My Story as A Digital Marketer
May 31, 2019Who knew my decision to take a major in Business Information System (BIS) has brought me a career as a Digital Marketer. I remembered that one day in uni when a guest professor came to our lecture and did a presentation about BIS. He mostly talked about the flow of information, such as how we should ensure the information and data from one point flows efficiently and effectively to another one. As a person who technically knew nothing about the knowledge, all I knew was that I LOVE if everything makes sense and is on the right place or order. The professor mentioned that this kind of knowledge will be useful and could be applied in many different areas in life.
Without taking too long to think, I decided to take a major in BIS and minor in Business Analytics while studying in University of Sydney. Combining these two would help me to become an analysis or business consultant. While BIS would teach me more about the qualitative techniques, Business Analytics would strengthen my maths and calculation to support the analysis.
I actually intended to take 2 majors in the beginning. However, a friend of mine tempted me to take an International Exchange Program instead, which meant I needed to sacrifice one of the majors. Long story short, I went to Munich and took a Business Administration course in Lüdwig Maximillians-Universität and dropped my Analytics major. I still took Analytic classes but I could not take all of them because I used my credits for the exchange programs.
So, back to the present, I have now been working as a Digital Marketer for almost 3 years. I'm still a junior. I worked for a retail industry for 1 year and now I am dedicating myself in a hospitality industry.
As a matter of fact, some people do not exactly know what Digital Marketing is and what a digital marketer does. While I don't think it's crucial for people to really have that comprehensive understanding about Digital Marketing, I feel like I just need to make it clear that we, digital marketers, do not only do social media. It would've indeed been a lot more fun and easier, if Digital Marketing only covers Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and influencers. However, unfortunately, no.
To be more specific, we run and do anything that relates to online and systems. Everything that you see from a brand that exists on the internet is done by a digital marketer - usually by working closely with PR. The brand's website, social media, advertisings that keep following you, the videos and other contents that you see on the internet are managed by us. The communication - email marketing, newsletters, live chat system, mobile application and all other medium where you use to connect with a brand through internet are managed by us.
We usually work closely and coordinate together with other department, mostly IT & Public Relation. Digital marketers are required to have reasonable knowledge about how each system works and connects one to another. If you see deeper, the thing I mentioned above, they are all having their own system. A company usually has more than one system and each system usually talks in different 'language' and contains data / information which is used for another system. Hence, connection between systems are crucial.
We need Content Management System for website maintenance and basic HTML language to manipulate the content. We need Customer Relationship Management for storing and processing the most expensive asset in this modern era i.e. data. A digital marketer needs to understand data process, write a conclusion of it and apply it to become the company's opportunity to yield more. Analysing data would only be effective when you could combine your quantitative skill (numerical data) with all the business concepts and theories you have been learning. Of course, what I wrote here is just a very high level description of digital marketing. There are a lot more to learn further and deeper.
Digital Marketing is fun. It is much more fun than sitting with all those receipts or account payables. Most of my friends in uni still thought that majoring in Accounting was a lot 'safer' in terms of job guarantee. Well, they are not wrong. Everybody and every company needs more than one accountant. Nevertheless, think again; when the supply is not followed by an increase in demand, there must involve a drop in, well, you know.
The advantage of becoming a digital marketer is that you could fit in whichever industry that is growing now. You could meet and, if you like, be friend with influencers and know their creative minds. On daily basis, I have to review at least three emails from influencers asking for free accommodation in return for their contents. However, if I could be frank here; influencer marketing is my least favourite thing in digital marketing.
Back then, many universities did not really name the course or major as 'Digital Marketing'. But now, with the new trends happening now and increase in demand, I believe they have started providing more courses and programmes.
When you are in dilemma and doubt to choose what major you have to take, always trust your instinct, gut and heart. In my case, I know I want to be a digital marketer because I love web designing, social media, doing projects that could ease people's work through system implementation.
Digital Marketing is fun. It is much more fun than sitting with all those receipts or account payables. Most of my friends in uni still thought that majoring in Accounting was a lot 'safer' in terms of job guarantee. Well, they are not wrong. Everybody and every company needs more than one accountant. Nevertheless, think again; when the supply is not followed by an increase in demand, there must involve a drop in, well, you know.
The advantage of becoming a digital marketer is that you could fit in whichever industry that is growing now. You could meet and, if you like, be friend with influencers and know their creative minds. On daily basis, I have to review at least three emails from influencers asking for free accommodation in return for their contents. However, if I could be frank here; influencer marketing is my least favourite thing in digital marketing.
Back then, many universities did not really name the course or major as 'Digital Marketing'. But now, with the new trends happening now and increase in demand, I believe they have started providing more courses and programmes.
When you are in dilemma and doubt to choose what major you have to take, always trust your instinct, gut and heart. In my case, I know I want to be a digital marketer because I love web designing, social media, doing projects that could ease people's work through system implementation.
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