Let’s face it: We are a part of a technology-driven world, and the relatively new concept of digital marketing has in a lot of ways exceeded traditional channels. With audiences now looking up to the internet for every question they may come across, it’s obvious to understand why strategic digital marketing can upgrade or derail a business. In fact, with rising reliability on internet marketing, it is being said a company is equivalent to being dead in the water without digital marketing. It has been estimated that by 2023, the global spend on digital marketing is likely to reach $146 billion. Businesses are day after day willing to increase their investment in digital marketing since it works. This necessitates not only the execution of savvy tactics but a wealth of knowledge of what setbacks to avoid ahead of time. However, it is being increasingly realized that not everyone who runs a digital marketing agency or is a digital marketer is cut out for the profession.

When we look around, it seems as though there is a whole range of individuals and ventures claiming to be experts in digital marketing. But not all of them possess core skills or even have roles in digital, nor do they have relevant prior experience. Instead, they have had some growth and luck in marketing themselves or their businesses and are professing to be experts in this area. Not only that, the onset of the pandemic and the unexpected entry of all things virtual due to world-wide lockdown has driven both, the people as well as agencies, to create some kind of webinar series or course around their development, journey, and success in the online world and are selling that to other individuals and businesses.

Digital marketing needs more than just running online campaigns, social media posting, or networking nitty-gritty. Today, having expertise and experience is essential to take one’s business as well as that of others to the next level. Entrepreneurs are expanding globally and crossing new horizons, and in the presence of such high ambitions being carried by individuals and businesses, the need of the hour remains to have the guidance of a smart digital marketer or likewise, a digital marketing agency.

Who Can Be Called An Expert & In What?

Does experience with one company make an individual an expert? If someone has established a small business, engaged their audience online, and driven profit and revenue, does that make them an ace digital marketer? Is there a need for expertise in more than one business, one industry, or one product, or for that matter, some kind of formal education in that subject, in order to begin advising others on what’s correct or incorrect?

Being digital marketers, professionals from the industry like viewing themselves as strategists, thought leaders, and go-to people for any digital-related question. Many of them even believe that their ideas are the ones that shape the digital marketing industry. But, not always. A lot of reports from the past have indicated the bitter truth of how a lot of the world’s marketers

are performing digital marketing activities inaccurately, without a specific strategy or know-how. Never earlier than this has the digital marketing skillset seemed to be so adaptable, especially in the social media era. Of late, individuals have started to build their personal brands and create businesses around these themes in order to be able to sell their “secret sauce” to help others succeed. With access to freely available tools and ease of undertaking tasks such as hosting webinars or conducting courses online, the industry of digital marketing is observing more saturation and duplication than ever before.

But the most important question that arises is, whom to look up to as an expert?

What Makes An Expert?

There’s a correlation between the number of brands/companies an individual has worked with/on by the amount of time during which he or she has gained their experience, which gives a true sign of the ability and skillset. Years of experience is critical as it offers an understanding of how to move forward with the trends, discover what works, experience trial and error, and to hone and optimize. Alongside this, formal education, too, plays a key role in defining an expert.

Just as a normal commerce graduate won’t typically qualify to train or teach students at a top-ranking institute like IIM, individuals and organizations should ensure they figure out the depth of experience prior to giving training or taking inputs from others. We can rationally hope that experienced digital marketers with time in the industry and pool of knowledge as well as experience can charge more for offering to consult as compared to a newer entrant in the market. Not just that, the recipient of such training sessions or mentoring should be able to seek broader knowledge and valuable advice.

Occurrence Of Opportunity

As someone has rightly said, “either find an opportunity or create one”, which also aptly applies to digital who want to differentiate themselves from the less experienced ones in the highly-saturated marketplace. So, how can skilled digital marketing experts make themselves stand out from the rest with narrower experience?

· By building a brand of their own

· Gaining relevant experience

· Identifying their audience, and

· Upskilling and reskilling

Takeaway

Digital marketing is an ever-changing industry. Thus, whether it is the digital marketer or a digital marketing agency, the professionals are expected and should ideally be adaptive to the new digital media trends. One of the most important parameters when hiring a digital marketing expert is to onboard an individual or a company that can keep up with changes and grows at the same time. While being adaptable is essential, but it is equally important to be able to implement changes to the business too. This quote holds true for a reason, “creativity is a trait and a person is born with it, it cannot be cultivated overnight!”