What is PPC?

PPC is a form of digital advertising used to bring traffic to a website. Advertisers bid for adverts to appear on search engine pages when certain keywords are typed in, on sites with relevant content, or on targeted users’ social media feeds. This makes PPC a form of Biddable Media. Advertisers are only charged when someone actually clicks on their advert, however, hence the name ‘pay-per-click’.

The most common type of PPC is paid search – you’ll have seen PPC ads of this type displayed at the top of Google’s search results page. These ads have no design element to them and are made to look the same as regular Google listings. That said, they can still be distinguished by the word ‘ad’ located next to the site’s URL.

Advertisers must bid to have their ads come up alongside search results and above their competitors. The winners aren’t chosen simply by the amount put forward, however. For paid search, factors like the ad quality score, the landing page and the keywords used are also taken into account.

Other forms of PPC include social media and website display advertising, which work differently from paid search. Instead of targeting individuals based on their searches, they use demographics, such as the age, interests and location to reach their target audience.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation (usually known as SEO), is the process of making sure a website or webpage is primed to reach the top of a search engine results page. In practice, SEO jobs can involve researching relevant keywords, analysing web data, writing optimised copy, and creating traffic and ranking reports.

SEO professionals might work freelance or at a digital marketing agency, optimising websites for a number of different clients, or for a business in-house, dedicating their time to optimising one website. In SEO, you’re likely to work with a variety of analytical software programs in order to track a site’s performance. SEO campaigns increasingly involve outreach to online influencers in order to generate traffic and backlinks.

Salary information and career progression

Opportunity

Digital marketing has been growing in importance over the last couple of years which is why digital marketing specialists are vitally needed in companies and agencies. Unfortunately, hiring managers frequently report that there is not enough talent on the market for all the roles which need to be filled. Thanks to that, digital marketing professionals with the right skill sets have an easy time to land a job as the employment market is not very competitive. Among the most in-demand skills is search marketing, including SEO and PPC.

Popular Industries for Digital Marketing Jobs

Most experts in this field are demanded by digital marketing agencies, which offer services for various digital marketing channels, including search, mobile, display, social, video and website. It is worth mentioning, though, that opportunities exist within all industries, such as automotive, FMCG, leisure, telecommunications and financial services.

Recent changes in the sector

Compared to the past, consumer purchase behaviour has become more complex. It does not happen very often anymore to go into a store and purchase things, especially expensive products. Nowadays consumers rather tend to inform themselves about various product options online by reading a couple of reviews and comparing different brands, then take some time to think about the information and come back at a later point to purchase the product – in most cases, this happens online as well.

Since digital marketing has the task to influence the consumers at all the touch points in their purchase decision, it is crucial that specialists in this field have a basic knowledge of the all the different digital marketing channels – no matter what their specialism is – so that they can combine the channels in an integrated way.

• Salt’s advice for getting a Digital Marketing job

  Employers’ requirements

  An all-round digital marketing talent is expected to discover new online media opportunities, develop integrated content marketing strategies, manage the contact database, use web analytics software and provide regular reports to demonstrate the return on investment of specific digital marketing measures. Furthermore, they are usually expected by their employers to negotiate with media suppliers, create copy for an organisation’s website and manage e-communications.

  CV requirements

  The skillset for digital marketing roles depend strongly on the area of specialism that you work in. There are a couple of core competencies which should not be missed on a digital marketing CV. Typical examples of these core competencies are the capability of managing multiple campaigns at the same time, have the creative talent in order to come up with innovative ideas, attention to detail and the ability to work under high pressure.

  Interview preparation

  The interview formats used for digital marketing roles heavily depend on the company. Most companies will conduct a behavioural interview combined with a case study. The behavioural interview will help them to get to know your personality and ask questions about your previous working experience. Based on the answers to the behavioural questions, the interviewers can then assess if you would be suitable for the role. In the case study part, a digital marketing problem will be presented to the applicants and they have to come up with possible solutions to the problem.

  Educational requirements

  Digital marketing roles are open to all kinds of graduates. However, a degree in digital marketing, marketing, media and communications, advertising, business and journalism is often considered as advantageous. Postgraduate qualifications in digital marketing are also seen as a big bonus by employers, particularly those offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI).