Top Digital Marketing Careers in 2020
It doesn’t matter whether you’re in supervisory marketing role, or you just got out of university, or you’re looking at being a part of the digital marketing sector, there are endless career possibilities, which means that making a concrete decision on which area of digital marketing you’d like to focus on can be quite challenging. When choosing any job or position, it is critical to weigh all possibilities – the advantages, the disadvantages, the benefits, and the availability of the position. Nonetheless, specialist in digital marketing are so much in luck! Why? Because there is currently a high demand for experienced digital marketers. The truth is, digital marketing is highly lucrative, with the constant need for skilled professionals raising wages and the evidence of top-notch digital marketing strategies that have been generating massive profits for organizations and small business owners. Characteristics of a Successful Digital Marketer Indeed, a lot of people believe that marketing professionals are very creative. There are quite a number of traits that make digital marketers successful in their various roles. Some of the most critical characteristics that any digital marketer must possess are: Entrepreneurial mindset: One important skills of a digital marketing is having the ability of taking charge of your own future.As many careers are involved in adapting to a digital landscape, digital marketers keep teaching themselves the necessary expertise to create outstanding digital marketing strategies whenever an issue occurs. Dependability: Digital marketers are often tasked with hitting social media goals or creating successful digital marketing strategy. They must be able to deliver.If you’re the type of person that loves working towards achieving set goals and getting your work done in a timely manner, then a career in digital marketing is probably for you. Flexibility: Everything in digital marketing moves at an immeasurable speed and change is the only constant thing you can bank on.In order to have the best career in digital marketing, you need to be receptive to change and enjoy the unpredictable nature of the industry. Problem solving: As digital experts, you are at the front line of advancement. There will be times when you are faced with challenges that haven’t been solved before.You need to be someone who plans and sets realistic goals, but also have the expertise and mindset to adjust to whatever comes your way.Have it at the back of your mind that you should always be focused on how to improve and do things more effectively. Creativity: Digital marketers usually have a strong background in creating designs and copy writing.A very important part of digital marketing is creativity and innovation, and both are equally important as any other quality.Keeping up with your competition is good, but coming up with something way better and different with each and every project is better. Digital Marketing Careers As stated above, digital marketing is in high demand for organizations and brands. Digital marketers who choose to specialize in any area of interest are more likely to embark on a career path that is quite meaningful to them. The following roles are some of the top digital marketing careers for digital marketing professionals looking to specialize in 2020 and beyond: User Experience Designer: User experience designers (UX designers) oversee the creation of fantastic use experiences of products online and services that are digital. As the engagement of users online is increasing, users are prone to staying longer on website or apps.User experience designer must create experiences that keeps the users glued. From the design interface of web pages, to how customers interact with support. UX designers are an integral part of any digital marketing strategy The average salary earned by a user experience designer in the Canada is C$62,511. SEO Specialists: An SEO specialist has the expertise in search engine optimization.SEO specialists work to create implementable strategies that move websites on top of Google’s search engine result.This eventually increases the number of leads to the website. An SEO specialist must always think of technical and strategic ways of solving complex web issues. The average salary earned by a SEO Specialist in the Canada is C$48,847. Content Creator: Talking about digital marketing careers, content creators are able to use creative elements to come up with outstanding contents.Content is the most valuable asset of any marketing strategy, and content strategists create the processes for how content will reach customers and when. The average salary earned by a content creators in the Canada is C$40,483.
