Can you go a day without using the Internet? Many would have to take a minute to answer the question. That shows the presence of the Internet in our daily lives. Therefore, it is no surprise that in a country like India with more than 1.36 billion population, Internet users have already exceeded 500 million and it is expected to reach 639 million by the end of 2020. India is the country with the second highest number of Internet users after China.
With the growth in the Internet users, predictably, digital marketing is also growing with a rapid pace not only in India but throughout the world as well. While all other industries are struggling with a growth rate of 5-10%, digital advertising in 2019 witnessed a 26% increase over 2018 to reach Rs 13,683 crore, even as overall advertising witnessed a sober 9.4% growth. It is reported that digital continues to grow and will grow at 27% in the current year to reach Rs 17,377 crore by the end of 2020 and cross Rs 50,000 crore mark by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 27.4%.
Advertising spends on digital media is led by social media with the highest share of 28%, contributing Rs 3,835 crore to the Indian digital advertising pie. This is followed by spends on paid search (23%), online video (22%) and display media (21%). The digital report also stated that display media, online video and social media are expected to have a faster growth in 2020, while the share of paid search is expected to reduce from 25% to 23% by the end of the year.
Therefore, with the increasing popularity of the internet leading to the boost in digital marketing, it is apparent that the careers and opportunities in the field have also widened so much so that by the end of the year, 2020 it is expected to generate over 20 lakh jobs per year. In today’s digital era, where everyone is on the internet irrespective of gender, age or location, a company or marketer cannot ignore these users. Hence, career in digital marketing in India is gaining relevance.
Careers & opportunities
Digital marketing career path provides various opportunities. If you love coding, you can go for web designing or you can live your love of writing by becoming a content writer. The other common digital marketing career verticals are — SEO analyst, social media manager, YouTuber, affiliate marketer, etc. You can even work as a freelancer on project basis or become an entrepreneur or even make a career in digital marketing in India and if you are an expert in some regional language then marketing in rural areas through local languages is also thriving. Some of the most common profiles available in online marketing career in India include:
Web developer & designer: A web developer or designer is one who is responsible for coding, designing and maintaining websites. In other words, you can say that these are the people behind those amazing web pages you browse on the Internet. Prior knowledge of languages like JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, NET and CMS like WordPress and Magento, etc, is required. You can also work as a freelancer or on a project basis also.
SEO analyst/expert: SEO people are the one who is responsible for getting traffic to the website by improving the Google search rankings of your website. They make sure that your webpage is optimized according to search engines, web and are mobile-friendly & free from crawling issues. You can also work as a freelancer and can undertake online assignments. SEO is the best career option for people aspiring for a good digital marketing career in India. Social media executive or social media manager: Social media executive or manager is the person who handles the social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. They closely follow social media and keep a note of social media trends and coordinate with the content and graphics team.
Search engine marketing expert: These people are responsible for those ads which you see while browsing the Internet. These profiles are in huge demand as it generates a lot of leads for business. The major responsibilities include keyword research for ad copies, managing ad groups, optimising landing pages, generating analytics & reports and coordinating with the creative team for ad copies and graphics. SEM is a good digital marketing career option for those who have an analytical mind.
AR/VR marketing
Augmented reality is more than just a novelty or a new frontier in gaming. It stands to be one of the driving forces behind sales and marketing innovations over the next decade. Using AR, forwardlooking businesses will be able to upgrade the experience they offer their customers, leading to increased business opportunities and sales.
Content writer & marketer
If you have a knack for writing then the content writer is the best-suited profile for you if you are aspiring a digital marketing career in India. Remember writing for the web is totally different from your essay writing or book writing. A content marketer is a person who is responsible for creating optimised and trending content, coordinating with the SEO team, keyword research, etc. You can also work as a freelancer or on a project basis. This profile is a hot profile as the need for content has increased drastically. The only requirement for this profile is good command over language and creativity in the thought process.
Digital marketing manager
Digital marketing manager looks at overall digital marketing, devising strategies, generating traffic, supervising all the above profiles. In short, he or she is the boss in a company’s digital marketing department or the head of a digital marketing agency. One must have at least 7-10 years of experience to reach this position which is the goal of every professional who is making a digital marketing career in India.
Start your own agency
If you have experience in managing a business and have resources and contacts, you can start your own full-time digital marketing agency. With your agency, you can be able to build marketing strategies for clients and implement them with digital marketing.
Aparna Gupta is the Managing Director at Evolve DIgitas.
