The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. –Peter Drucker
Starbucks serves as the pinnacle example for countless business case studies and successful marketing stories. Yet, one simple principle that appears to stand out over the course of the last three decades of its solid popularity is-that customers come first. From programs offering birthday perks and loyalty rewards, the company has managed to look beyond its comfort zone primarily by leveraging data to segment the user-demographic and offer the best experience to its loyal customers.
Coca Cola, another name associated with consistent brand loyalty has been reported to rev up its focus and spend on content marketing and branding in the last couple of years. Operating in an industry that is confronted with declining soft drinks sales, the company has been quite vocal about its new content strategy- “Content 2020”, an initiative focused primarily on using content to bolster key company brands.
Marketing has long been established as the fundamental cornerstone for business success across industries, business conditions and time periods. However, there is no denying the fact that the contours forming modern marketing mix strategies, action-plans and job roles have transformed considerably in the last decade or so. And the real driver of this transformation has been the digital revolution. Digital marketing has evolved from being one of the sub-processes constituting the Marketing division to being pegged as the lead engine for attracting buyers and strengthening customer engagement.
So what can job-seekers looking to embark on a career path in this domain expect in terms of sought-after job roles and skill-sets? Here are a few in-demand job roles and popular focus areas catching the fancy of recruiters and businesses alike:
- Search Engine Optimization: SEO demands the sweet-spot combination of technical abilities meshed with the value granted by creative and innovative thinking. To optimize your contribution through SEO, you need to really master the process of understanding customer behavior, relying on deep analytical skills to extract key purchase, engagement and behavioral insights by studying and monitoring social media interactions. Consumer actions are increasingly and inextricably being linked to the web and so it is natural that sales and customer service efforts are aligned to the medium of internet as well. The goal here is to not only bring the company`s product or service on the top of a google search query, but to know and then answer customers’ concerns and needs in the most relevant and prompt fashion. However, the ideal step would be to regard SEO as an element of digital marketing. You should look to contribute to a host of other aligned areas like PPC, Google/Web Analytics and Social Media Marketing.
- Content Management: Content is king! has long been the common refrain in corporate boardrooms. Content management, as it exists today, in the marketing sphere encompasses marketing communications management, public relations, social media marketing and communication and engagement across multiple channels like blogs, videos, e-books and much more. Your primary focus as Content Manager, should be to feed content that is of the highest quality into these multiple channels. Along with possessing exceptional creative-writing skills, you should be adept at spearheading the overall content strategy that is aimed at not just lead generation but at bolstering the brand loyalty as well. Additionally, you would have to prove yourself as a team player as you would be required to collaborate with graphic designers, writers, UI/UX designers, market research analysts as well as videographers to deliver content that offers the most effective amalgamation of these diverse job roles.
- Market Research Analysis/Data Science: With Youtube and Spotify, leveraging neural networks to provide the most targeted music recommendations to its users based on their browsing data, the reality of artificial intelligence and machine learning is closer to becoming a business necessity than ever. In the midst of this dynamic, technology-driven market, employers are seeking candidates who are specialists in deciphering multiple layers of user-purchase and engagement data to provide actionable analysis that guides product improvement, price-point decisions as well as promotional campaigns. If you enjoy delving deep into statistical analysis and data patterns to understand customers’ preferences, then Marketing careers will have a lot of exciting opportunities to offer to you.
In addition, candidates who are true innovators and not shy to wear their confidence would be always ahead of the curve. All consumers are armed with information, such that recent studies reveal that they do not engage with a sales representative till 60% of their purchase decision. Thus, individuals who are willing to adapt and listen to the end-user would be the best fit.
At the heels of a global economic slowdown, marketing professionals need to devise strategies that are not only forward-looking but also truly international in their focus. The success of Airbnb and Uber prove the immense marketing scope embedded in the ‘sharing economy’. Diverse customer demographics including ageing populations and changing environmental conditions, present unique business challenges that can only be countered by directing efforts to know the customer even better. Organizations are on the lookout for candidates with the spark to formulate marketing policies aimed at delivering the best experience and not just the best product or service offering.