Difference Between Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence
When you hear AR and AI, what do you think they are? AR and AI are two tech words that are raving up the design space. Businesses, as well as consumers are spending a lot of money on new, exciting and trendy technologies, for example; smart watches. Very soon, designers won’t have a choice but to learn how to design AR and AI apps to stay ahead of the ever revolving curve. Truth is, there is very little information about AR and AI because the technologies are still in its early stages. Sometimes, it can be quite scary to learn new things, so first, let’s understand the basic meaning of the following: AR: Augmented Reality AI: Artificial Intelligence This isn’t a case of AR vs AI. These terms are independent technologies in their own right and space. So, let’s start with augmented reality (AR). Augmented Reality (AR) Just for proper understanding (We believe explaining AR in technical terms may not help everybody, so we’d focus on the basics), we would explain AR with an example – Snapchat. Sure, Snapchat is a social media app very popular among the younger generation. But did you know that it’s also an AR application? Those creative-face filters showcase AR at work. So what better example? Brands can incorporate Snapchat marketing and AR into their digital strategy by investing in branded filters. Find out more about how to use Snapchat and other digital tools to promote your business. Do you know what works best for Augmented reality? It is when the user doesn’t have to learn a new trick. Take advantage of recent technology the user already knows how to use, that is, device camera, maps, etc). In conclusion, we recommend that you download and use AR apps, like Google Translate – the more you get conversant with AR as a user, the easier it would be to design them. Further Reading TOP 10 Best Augmented Reality Apps for 2020 AR meets AI 6 Ways Augmented Reality is Changing UX How AR and AI are changing E-commerce & Customer Experience Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence is a whole different ball game. While AR involves interacting with the real world in a different way, AI is about systems learning how to solve problems that users have been struggling to solve themselves. It’s all about machines learning things. Imagine selecting your favorite Spotify artist, and Spotify is using this information to select what you enjoy listening to, which would obviously be faster when you’re looking to discover new music. Definitely intelligence speaking! Artificial intelligence can be really creepy sometimes. Anybody who has ever asked Spotify, in their head of course, “Hey, how did you know I wanted to listen to that song?” will understand this. Further Reading Artificial Intelligence 101 7 Impacts of Artificial The Intelligence Technology What Makes a Great UX of AI? 9 Powerful Examples of AI in use today Conclusion UX designers need to know about these technologies if they want to stay ahead of the game. Not that we have mastered the fundamentals of UX, but these concepts are really not new and we all should start getting familiar with what users need at the moment. Augmented reality and Artificial Intelligence wearables are the top dogs now, and designers need to quickly learn how to ride their asses completely!
5 Internet Marketing Strategies for Your Business
Truth be told, marketing plays an important role in the launch of a new business and it can be challenging knowing if you’re starting off on the right track and getting the desired results. In today’s economy, a business may survive without solid Internet Marketing—but if you’re like most businesses, the best marketing agency in town is simply above the budget. Don’t worry: We have put up a simple checklist of the key ingredients needed for a successful business launch. Online Presence: In our experience, most clients think they have the right plans in place to have the information they want to explain on their sites, but they completely overlook opportunities to incite user action.Your Website should be DOING something. It could be generating leads, selling products, collecting email addresses, providing opportunities to have a conversation, building a newsletter list—there are countless options. Companies nowadays are looking at why things are happening, not just what is happening. Marketers are constantly using a wide variety of methods to identify customer experience issues and reduce the impact on the customer. The following methods are seen as the most effective: Information found in customer emails (45%) Calls to the customer service teams (47%) Online feedback tools (33%) Digital Experience (session) replay (54%) 2. Content Marketing: If at a point in your business, you’ve heard about content marketing, and you’re probably wondering what it is about or you’re embarrassed to ask, this post is for you Content marketing, in simple terms, is all about building brand awareness, engagement, and product evangelism. But in terms of conversions, revenue, and ROI, well that could be quite difficult to measure. We are not saying content marketing is helpless when it comes to meaningful business events. But what we simply mean is that measuring the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy is particularly difficult, but achievable. 3. Search Engine Marketing & Optimization: Search engine marketing and optimization are part of of the essential things that can help make your business appear higher on a list of search engine results especially on Google. With a strong SEO strategy, your company website will become associated with the keywords used to find your services, and this what makes Search Engine Optimization sweet. This increases your chances of being the company an individual chooses to work with after searching online and they find information about your company. 4. Social Media: In this modern age, Social Media is one of the most proven tactic when it comes to Internet marketing strategies for business owners. But there seems to be a misconception with social media that the main goal is to be visible with your current audience. This isn’t always the case. Sure, Social Media is a great communication tool, but visibility and communication isn’t enough to grow a sustainable business. You need your friends and family to share your stuffs to their friends and friends of friends and the line keeps going on. However, you should think about how your current audience can share your brand and business with their followers. And guess what the answer is? Really good content! 5. Paid Advertising: Sometimes in internet marketing, you need to pay to play the game. Paid advertising is where you pay a third-party platform to advertise on the ad space they own. Some of the more well-known are Google Adwords and Facebook’s advertising platform, but there are many of them you can test out. Most marketing channels take time before they start generating you a profit, but the beautiful thing about paid advertising is that it can provide an immediate return. Below you will learn about some of the more well-known paid advertising platforms.
