An Interview With – Amarjeet Sharma, Digital Chief Marketing Officer, CareerGuide.Com

 Amarjeet Sharma would like to introduce himself as a person who is interested to explore the abyss called Digital Marketing. Presently leading CareerGuide.com as their Digital CMO, gearing to make CareerGuide a synonym for everything related to career. Has been into core digital marketing for about 11 years now, so amongst the 1^st breed of Digital Marketers in India, who used to search Google in Yahoo search J. Over the years, has worked with many agencies and brands and been part of the digital movement in India.

How did you get into Digital Marketing? What interested you in learning Digital Marketing?

Amarjeet: Started as a Web developer and designer working for a US captive company but got a mentor who showed me what’s the potential of this field some 13 years back when it was not even called digital marketing. And marketing came easy to me, didn’t knew why until I joined CareerGuide.com and took their psychometric test, which clearly showed my interest and aptitude are at peak for Marketing and management. I guess it was by luck I landed in a place I loved but would recommend every aspirant to take a psychometric test to find their true calling.

According to you, what are the advantages of conventional marketing over Digital Marketing? Do you think that Digital Marketing is a threat to the future of conventional marketing?

Amarjeet: 

• Conventional Marketing or Digital Marketing has always been a debate and both type of marketers have provided their own views on which one is superior to the other. Although I am a digital marketer but I would say both have their own merits and demerit. Conventional marketing are age old proven techniques that have worked wonders but digital marketing has a more cost effective solution with wider reach. Conventional routes are there for longer period and people easily understands the techniques but younger generations are more tuned to the digital medium. Conventional methods are great for localization but digital can be dynamic and more personalized and so on.
• I believe that in the coming years digital marketing is going to overshadow the spend on conventional marketing as the young and upcoming generation are digitally active and its easier to reach them there, cost effectively and with more personalization. Moreover the ability to track and measure the effectiveness with smaller spends make marketers more effective.

According to you, what are the top 3 mistakes committed by organizations today in leveraging Digital Marketing?

Amarjeet: 

• Unrealistic Expectation: Expecting magic from the day one can cause frustration in man. Nothing happen overnight, even if you are going through paid route, you shall be able to hit your sweet spot after much experimentations and reiterations, which can take time.
• Information Overload: There are so many mediums to reach your targeted audience that you tend to lose track if not properly planned and tracked. Losing a lot of money is very easy in Digital Marketing.
• Taking it easy: The basics of Digital marketing is easy to understand. Anybody can grasp the fundamentals by reading a few blogs and think they have mastered the art. But end up burning their fingers trying to save a few bucks by not employing a seasoned expert. Let the professionals handle it, business owners devote their time in what they do best.

Between Agency and In-house, which approach would you recommend for maximum value of Digital Marketing? Why?

Amarjeet: A mix of both if you can afford it, an inhouse expert to look into the working of the agency. But if you can’t start with a performance linked plan from an agency as Digital marketing is a very wide field and it becomes difficult for a small team or individual.

Which are your 3 favorite Digital Marketing Tools?

Amarjeet: 

1. ScreamingFrogSEO Spider
2. SEMRush
3. Hubspot

Why do you think it’s important for entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and students to learn Digital Marketing today?

Amarjeet: 

• For Entrepreneurs: A learned entrepreneur shall be able to understand what actually lies beneath the labyrinth called digital marketing and can make informed decisions.
• For Professionals: Professionals should always believe in enhancing and refreshing their skill set and explore newer avenues.
• For Students: World is going digital and if you are not learning how to market to the digital world, you are simply a dinosaur.

What are the top 3-5 skills you look for when hiring a candidate for Digital Marketing profile?

Amarjeet: 

• Understanding of fundamentals.
• Ability to adapt.
• Communication Skills.

What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at building a career in Digital Marketing industry?

Amarjeet: 

Focus on fundamentals, experiment, experiment and experiment. Your key to learning is by making mistakes and taking lessons from it. But don’t defend your mistakes, accept it to take learnings out of it.

How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? Which are the Digital Marketing resources (i.e. blogs/websites/apps) you visit regularly?

Amarjeet: 

• Searchengineland
• Searchenginejournal
• Moz
• Webmaster Central
• PPC Hero

Share the names of 3 people you respect when it comes to Digital Marketing.

Amarjeet: 

• Rand Fishkin
• Danny Sullivan
• Brian Halligan

How do you see Digital Media evolving in future? What are the top 3 trends do you foresee for 2016?

Amarjeet: 

• Mobile will dominate
• More Personalized Marketing
• Emergence of Virtual Reality

Would you like to share few words about the work we are doing at Digital Vidya?

Amarjeet: 

Kudos to you guys for bringing some order to the chaos. Over the years I have lead many digital marketing brands and agencies. But, my biggest challenge was finding talent which have strong fundamentals. Hope your courses can help develop the right skillset.

But I would also like to add please do focus on the communication skills of students as it can become a make or break factor with all things equal.

Are you inspired by the opportunity of Digital Marketing? Start your journey by attending our upcoming orientation session on Digital Marketing for Career & Business Growth. It’s online and Free :).