any moons ago when I designer to submit it to the
worked in the recruitment major search engines and, well
industry, ‘New Year , New that’s just it, for most
Career’ was among our favourite companies there wasn’t and still
advertising mantras, wheeled out isn’t an ‘and’. Just because
in January to catch that wave of there would be a bunch of online
optimism that sweeps through the inquiries and some business
job market each year – “out with conducted as a result of this,
the old, in with the new’. What plenty of business managers and
interests more at this juncture owners regarded it as ‘job done’
is not so much a career for the and maybe just made a diary note
new year but rather, a career for to get back in touch with their
the new age. web designer in 3 to 5 years to
As we all know, the internet give their site a makeover.
pervades every part of our modern
There is an argument that
lives and increasingly, maybe, just maybe, this approach
organizations both large and new to internet marketing was good
are looking to the internet as a enough at the beginning of this
central part of their marketing century but there is no way it is
strategies. Not to have an good enough anymore. And one of
internet marketing strategy these the problems here is that many
days is akin to committing business owners are being advised
commercial suicide. It was not so by their web designers –
long ago that the primary focus ‘techies’. Now I have nothing
of having an internet marketing against techies per se, in fact,
strategy was to have a decent I think a good web designer and a
website. Companies would list good programmer are worth their
their web address on all their weight in gold. But as much as
stationery and sales reps’ they might know their way around
business cards, get their web the internet, they are not
marketing professionals. Against talking about giving marketing
this, way too many marketing professionals some technical
professionals are happy to leave skills? I would suggest a
internet marketing to either combination of both and neither
junior members of the marketing and if that sounds paradoxical,
team or out source it to third allow me to explain.
parties. Where’s the
I believe that what industry
strategy?
needs going forward is a new
With paid search advertising breed of internet marketing
spend predicted to overtake all professionals. Individuals who
other forms of advertising spend understand all things internet
over the next few years – and and all things marketing. This
this includes the amount of money could be accomplished by training
spent on TV advertising – isn’t techies in marketing skills and
it about time that businesses awareness or by training
started to put internet marketing marketing professionals in the
at the centre of their marketing vagaries of the internet.
strategy rather than just However, I think it is best
regarding it as a useful add on? accomplished by training people,
Some do of course and these are whatever their background, in
the companies that are beginning internet marketing, period.
to thrive in the modern business Really, how many true internet
environment. Others, frankly, marketing professionals are there
need to adapt or die.
compared to how many will be
So that’s all fine in needed over the next few
principle but where are companies years?
going to find these internet
Let’s put it to the test. You
marketing professionals? Are we are reading this article on the
just talking about upgrading the internet and presumably, you have
role of web techies? Or are we an interest in internet marketing
whether from a technical, amateurs – people who play at
marketing or lay perspective. You being internet entrepreneurs have
tell me, which of the following probably learned a lot more about
do you have sufficient knowledge internet marketing than they
of and skills at to be regarded realize.
as an expert?
The next challenge for
- Keyword analysis companies looking to engage an
- Content management internet marketing specialist is
- Audience segmentation and how do you find the right person
targeting and how much are you going to
- Link building strategies pay? There are a bunch of
- PPC advertising specialist consultancies around
- Search engine optimization that have been quietly building
- Article marketing up their portfolios in recent
- Directory marketing years – mainly web designers who
- Viral marketing woke up and smelt the coffee. But
- Online branding these guys are expensive,
- Landing page strategies conservatively I would say $5000
- Front door versus back door per month for an all inclusive
marketing internet marketing service – that
- eCommerce strategies will be around 1 day per week of
- Marketing analysis their time excluding a client’s
- Budget Optimization
advertising spend. An employer
Now I reckon there are only a isn’t going to tempt one of these
few thousand people worldwide who guys away from their
could put a tick next to every consultancies for less than
single one of those boxes. Maybe $250k, right?
there’s a few more who could tick
Maybe they’ll take a chance on
a dozen or so of those boxes and a business graduate and let them
I reckon a lot of those are keen learn on the job. Until they say,
thanks very much for the program is divided into 12
training, I’m off to open my own modules (one per month) and at
consultancy. Maybe they’ll take the end of the whole program they
an offline marketer and help them will be able to tick each of
become an online specialist – those 15 boxes I highlighted
except, who is going to train earlier in this article – not
them? Maybe they’ll take a techie just to say, “I know about that”
and train them as a marketer. but also to say, “I can do that
OK, I accept all these are and I’m pretty good at it.” The
workable possibilities but isn’t fact that students build up an
it about time that internet experienced based portfolio and
marketing was a recognized get a fully accredited
professional career path in its professional qualification at the
own right? I believe it is which end of it means two major career
is why I spent a chunk of my time paths open up at the end of
last year developing a it:
professional study program for
1. An Internet Marketing or
internet marketers. This program Search Management role with a
has now been approved as an large organization.
Accredited Experiential Learning
2. An internet marketing role
program and students gain a within a specialist consultancy
professional qualification at the or a generalist
end of it – The Diploma in advertising/marketing agency.
Internet Marketing.
Of course, the other option is
The way the course has been that graduates who have
designed is that it is virtually sufficient drive, ambition and
100% experiential. As you would attitude for risk will opt to
expect, students study online and start their own specialist
are expected to invest 3 - 5 consultancies on the back of what
hours per week study time. The they have learned.
And as secondary audiences go,
A new career for a new age –
I wouldn’t ignore the benefits to I’ll let others fret about how to
small business owners. If the big make that rhyme for their
boys are getting more and more advertising slogans.
professional at internet
marketing, the small guys are
program? align="center">
To take this discussion back
to the central theme of this article, is internet marketing a type="text/javascript">
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Article Tags: career, internet, marketing