5 Online Tools to Help Your Business Grow
Are you a new startup or an established business? You are undoubtedly harnessing the effect of the internet to carry out daily tasks to market your business. By seamlessly impacting certain aspects in your business, you can focus more of your time and energy on growing. Just as humans develop from childhood to adulthood, businesses are expected to transform from taking baby steps to giant strides. We certainly understand that it takes a lot of time for most business owners to research for online tools that can help simplify their businesses. Sometimes, people make the mistake of going for tools that are trending, rather than going for what will really add value to their business. To help you, we’ve put together a list of 5 free tools that you should consider using that can really help your business grow online: Hootesuite: The truth is – your business needs to be super active on social media. No social media, no business! Take it as it is. It’s not even an option, it’s a necessity. With quite a number of notable social media platforms, wouldn’t it be wise to improve your social media management as simple as it can be? Likewise business owners, they need to carry out several projects while multitasking daily. 2. Slack: We totally love slack! We recommend it a lot to fellow entrepreneurs and we’ve got nothing but positive feedback. There quite a number of top companies that use Slack and we consider it to be a must have tool for business growth. In our honest opinion, when it comes to a better team communication tool, Slack tops our list. MUST READ: Online Strategies Every Entrepreneur Needs 3. Dropbox: Want you and your team to access all your files on any device? Laptop, desktop, smartphone etc, from anywhere in the world and share them with anyone you choose, think Dropbox! Business growth comes when you are able to carry out even the tiniest tasks seamlessly. For example, accessing documents and files, it takes out a lot of wasted time. If you haven’t taken advantage of the free plan on Dropbox, which gives you 2GB of Storage space, you’re seriously missing out. 4. Mailchimp: Talking about emailing campaigns, newsletters, and other juicy contents, Mailchimp is your go-to platform. Mailchimp is an email newsletter platform that is used by over 6 million people. There is however, a free plan that allows you to send newsletters to 2,000 subscribers and less than 12,000 emails per month (Which in all honesty, can be unlikely when you are just starting out). We highly recommend using Mailchimp. 5. WordPress: Once you’ve created your website and everything is set up, you should install a CMS platform which your contents and web pages will stay. WordPress, which was originally a blogging platform, is one of the most popular web solution in existence today. Many bloggers around the world use and recommend WordPress. Want to know the best part? It’s completely free to use. Use WordPress for any type of website, but if you’d like to create an e-commerce store, there are other options you can consider. Are you starting an online business? Which of these tools are your favorite? Do you think we should add more? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
Online Strategies Every Entrepreneur Needs
Entrepreneurship involves the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit. Literally, entrepreneurship combined with skills and strategies can turn around a business and produce profit. There are necessary online strategies that every entrepreneur must possess. It is beyond the usual interpersonal and communication skills, it is the basis and foundation of structuring a well established that can actually stand the test of time. Are you a budding entrepreneur? These 5 online strategies will help you in the long run: Personal branding: Successful businesses can generate a ton of momentum from successful entrepreneurs who lead them. Branding yourself, before your company, gives you the opportunity to leverage a more trustworthy, personal image to promote your brand. Content Marketing: Content marketing takes a variety of forms, and depending on how you form your strategy, could accomplish a number of different goals. For example, you could use white papers, ebooks and other long-form content to attract downloads, signups and conversions, or you could use an on-site blog to attract more inbound traffic to your site. Search Engine Optimization: SEO is the process of making your site more visible in search engines, so you get more traffic from people searching for the products or services you offer. Much of your organic search position ranking comes from the technical structure of your site and your ongoing content development strategy. Diversion Optimization: Most of these strategies aim to get more people on your site, but what do those people do once they’re there? Conversion optimization helps you ensure you get more value out of each and every visitor by maximizing your rate of conversion. Social media marketing: This isn’t the get-rich-quick scheme you may have been promised, but there is significant potential in building and nurturing a social media audience. Again, content will come into play heavily here, as it will likely be the factor that attracts your audience to begin with. Here, you stand to gain greater brand visibility, a greater reputation and far more inbound traffic with your syndicated links. Think of these strategies as something to kick-start your entrepreneurship journey and do all that you can to work your way to the top.
