If you find yourself getting sucked into an endless doom-scrolling cycle day in and day out, we can help. In fact, there’s actually a career path that could allow you to capitalise on your social media monitoring and post curating, and that career is marketing!
While, yes, there is a lot more to it than just posting cool pics and waiting for the likes to roll in, social media marketing jobs, and more broadly, digital marketing jobs, are great options for those of us who struggle to keep our screen time down. Those who pursue this pathway could even choose to specialise in creating content for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, or blogs! It just depends on your own unique strengths and what you want to spend your workdays doing.
So, if we’ve piqued your interest, and we know that we have, read on to discover social media marketing career paths and ways to land marketing jobs, regardless of your experience level.
What Are Marketing Jobs
In a nutshell, marketing is the process of attracting an audience or group of consumers to a particular company’s offerings. This usually involves identifying the wants and needs of consumers, identifying how your company can be of service and what value it can provide, and communicating that value back to potential customers!
So, what’s so great about a marketing career? Well, for starters, studies suggest that over 90% of small businesses invest in a marketing team. This means that what marketers offer their employers is pretty crucial and implies that those who choose a marketing career will benefit from increased job security, too. What’s more, the marketing industry is incredibly broad, so you’ll likely be able to specialise in a branch that you’re particularly interested in!
Marketing Jobs and Digital Marketing Jobs: What’s the Difference?
Like we said before, marketing is a very broad industry; so much so that copywriters, public relations managers, creative directors and graphic designers all fall under the same umbrella term. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why so many people get confused between marketing jobs and digital marketing jobs.
However, the distinction is actually pretty simple. ‘Marketing Jobs’ is simply a catch-all term for the vast number of roles that fall under the marketing umbrella. However, if we’re talking digital marketing, AKA the category of marketing that social media management falls into, there are slightly fewer roles and specialisations to memorise. Some of the key tasks of a digital marketing team include:
- Website Marketing
- Video Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Content Marketing
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
We know that it probably sounds a little overwhelming, but don’t worry too much. For most marketers, there are still roles and responsibilities in the industry that we don’t fully understand; the important part is figuring out what you want to do and researching that specialisation fully!
Discover Our Best Marketing Career Advice
When you’re just starting out in the industry, the world of marketing can feel a little bit overwhelming; that’s why we want to help you get your foot in the door! Read on to discover our best marketing career advice for newbies looking to enter the industry.
Consider a University Degree
If you haven’t already looked into gaining a university qualification, now might be the time to do so. Earning a relevant degree (such as a Bachelor of Communications, Bachelor of Design, or even a Bachelor of Arts) can go a long way towards helping you land your first marketing job. In fact, many universities even post job opportunities so that their soon-to-be graduates are in the know when it comes time to start applying for positions.
Check Out Online Qualifications
If university isn’t for you, you could always try gaining some free online qualifications. The following courses won’t just teach you the basics of whatever specialisation you want to go into; they’ll also look great on your CV, too.
Influencer Marketing 101 – Later
How to Create an Instagram Content Plan and Strategy – Later
Instagram Marketing and Ads Course – Hubspot Academy
Introduction to PR – PR Academy
SEO Crash Course – Semrush
Build a Portfolio
Whether you’re designing up a storm, writing spellbinding copy or going viral on social media, your future employer will want to see proof of what you can do. Starting a professional portfolio is a great idea, even if you’re just using mock-ups and examples rather than genuine client work. Who knows, it could even land you your first marketing job!
Start a Blog
Want to get into copywriting but not quite ready to build your portfolio? That’s fine too; simply start out by writing your own blog! There are plenty of free hosting websites that allow you to publish your own unique content, and once you’ve been writing for a while, you can include your blog with your marketing job applications!
Explore Different Marketing Jobs
Okay, so now that we have a few marketing tips and tricks up our sleeves, it’s time to start thinking about what digital marketing job we might want to pursue. However, because so many marketing titles are super vague and confusing, so we’re running you through what they actually do. You can thank us later!
Content Creator
The responsibilities of a Content Creator can vary greatly, but they’re likely to include at least some of the following examples: designing graphics, writing, editing, blogging and creating content strategies. Basically, they’re paid to get creative and communicate their brand’s messaging to their target audience.
SEO Specialist
SEO (AKA search engine optimisation) Specialists are skilled in generating leads and directing a larger number of people towards a brand’s content. This is done through keyword research, technical audits, content creation, link building and more!
Brand Manager
You know those super cool ad campaigns that the Barbie Movie and Wicked used to advertise their premieres? Well, the key marketer behind them was probably a (very high-level) Brand Manager! A Brand Manager’s responsibilities include creating a brand strategy, running campaigns and ensuring consistent and clear messaging.
Digital Strategist
Digital strategists use digital media to maximise the impact of a brand’s marketing. They do so by identifying goals, opportunities and challenges; essentially, highlighting all the ways that a company can optimise their digital marketing efforts!
Social Media Manager
We know, this is the role that you all came to see. And yes, we may have been a little but cheeky by hiding it at the bottom of the article, but we had to make sure you saw all the other incredible roles on offer!
Anyway, back to the point. Social Media Managers develop content strategies, plan ad campaigns, design graphics, write captions, schedule content and collaborate with other accounts to grow a brand’s reach on social media. It’s not as easy as just scrolling on Instagram, but it sure is a lot of fun!
Kickstart Your Marketing Career Today!
Now that you’re equipped with all the knowledge to plan out your social media marketing career path, it’s time to take the next step. Simply head over to our Creative Media and Arts industry page to discover salary, industry growth and qualification info now!
