Digital transformation has accelerated the internet into a platform for companies to expand brand awareness and increase consumer acquisition. Marketing teams need to provide a seamless experience, regardless of the channel or device. Many businesses are leaning into digital marketers to help drive new initiatives utilizing an omnichannel marketing model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do this effectively, you need the right team; each position in the digital marketing space of an organization plays a critical role in allowing the company to communicate effectively, internally and externally to customers, partners and employees. We\u2019ve curated a list of essential positions needed for a full-scale digital marketing team, highlighting emerging roles in the industry that are becoming more important as it digitizes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most digital or online tools to be useful, you must know how they impact ROI. Commonly titled as an analytics manager, marketing analyst or data analyst, this role oversees evaluating the effectiveness of an organization’s marketing efforts by collecting and interpreting data from online marketing campaigns and other key performance indicators. Without an analytics manager to translate engagement numbers and show the impact of those marketing efforts, a marketing team would have difficulty showing the value their team brings to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two types of marketing analytics managers exist: some are more skilled in technical knowledge and understand coding and programming languages such as SQL, R or Python to extract consumer behavioral data from marketing campaigns and online traffic. Other analytics managers are better at articulating results of data collected through easy-to-understand reports or presentations, often utilizing visualization tools such as Power BI<\/a> or Tableau<\/a>. Regardless of their approach, their primary function on a marketing team is to make strategic recommendations about marketing efforts to maximize ROI and incremental sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data engineers do what marketing analytics software \u2013 such as Google Analytics<\/a> and Measured<\/a> \u2013 can\u2019t. They are skilled in complex technology, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud platforms, RPA (robotic process automation), data architecture and integration. Analytics managers analyze data and use their findings to make recommendations to companies, whereas data engineers are involved in the actual development, construction and preparation of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps most importantly, data engineers can unify data<\/a> from all analytics software and put it in one cohesive, understandable format \u2014 something most software platforms can\u2019t do. With the help of a data engineer or data scientist, you\u2019ll be able to see total impressions and metrics from all your data sources, paid ads and organic campaigns in one cohesive format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demand generation managers develop and cultivate long-term customer relationships through multiple touchpoints in the marketing funnel lifecycle. Helping the business with emerging markets and new products, they advertise and create fine-tuned, always-on nurture programs aligned to their specific consumer journeys. Typical responsibilities include creating short-and long-term multi-channel campaigns, monitoring and optimizing campaigns across all channels, developing personas and understanding the buyer journey, plus measuring and analyzing campaign success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing automation managers are part of the demand generation strategy and oversee all automated marketing campaigns. They are responsible for implementing marketing strategies using customer relationship management (CRM) software (Salesforce<\/a>, Dynamics<\/a>, etc.) aligned with marketing automation software (HubSpot<\/a>, Marketo<\/a>, Eloqua<\/a>, etc.). This role often works with the website team building gated material and landing pages, collaborates closely with sales managers and IT, creates and analyzes campaigns, builds drip nurture campaigns, and focuses on capturing MQLs (marketing qualified leads). <\/p>\n\n\n\n A content strategist or digital brand manager uses data to determine how and where to reach a company\u2019s goal audience. This individual helps create and implement a company\u2019s strategy and branding across all digital channels, which includes<\/a> digital platforms, social media, content, paid online ads and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Content strategists are individuals who clearly understand the company\u2019s identity<\/a>, goals, and marketing processes and know how to strengthen the company\u2019s exposure to new and existing audiences, and where improvements can be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to content strategy, always remember your ABCs (Always Building Content). Content drives the direction for your brand, sales, messaging, culture, and so much more. Thanks to the digital world, organizations now have a plethora of avenues to consider when showcasing their content, such as social media, advertisements, product descriptions, blog posts, and web pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Content creators and copywriters produce clear and persuasive thought leadership that informs consumers and compels them to engage with a company. Although writing might be the most traditional or longest-existing job of a functioning marketing team, its importance hasn’t wavered \u2013 and it may have even increased. This role partners with the Content Strategist and SEO experts to ensure the content aligns with the overall campaign strategy and hits all the marks to drive consumer engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of the last time you planned to visit a new restaurant. You likely looked at its website to see the dining menu and get a feel for the atmosphere of the eatery. If the restaurant had a lackluster website that was difficult to navigate, did it deter you from eating there? Companies need to prioritize the customer experience, especially on platforms such as websites or mobile apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The user experience (UX) or user interface (UI) designer focuses on the customer\u2019s journey \u2013 stitching together the behind-the-scenes work in a unified, singular view that is simple for the customer to use or interact with. Coding isn\u2019t essential to succeed<\/a> in these roles but could benefit someone in this position. These positions conduct user research to identify the problems, glitches and errors that the platform\u2019s design needs to solve; then they solve them through testing and prototyping. Without UI and UX designers, simple tasks like navigating a company website would cause a lot more headaches for visitors and ultimately affect your company\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having an SEO (search engine optimization) or SEM (search engine marketing) specialist on your marketing team will greatly benefit your organization and boost your marketing efforts. SEM\/SEO specialists have a deep understanding of the algorithms that structure search engines such as Google and Bing. They utilize that knowledge to boost the searchability, readership and traffic of your organization\u2019s website or digital marketing content. They also partner with your analytics and content team members to provide feedback on which keywords and phrases would boost your engagement, helping guide your content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not enough for your organization to simply have a top-notch digital marketing presence \u2013 someone on your team, such as an SEO or SEM expert, needs to ensure that presence is noticed and acted upon by customers and clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most organizations have profiles on several, if not all social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, to name a few. With seven in every 10 Americans<\/a> active on social media, marketing teams know the importance of meeting their audiences where they are. It\u2019s a simple way to connect with an audience to build your organization\u2019s brand, increase website traffic and boost sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media managers oversee all company social media, including the content strategy, schedule, two-way engagement, and ensuring content is relevant. As the controller of a company\u2019s social media accounts, they also engage with followers, analyze interactions with posts and work closely with the SEO manager in handling social media advertisements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For every piece of marketing content written, created or planned, someone makes it look visually appealing and in line with company branding standards. From products, websites, online advertisements, mobile prototyping, and more, graphic designers provide the aesthetic design to make your company shine. Depending on the type of design required, they often work with tools such as Photoshop<\/a>, Illustrator<\/a>, Premiere Pro<\/a>, InDesign<\/a>, Canva<\/a>, Affinity Designer<\/a>, GIMP<\/a>, Inkscape<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They bring campaigns and other marketing efforts to life, so don\u2019t skip out on hiring a graphic designer for your organization\u2019s marketing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\nData Engineer & Data Scientists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Demand Generation Manager & Marketing Automation Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Content Strategist or Digital Brand Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Content Creators & Copywriters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
UX and UI Designer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SEO or SEM Specialist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Social Media Marketing Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Graphic Designer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n