Brand Communications Strategist, Sophie Mokah, Talks About the Impact of Social Media in Canadas Fashion Industry
We recently caught up with the super smart Sophie Mokah, Brand Communications and Fashion Enthusiast. She is the Chief Creative Officer of Pinq Communications a Brand Communications and Creative Agency. She is a fashion connoisseur and a lover of all things creative. A Christian, a wife and a mom of two children. She is currently living with intention and navigating being a business owner and motherhood all at once. TFA: Please tell us a little bit about yourself SM: My name is Sophie Mokah, I am a Brand Communications Expert and a Fashionista. In 2019 I founded Pinq Communications a Brand Communications and Creative Agency. My agency has different sides to it, it touches every creative part of Marketing – Ibrand.ca. I have always loved creative arts as a little girl, I grew up with fashion, arts and music. My mom has always been my biggest fashion inspiration. She ran her own fashion and creative agency too, and that inspired me a lot. Three years ago, I stumbled on digital marketing while working as a Creative Director for a Fashion Company. I immediately fit into it, it was like I found the missing piece of the puzzle, and it was easier to merge both knowledge and experience to create masterpieces for my clients. One of my goals in life is to change lives and transform brands using people focused strategies that genuinely help people and solve everyday problems. This would make me happy. I am a happily married mom of two gorgeous children. I am family oriented but also an advocate for self-care – I mean you have to be mentally strong to care for your family. So a little me time is highly recommended. TFA: How do you describe your personal style? Who would you say are your inspirations? SM: I am an all fashion, trendy and chic kind of girl. My fashion is a mix of variety ranging from casual to semi-formal, formal, old school, luxurious, girly, sporty and clean- cut professional. I can wear it all, it all depends on the event, place and time. I love to accessorize a lot to compliment my outfits, I use belts, scarves, hats and jewelries. Most times I seem a bit over dressed at functions but I also love being conspicuous so I do not mind the attention Lol. My mom is my biggest fashion inspiration. Everything I know now about fashion, I learnt from her. I watched her dress up, we played dress up, I watched her design things and I just fell in love. I currently do not have any other fashion inspiration but I pick a little from everyone. I love to watch runway shows, because that tells you the latest trends and what to look out for the coming year. TFA: How is the fashion industry in Canada? Does social media and tech have a huge impact in the industry? SM: Before I moved to Canada, a friend that grew up here told me that once I get to Canada my fashion sense would evaporate Lol. It was funny at that time and I didn’t believe her, but now I see the reasons why. First of all, Canada is 100% different from Nigeria where I grew up. It is one of the coldest countries in the world. Sometimes fashion literally goes out the window when you are only thinking about staying warm, layering up and not getting the flu. It is hard to keep up with fashion here, but doing it with intention is the only way to keep up. When I first moved here, I started researching Canadian fashion. I found out that three provinces Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are like the fashion hubs of Canada. So I figured I just moved to a non-fashion hub. I started attending fashion shows (there are like two fashion shows in Calgary where I live) to have a feel of what fashion looks like here and it sort of informed my own creativity. I would say the fashion industry is improving in Canada. Social media and tech has really upped the fashion game in Canada. Social media is merging the fashion world and designers are springing up in Canada every day. The Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards is a huge impact on the industry. It is putting Canadian fashion on the map