Name: Deja W. Role: Digital Marketing Specialist Experience: 2 years Concentration: Email Marketing and Digital Ad Management
What led you to pursue Digital Marketing?
That’s interesting. I didn’t specifically seek out digital marketing, but when I look back on the roles that I pursued in the past, they were all building blocks for what I do now. I was heavily focused on video production and creative marketing in the early stages of my college and work career. I began to transition into new media, which heavily focused on web development, app design, and user experiences, towards the end of my college career. Content creation and management in the digital space was a common thread that held all of my interests together, so I like to think that I’m moving in the right direction.
What are some of the things that you do as a Digital Marketing Specialist?
Every company and team works differently. I work on a Marketing Operations team, so we don’t do any marketing strategy and we don’t produce any content. We are more of a production and execution arm of a creative marketing team. Specifically, I work with Email Operations and Ad Operations.
On the email side, I build out email templates (using HTML and CSS) as well as leverage our data sets to build out requested audience segments. It’s my responsibility to launch these emails out on time for the necessary audiences. On the Ad Operations side, I manage and traffic in-house digital banners and commercials (any ad that promotes our internal brands) to our video players, to our apps, and on the web.
Content creation and management in the digital space was a common thread that held all of my interests together, so I like to think that I’m moving in the right direction.
What are some of the things that you do to make sure you succeed as a Digital Marketing Specialist?
For my team, and most likely for most, you have to be willing to learn a variety of skills. So if anything ever goes south, the team knows that they can count on you to get the job done. Also, you have to be extremely organized. There are a lot of people who are unorganized, and if you can find a way to manage it, then you’ll be successful.
Digital Marketing and Marketing in general is such a HUGE field, which makes being a digital marketing specialist a very ambiguous title. If you’re interested in it, make sure you really do your research, as well as ask the hiring managers and team members some really tough questions. In all honesty, this goes for any roles that you’re thinking about applying to. Make sure you are clear on the roles’ responsibilities and make sure you can see yourself on the team. Ultimately if you do this, you’ll have a strong foundation and be even more successful.
What are some of the skills you think are most crucial for a Digital Marketing Specialist to have?
SOFT SKILLS:
- Project management is an absolute must! I have to be able to self-manage my projects as well as get frequent updates on the missing pieces that I need to complete my work.
- Clear communication, with your team and managers, is a must. This is another little piece of the project management foundation. Marketing is all about teamwork baby.
- Creativity. I’m always on the lookout for new ways to improve mine and my team’s workflow and process. I’m also always learning new skills and looking for ways to beef up my personal skills bank.
- ORGANIZATION. This has to be in all caps because I can’t express this enough. Seriously you will cross paths with some extremely unorganized teams and individuals. It’s up to you to find a way to organize your workload and workflow so that you don’t go mad.
I’m always learning new skills and looking for ways to beef up my personal skills bank.
HARD SKILLS:
- Adobe Creative Cloud. Specifically, I use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Adobe Premiere Pro.
- I use Photoshop to make basic layout updates, make small design tweaks.
- I was a Brackets fan, but Dreamweaver is a nice little tool. Like most code editors, this one allows you to visualize your code as you update it. This is very helpful while coding, especially when attempting to develop a responsive email marketing campaign templates.
- I use Premiere Pro to edit team video tutorials. Not a must on my end, but it’s a little task that I’ve taken on.
- Specifically for my role on the email marketing/production side of things, I needed to know HTML and CSS. I couldn’t have made it very far without it.
- I learned: all of the email marketing platforms that my team uses to send our emails (Responsys, Braze, PostUp, Harmony)
- I learned project management tools, which are pretty standard across different industries. I’d advise you to become familiar with at least one of them. (Asana, JIRA, Confluence)
- I learned ad serving platforms, which is relevant if you are interested in going into Ad Operations or Ad Management (Freewheel, Google Ad Manager)
How did you go about learning HTML/CSS, and the Email Marketing Platforms? Through academia or on your own?
I come from a web development/ design background. It all started in high school for me. My school offered a class that taught us how to build websites using HTML and CSS. My skills grew a bit after playing around with themes on the popular blogging website Tumblr as well! I further honed my skills while pursuing my New Media certificate in college. The need for coders, and specifically front-end coders/designers has definitely risen since I completed my program. So, it’s a skill that I would advise anyone to pursue.
Now, you don’t even have to go to college to establish these skills. You can attend bootcamps (paid) and watch online tutorials (free) to learn these skills. If you’re thinking about the free route, there are a bunch of online platforms where you can learn from. Some of my favorite platforms include: teamtreehouse, codecademy, and w3schools.
I learned the email platforms in my role as a T3 trainee, which I have been able to transition into a coordinator, and now a specialist role. The email marketing process is a little tough to grasp in the beginning, and it’s something you’ll have to learn on the job because like most things, every company, and team operates differently.
What do you do outside of work to decompress?
Well, you’re currently reading it! I blog a ton, and constantly try to figure out ways to improve it. You can also catch me binging the latest tv show, manhandling the aux cord in someone’s car, or taking a trip to somewhere new. I’m always on the go as well, because I hate being bored!
Learn more about my love for all things tv, food, and adventure via Instagram!
Digital Marketing Specialist: Deeper Dive
Excited about becoming a Digital Marketing Specialist?
Here’s a deeper look into the role (via Payscale/Monster)
- Job Description: From SEO to social media, digital marketers are adept at growing their company’s presence in multiple digital channels. With responsibilities that cross the business spectrum from tech, to marketing, to business analytics, digital marketers are an important resource in any industry.
- Related Roles: Digital Strategist, Marketing Manager, Content Operations, Operations Manager, Content Strategist, Product Marketing, Data Analyst, Social Media Specialist, Account Manager
- Popular Companies: WarnerMedia, Washington Post, MW.W. Grainger Inc., Radian Group Inc.
- Popular Skills: Social Media Marketing, SEO, Email Marketing, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Budget Management, Project Management, e-Commerce, People Management
- Average Salary: $51k
WHAT’S NEXT: Nominate a Young Professional!
“Interview With” is a series that follows young professionals who are making major waves in their respective industries.
- Keep up with other young professionals here
- Nominate your fave young professional (or yourself 👀) here!
- Stay tuned for more! 💁
