Digital jobs

Jobs in digital disciplines have emerged and evolved in just a few decades to become some of the most demanding and respected in any organisation. Digital workers contribute to their company's brand recognition both online and in the real world. They help to promote new products and services, making use of targeted online advertising, social media and search engine optimisation. They can also track the success of campaigns via website analytics and help the organisation to focus on its most profitable channels.

Expected job role tasks

Working in digital roles, you are likely to have clearly defined duties and expectations. Common tasks in digital jobs include social media marketing, providing live support to customers via social networks or website chat, and potentially producing media assets to support digital marketing campaigns. In smaller companies, you may be expected to carry out these diverse duties singlehandedly.

As a digital marketing manager, you will need a broad understanding of different online marketing methods, such as social media marketing, search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising. You should be adept at creating new campaigns, tracking the performance and return on investment, and making adjustments to maximise profit over time.

Primary function

Digital disciplines serve a variety of functions, but in many cases they are connected with marketing. Where this is the case, your primary function will be to drive awareness, positive perception and brand value. You may have targets in place to increase website traffic, conversion rates and ecommerce order sizes. In some instances, your targets might not be financial, for example if a campaign aims to increase newsletter signups or social media follows.

Individuals who work in digital roles are usually digital natives who have felt comfortable working with computers and the internet from an early age, or who spend a lot of their free time using digital devices at home. This familiarity is an important factor in performing your primary function at work, where you are likely to be the most knowledgeable individual when a question about a digital device or platform must be answered.

Necessary hard/soft skills

Necessary skills for digital careers include a firm understanding of any platforms you work with on a daily basis. These may be content management systems, social networks, website analytics platforms, online advertising dashboards, and many other task-specific tools.

You should have a comprehensive knowledge of the tools you use most often. Ideally this should go beyond casual or even expert level, so that you can truly claim to be a power user. You may also have good understanding of how to import, export and transfer data from one platform to another, or into a spreadsheet for detailed analysis.

Qualifications required:

An increasing number of qualifications are available with direct relevance to digital disciplines, and if you have studied any of these or a conventional marketing degree at university, they will help your application to stand out from the rest. However, it is still relatively rare for degrees and equivalent qualifications to focus solely on digital skills.

To strengthen your application, you may be able to study towards an additional professional certificate or accreditation, or gain membership to a relevant society or association. Having more years of experience working in digital jobs will also help. In some cases, personal experience such as building your own website or maintaining an active social media presence may also be of benefit.

If you would like further guidance or more information on a career with Michael Page, please be sure to submit your CV today.