and it has nurtured the love for fashion in more young people. Retailing aspect is still a bit dicey, because shopping for fashion is really expensive in Canada, so brands find it hard to make profit. I figured it has to do with taxing goods being imported into Canada (a little bit high), but yeah once that is sorted, fashion will make a huge impact to the Canadian economy. TFA: What are your favorite social media apps for lifestyle and fashion contents? SM: Instagram and Pinterest are two of my favorite social media apps when it comes to fashion and lifestyle content. They both cover every bit of fashion and lifestyle content either in motion or still pictures. These two social media platforms have been evolving and changing with the times. You can literally search for anything on Instagram and it gives you a sort of direct connection to your favorite brands. They carry you on a journey from sketching to actual finished designs which we didn’t have years back. I also like this new app called Like to Know It – it is a fashion app that links Instagram photos to an app that links the shopping website so you can directly shop any outfit in real time. TFA: What would be the notable trend for fashion in 2020? SM: Old school is coming back with a bang. I know we saw a little bit of old school in 2019 but it is coming in with a bang this year. I mean just look back at the last fashion shows in 2019, you sort of have an idea where the trend is heading. We
How to develop a digital growth strategy for your business
When it comes to turning a small business into a large one, it is never so easy. But if you feel it’s not good enough for you or your business, or if you believe that staying small doesn’t really guarantee the survival of your business, there are a couple of real life examples that companies have successfully used to transition from that small start-up business to a full fledged business. As you embark on creating your digital growth strategy, the first thing you should consider are the fundamentals of an intensive digital growth strategy. Each fundamental brings more opportunities for an unprecedented growth, but also a little risk. They are: WE RECOMMEND: How outsourcing can help your start up business Online Market Penetration: This particular growth strategy is less risky for any business, because the idea is to understand how your product will reach more customers through various mediums online. You can find out how to sell more of your current products to current customers, while analyzing the possibility of expanding to other online territories. Online Market Development: The next fundamental you’d come across on this growth ladder is to come up with a way of selling more of your current products to a growing market – offering your product or services to customers in other cities, states or countries. For example, as your business grows, your product or services may be in demand in other locations, but you may never know if you do not devise a way of expanding your business. Alternative Digital Platforms: This digital growth strategy involves pursuing customers in a different way such as, for example, selling your products through media platforms, apps etc. The customer behavior is drastically shifting and in order to stay on course, you need to match the shift by being visible on these digital platforms that your customers are moving to. Product Development: This is one strategy that is very key. It involves developing new and exciting products to sell to your existing customers as well as to the new ones. If you have a choice, you would ideally like to sell your new products to existing customers and market your products to new customers to increase your sales force. If you decide to follow one of the Intensive Digital Growth Strategies, you should ideally take only one step up at a time, since each step may take a longer while than the other, and of course the effort it would take to achieve each step. The cue is that sometimes, the market changes without warning, and it forces you to take immediate action. Sometimes, you have no choice but to take more steps.
