Mehek Khan is a Digital Marketing Manager at Spicetree Design Agency. She is a commerce graduate from Ritambara Vishwa Vidyapeeths Malini Kishor College of Commerce and Economics and her schooling was from Maneckji Cooper School (Juhu). In her career span of two years she has worked on making interesting Campaigns, marketing Strategy, digital Marketing, social media strategy and Paid Search Strategy.
Digital marketing is one of the hottest careers today, and as an aspirant, I also had a vision of joining this highly exciting field. Before entering the professional world with SDA, the perception was that digital marketers are wizards who use analytics, catchy content, pre-defined tips, tricks and techniques to reach out to consumers. In today’s era of intense competition, consumers are usually well-versed with the features and types of products they need. What digital marketers need to convey is information that tells them about the product benefits, functionality, environmental impact, and diversity etc. I imagined myself to be spending time creating marketing campaigns and strategies in a relaxed environment, in group discussions in the meeting rooms, trying to come up with online strategies that drive web traffic to desired content/webpages and converting views into clicks etc. With all these thoughts, I began my career journey.
As a digital marketer, one does all the above, and a lot more. One of the things that instantly stumped me was the reality of how digital works. The biggest difference between working in a normal role, and as a digital marketer is that there is no set definition of ‘shift.’ Work hours become flexible as per need, and strict reporting or leave schedule is often not applicable to a digital marketer. The online campaigns run round-the-clock, and that’s where a digital marketing person also needs to work dynamically. One day you might be working at 7 am to make a campaign live, and on another day, it could be 1 am.
Thus, the work culture I entered into was one of being relaxed, having fun, but being intensely focused on the goals of every single activity undertaken. Whether it is Social Media Marketing, creating an impactful strategy, or coming up with an out of the box campaign that compels receivers to click on it, a digital marketer has to handle everything with precision, campaign after campaign. This is also something that makes the job give the vibes of being an opportunity where you undertake new adventures and learn new things every day. As my initial foray into the world of employment coincided with the pandemic outbreak, I have faced a fair share of challenges as well.
As I was a fresher with most of my understanding of digital marketing being conceptual and theoretical, it used to be unnerving to work on projects that would see real client budgets being spent on content and strategies devised by me. There would be a constant concern about what if this didn’t work out, and the client’s money fails to generate the projected ROI? The lack of a proper working shift, and the need to do different tasks at different times, often made work challenging. Since I worked from home, there was also the challenge of coordination with colleagues, timely receiving and sharing the information with seniors and clients.
However, as months rolled by, I was eased into the organization by my co-workers, clients and seniors. All of them have not only been supportive and knowledgeable, but also extremely understanding towards my struggles, and have given the necessary backup wherever needed.
Now when I look back at how the journey so far has been, I must say that digital marketing can be a great experience. There is so much to learn, and one of the best things about the arena is that there is ample scope to display your creativity. In fact, if we look at any of the top marketers today, the best of them would be people, who display the following abilities:
- Self-drive and comfort in working on tight and dynamic timeframes
- Great communication skills, and an ability to respond as per the client’s goals, business, work culture, and hierarchy
- Creativity, and ability to strategically collaborate with people offering diversity of skills and opinions
- A zeal to learn and master new things every day
Working in a digital marketing agency is not a cakewalk or a cushy job where you have a clearly defined shift, work responsibility, and growth chart. It is an environment where one’s own skills and the above-listed traits create a difference between great success to mediocrity or failure. Before making digital marketing as a career of choice, one needs to ask a few questions to self, and analyze whether they are ready to put in the efforts and make the sacrifices that the career would require. If yes, then having the right competence, expertise in the chosen niche, and a great organizational culture can make it possible to excel in this highly competitive arena.