across every

platform certainly from

crm and cms to automation and data

platforms there are many many different

areas of technology don't have to be

passionate about it don't have to be an

expert but you need to at least have a

grip of roughly how how the the

platforms work and how they fit together

um if you're going to succeed in

marketing um in the future

so you know those areas are certainly

important um and then you know softer

skills

um i think you need

a level of um

of effective communication um

whether you are again looking at

link baiting on seo or a really great

social media campaign or advertising or

whichever area you're in you need to

really understand how to communicate

effectively to your clients um and to

your potential clients your target

audience and also internally i mean

you're going to be working with a team

almost certainly um internally even if

that team isn't a marketing team even if

it's just other people across the

organization being able to again sell

your story and bring them on the journey

with you is important um you know i talk

a lot about skills in in the latest

edition of the

of the book digital marketing strategy

and and yeah i think we summarize that

by talking about how you convince people

to invest in digital marketing i think

that's that communication piece again i

can't come back to storytelling but

selling that story and bringing people

on your journey is important so

communication is critical i think

flexibility is important because as i

say you're going to be doing different

things you're going to need to adapt

very quickly um tenacity is important

sometimes things won't work you need to

keep going at it keep testing trying to

learn everything you can and keep going

until it works not every campaign i've

run certainly in my career has worked

some have been a complete disaster some

have worked way better than i would have

expected um so you know it you've got to

be tenacious and really keep going at it

um

and i think you know the other one um

i would mention is planning and you know

as i always say this is not the most

exciting area of a job you know when

people talk about digital marketing they

always love to talk about social media

and seo areas like planning rarely get a

look in but planning really probably is

one of the most important skills you can

have in marketing if you're really going

to run a campaign that is going to

perform at its best it needs to go

across multiple channels it needs to be

properly analyzed it needs to be fully

integrated it needs to to match up with

trends and timing of things going on in

the market all of that takes really good

effective planning and to make sure it

comes off without a hit so

as unglamorous as it is um i would say

planning is another soft skill that's

really important so

there are there are hundreds but it's an

example of certainly some important ones

i think the most important one is like

being open to learn new things forever

because things will change things keep

changing and i think

yeah having that attitude of always

being ready to learn

um

yeah and then there are some skills that

are very much overhyped in the industry

like you need to know photoshop you need

to know how to edit like in premiere pro

and that kind of thing while you can

make similar graphics on even ms paint

if you're talented enough um and i don't

think the kind of uh software that you

use or things that you use should matter

but what is your opinion on that like

what are some over hyped skills that

people should not waste their time

investing yeah i mean i don't know about

not waste their time but yeah i think

that there are skills that are over

hyped i think um

photoshop's a great example i mean

you're right there are some wonderful

things that could be made in microsoft

paint surprisingly um i i still use

microsoft paint um to be honest with you

every week certainly because there are

things

sometimes i don't want to wait for

photoshop to load i just want to knock

something up quick and and paint does

the job so it still has its place 20 20

30 years after it really first showed

it's facing um so yeah i think it's it's

a great little tool but um obviously it

doesn't have the power of photoshop so

but yeah obviously canva nowadays has a

you know a decent um

platform for creating imagery and video

again not the power of of the likes of

photoshop and indesign and premiere pro

but certainly can get you a long way

there um so yeah i think you're right um

if you rearranged 10 years ago

20 years ago you would be saying to

people

uh you need to have photoshop nowadays

you don't need to have photoshop as a

skill but if you're going to be doing

advanced stuff it certainly helps

but yeah not non-essential it is it is a

bit over hyped um you know i think you

know another interesting one is um is

coding um i wouldn't say that's over

hypes again i think it but it's not

necessarily

um a skill that marketers are going to

need for much longer

it helps at the moment as a marketer to

know some degree of coding again you

don't have to be a developer but

understanding how code works

so as you can think scientifically and

logically about what the algorithms

might be doing and what might be

happening with

with your your website and your seo and

things like that you don't need to know

it inside out but having a a grip of the

principles of it is really helpful

um i think as we go forward um

that may change a little bit with some

of the tools that are coming in

um into the industry but i think

certainly that is an area that is

important to know right now um but may

not be as important as we think um in

the future and i mean for marketers

programming is still going to be hugely

important

for people in in general right as we go

into the metaverse and and robotics and

ai and everything

it still has an enormous amount of value

to it and but for marketers may become

less essential um

so yeah there are a number of tools like

that that um

uh that are

are perhaps a little bit overhyped and