REVEALED: 5 Digital Marketing Trends for Your Business in 2020
We have watched the rise of internet users over the past decade, Google playing a huge role across major continents of the world to connect millions to the internet for the first time. While you may find yourself in a position to maintain the pace of digital revolution, there is a lot to suggest an optimistic outlook for your business in 2020, but this will depend increasingly on your willingness to adapt and compete with industry players, innovators and tech leaders. Below are 5 digital marketing trends you should watch out for in 2020: User Generated Content: While you may be aware that this isn’t new, user-generated content is transforming everything from reviews to information research and discovery. Amateur created content is massive, real and will continue to grow not only in size but also in importance across online platforms and content type. Everyone has an opinion and wants it to be heard! Review sites will also become more important in the marketer’s armory. Many businesses would leverage on UGC to drive brand perception. Mobile Apps to replace website: With smartphone rapidly in use, more companies will take heed and employ mobile enterprise applications to effectively mobilize their sales force. Mobile apps will allow many companies manage resources such as inventory and their supply chain using mobile phones, either through SMS or Web-enabled applications. The steady increase in the number of mobile users will continue to fuel this trend. ALSO READ: How to boost conversion rate of your website. Increase in Vlogging: The ever-rising of vloggers and the popularity of video content sharing has changed the dynamics of consumer/brand interaction online. According to a recent survey, over 75% of users on social media say that they are likely to patronize a business if they promote video contents. Sites like YouTube have introduced innovative ways that people can watch and share video content. Facebook has already released the concept of video images for profiles, and many people are already using video as a profile instead of a picture. The Rise of TikTok: A new contender has entered the arena, most especially for young people, that contender is TikTok. A social media app that allows users to post short lip-synced, music, talent or comedy skits. In 2019, TikTok hit 524 million active users worldwide, while in China, it hit over 150 million daily users and counting – a strong platform for social media marketing. To leverage on this trend, business would now have TikTok accounts to target the right millennial audience with funny and exciting short video contents. Focus on AI in Marketing: In 2020, a lot of emphasis would be placed on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence to promote business. For example, the existence of voice search will greatly increase relevance in the online development of search. Online services will now create voice query analysis and rework their content to reflect this development. This would impact user experience when it comes to google searching as voice makes it more easy to communicate what a user is searching for. ALSO READ: Four reason why digital marketing matters
EXCLUSIVE: Uber co-founder, Travis Kalanick steps down from board of directors
Due to a number of scandals, the 43-year-old co-founder of Uber has been asked to step down from the Uber board of directors. Travis Kalanick, however, remained a part of the company’s nine directors. Kalanick has recently sold off 90% of his shares in Uber. Two months ago, he liquidated close to $2.5bn (£1.9bn) worth of stock representing over 90% of his earlier stake in the company. “At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits,” said Mr Kalanick in a statement issued by Uber. Mr Kalanick is currently heading City Storage Systems. A Los Angeles-based start-up buys up land and establishes kitchens for use by delivery-only restaurants, which operate via apps including Uber Eats.
Four Reasons why Digital Marketing Matters
Why does digital marketing matter so much that everyone has it on blogs, social media, online stores, online ads, emails and more? The truth is consumers are turning ever more to the online marketplace. Below are four important reasons you should digitally promote your small business. When it comes to making decisions for your business or services, customers now use online research to aid their choices. Did you know 75% of consumers now research businesses online? Five out of every ten will depend on social media or review sites to conduct their research. When prospective clients are looking for you online and your business is not visible, they won’t see you; however, they will see your competitors the possibility of your customers going for your competitors could be high. So endeavor to create a very strong online presence for your business. Creating SEO related contents is one important tactic that you can adopt for your business. It needs a more flexible approach that can adapt to the constant landscape change, while ensuring that your business methods are data driven and targeted to your key audience. Over 62% of small businesses use digital marketing, which means that you may be in the minority if you do not have a digital marketing strategy for your business. As long as you are not visible to potential customers, they are finding out about your competition, giving them sales instead of you, which becomes a challenge for you by the time you start to notice this. More than ever before, people now have more access to the online world. Online search is already a big part of the customer experience. It looks unlikely that it is going to change; but in fact, it is almost certain the importance of the online market is going to continue to increase tremendously. In summary, any business that doesn’t tap into the digital marketing space is going to end up losing out on all the awareness, branding and potential return.
