Digital Marketing: Expect the Unexpected | by Kenya Young-Denton

Whether you're a new Digital Marketing Apprentice or an Alumni, the Digital Marketing sector can really make you feel like Simone Biles doing her floor routine. The ever-changing technology and updates to platforms/software can seem really daunting, yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

This article will enable you to embrace the unexpected, in terms of Digital Marketing, and combat it just like the 30p increase in plastic bags (To be honest, I would just buy a reusable one, it saves time, money and the planet 😉).

Digital Marketing- What Even Is That?

Digital Marketing or DM (Did you see what I just did there 😂) is a sector of marketing that uses the Internet, and digital tech such as a phone, or computer to market a product or brand to the consumer. Now that might sound simple. However, getting the consumer to buy into a product or brand is complicated stuff, and requires multi-channel communication between various areas of a business. 

Multiverse offers a plethora of Digital Marketing apprenticeship placements, ranging from a Junior Digital Marketing Apprenticeship to a more specific Paid Social Media Apprenticeship. Plus, as an added bonus, these placements could be anywhere from Google or MediaCom to Bloomberg. With a Multiverse apprenticeship, you will be immersed in all things Digital Marketing from Website Development to Email Marketing. But it's important to remember that you are never alone to feel anxious about the changes that happen continuously in the field of DM. Being prepared for these changes can be a great way to feel better!

Research Your Company

Now imagine it (or relive it if you’ve already done it), you have just started your new Digital Marketing Apprenticeship at a new company, and you’re looking nice even if it is remote and it’s just for the Zoom camera 🙃. But wait, you have no idea what the company does, or better yet what platforms or tools they use to sell products or their brand. 

Total Fail.  

Now you’re wondering how this could have been avoided.

Well, there is a way:  RESEARCH! 🤓

Doing research on your company, will not just allow you to get a scope of the brand but also show you the following:

• What marketing content/platforms the company uses already
• The tone of voice which the company uses in communications
• What tools you could look into to better communicate with the desired audience (This could be B2C or B2B)
• What demographics your audience fits in too (Age, Gender, Hobbies, Sex etc…) to better maximise your campaign performance
• Draw out competitive research to see how you fair against similar brands/companies

With thorough research into your company, you can boost engagement with your campaigns, and provide realistic suggestions with your campaign analysis. This will ensure that you are a tip-top marketer. 😎

Sectors

Now just like any industry, marketing, especially digital marketing, has various sectors to it. Each company has a team for each sector. Now, I could go into all sectors, but, I would be here forever 🥲. What I will do is go into various areas of DM, and explain how they all tie together as one big happy marketing family.

Now, are you ready?

Let’s Go!!!

Social Media Marketing 📱

SMM is the most popular form of DM, with every brand using it (Even if it's just LinkedIn). Every day there are new social media platforms, like BeReal, just popping up, and you have to immediately know how to use them, and whether it’s relevant to your company. Essentially working in SMM would involve you being creative, spontaneous, and very analytical, in order to know what's working with campaigns, and what to cut out in future campaigns.

SMM can be very broad or niche, with individuals working in Organic, Paid Influencer, or Community social media teams. These teams collaborate together and work with the larger DM sectors to promote/execute campaigns flawlessly while strategising the focus of future campaigns.

Working within SMM can be very demanding at times (especially during festive periods🎄), however, it’s also rewarding with the amount of freedom of creativity in your content and the distribution channels it provides.

Content Marketing ✍️

Content Marketing usually resides in all sectors of DM, specifically Social Media, Email, Blog, and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)/Website. It focuses on how content is written and then distributed throughout all the company’s platforms. 

CMs have to regularly write content for specific platforms as a Copywriter, meaning that understanding the company’s TOV (Tone of Voice) is essential to execute amazing content. 

The CM role again can be demanding, having to write constantly with strict deadlines (Some companies even require you to write 1000-3000 words per day) 🥹. Yet, writing can be exhilarating, especially when your imagination just flows. Before you know it, you’ve written a whole essay on bread.

Branding 🏢

You may feel branding is just something a company thinks about once, and then follows until the end of days. But it's not as simple as that. A company’s brand is ever-changing, with it trying to fit into new societal norms, in order not to be outcasted as this would result in a loss of business. This means the people behind the branding need to keep up with new legislation, or social topics being discussed in their audience in order to stay on top. 

Now, what does that have to do with Digital Marketing you ask?   🤔

EVERYTHING!!!

Branding will be responsible for how you navigate any new changes through digital spaces. This means everything from how you communicate to what imagery is used and when it goes out. Think of branding being the big boss that looks over everything. This is just to ensure the correct content goes out and doesn’t ruin the company brand.

These are just a taste of the DM’s sectors and what they do. My advice would be to start any new apprenticeship, or job within DM by researching the role and team thoroughly. This ensures that you understand what team you are going into and what the expectations are, beforehand.

Abbreviations/Acronyms 

As you would know, within the DM sector abbreviations are everywhere (Plus, I've been using them throughout this whole blog 😉). I’m just going to give you a taste of some of the abbreviations that you will or should know going into the DM sector.

1. CTR- Click-Through Rate
2. SMM- Social Media Marketing
3. DM-Digital Marketing 
4. TOV- Tone of Voice
5. B2B- Business to Business
6. B2C- Business to Consumer
7. SEO- Search Engine Optisitmastion
8. SEM- Search Engine Marketing 
9. ROI- Return on Investment
10. CPC- Cost Per Click
11. CMS- Content Management System
12. SERP- Search Engine Results Page
13. KPI- Key Performance Indicator(s)
14. GA- Google Analytics
15. PV- Page Views

The Wrap Up

Now, don’t get caught up in trying to learn everything because it will never happen and that’s not what DM is all about. DM is about learning and adapting your content for your audience, so it's genuine and unique. Yes, the unexpected might come along, and present a hiccup, but how you navigate it is always key. Remember, reach out and communicate if you need help, don’t suffer in silence. Plus, there is always a community within Multiverse that will support you such as your coach, your cohort, the Community Hub, and even me 😊.

Kenya Young-Denton is an Alumnus and is writing for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here is more about her:

“Having finished my apprenticeship, I think it's about time I share my experiences, and the best way is through blogging. So come on a journey with me, to explore Digital Marketing, Apprenticeships, and whatever life throws at us.”