don't need to be on the cb as much these

days unless you're going to be a full-on

designer but like i think canva does a

great job of trying to replace the more

complex ones with some um some pretty

smart tools um but um only gets you so

far

yeah having a bit of knowledge is good

but yeah we don't have to go all out and

be photoshop experts or something like

that

um yeah so on the topic of learning and

reading and always being open to learn

one of the most asked question in this

industry would be like do i need a

degree to pursue digital marketing you

know is that a necessity i feel like

this question is thrown around a lot and

what are your thoughts on that

yeah i mean look i i personally um

studied marketing um

you know for me it was uh

something i discovered at school

i did a lot of subjects at school as

everybody does

and

majority of what i studied at school i

found dull um boring to be honest with

you

one of those i found boring was history

which is now a massive passion of mine

so that must have just been my teacher's

fault

but um

but yeah there were a lot of things i

just wasn't interested in at school and

you know for me towards the end of

school i did a topic called uh

communication studies

where we looked at advertising and

marketing and some of the psychological

effects of of that and um

you know how music is used within

communications and lots of stuff that um

i found really interesting really

enjoyable fascinating so i went off and

studied marketing at university myself

um and definitely that gave me a head

start in the early part of my career you

know you obviously study a lot about

international marketing and branding and

you're creating advertising there's a

little bit about you know financial

responsibility and things like that

but a lot of good principles

international marketing such a lot of

really good stuff that um that has

helped me um certainly in the early part

of my career but even now i still dip

back into oh yeah okay that that thing

we studied there is helpful in my

thinking of course nowadays my my book

is used at on a lot of universities to

teach marketing so it's gone full circle

in that in that respect um but look i

don't think it's essential i don't think

it's essential to study marketing or

digital marketing i would definitely

recommend it

it gives you a real head start it gives

you a really good understanding and if

you don't study it then you've got to

spend the first few years of your career

learning it on the job now you won't at

university learn it on the job so you're

gonna you still need to come out and do

that work in real time to really

understand the principles of what works

what doesn't work and everything else

you're not going to learn it perfectly

at university but it gives you a head

start

now i don't i don't believe it's

essential i think you know in reality um

it's the it's the doing is where you

learn the most um and you know as i i i

think i put out a video fairly recently

about um about failure um and failure is

is fine failure is very much a good

thing um everyone in the world who is

famous for having succeeded uh failed a

lot before they succeeded um

and and you learn a heck of a lot from

uh from from failing so you know i think

um learning on the job making mistakes

getting things wrong learning that how

to get it right testing etc is is where

you get the majority of your value and

where you really build your career from

but you get a real head start from

studying it first so yeah my view would

be no you don't have to study and if

you're already out there working you

haven't studied don't feel pressured to

go and study i think go out there and

smash it show everyone what you can do

in your job and you'll be fine um but if

you're still in school and you're

thinking should i study your marketing i

really want to go into it my advice

would be yes you'll get a head start

yeah what i studied at university i'm

doing nothing close to that so um yeah

that's it that's it i mean that's the

other thing right i mean you never quite

know what you're going to go into i mean

i studied marketing i went into

marketing i've got two brothers and

neither of them are doing anything

related to what they did at university

and most people i know are not working

in the field that they went into a

university but it's not necessarily

about that university obviously if you

study something that you then go on to

do as a career that's great and some

careers you have to anyway

but even if you don't it still gives you

a certain level of of discipline and it

demonstrates to employers that you're

willing to commit to something and work

on it and show and complete something

over a long period of time show your

intelligence and your hard work so yeah

even if you're um you're not studying

the field you're going to work in it's

still a benefit to going to university

plus it's great fun going to university

anyway so why wouldn't you do it

yeah yeah the fun part was questionable

for me because of the pandemic but yeah

that's true yeah that is true the last

few years have been have been tough yeah

yeah but yeah i think education always

comes in handy in the long run that is

something nobody can take away from you

so it's an investment worth making and

yeah

so thank you so much for your time um is

there anything you want to tell

like little

little kids or

excited enthusiasts to

end the interview no i mean like for me

just um

yeah i guess the only thing i would

summarize at the end is just be brave um

you want to make something happen go and

make it happen all right you want to

study and study if you don't want to

study don't study um go out there and

and find your own path but just be brave

and um

and go at it and be tenacious and don't

let

failure or doubt hold you back just um

go for it smash it you'll be great

thank you so much simon for your time um

yeah subscribe our

youtube channel for more marketing tips

and advice and follow our podcast on

spotify and apple see you all the next

time thank you

cheers

cheers

[Music]

you