Pradeep Chopra (Co-Founder, Digital Vidya): To create successful digital marketing campaigns for themselves, their clients, or their employers, digital marketers mix their specialized understanding of online marketing strategies with their creative abilities.
A job in digital marketing can be a fantastic fit for you if you’re creative, passionate, and eager to perform the work that matters.
Shubham Dev, now a Marketing Data Analyst by profession, took the opportunity and ventured into the world of digital marketing with Digital Vidya.
He joined Digital Vidya’s flagship Certified Digital Marketing Master (CDMM) program in the pre-covid era and has been taking huge leaps in building an amazing career.
Highly skilled in ROI-driven Paid Media Advertising, Advanced eComm Google Analytics, Tracking Implementation, Google Tag Manager, Social Media Marketing, Online Reputation Management, Marketing Automation, etc, Shubham was awarded “the Best Performer of the year 2018-19” in CHLEAR Agency.
We sat with the experienced Web & Digital Consultant with over a decade of experience in Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Analytics & Client Services and took his view on the digital marketing industry.
Please brief us about your professional background including the importance of Digital Marketing in your current profile.
Shubham: I’m Shubham, currently working in Publicis Groupe which is one of the big 5 Advertising agencies globally or better known as the Big Whales of Advertising.
I’m working as a Senior Marketing Data Analyst within Publicis Sapient which is the IT wing of Publicis Groupe and my work prominently revolves around Digital Marketing, Web Analytics, and Marketing Strategy. I’ve done my MBA in Marketing and currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Marketing.
Which course of Digital Vidya did you participate in? How did it help you acquire new skills related to digital marketing?
Shubham: I enrolled myself in the CDMM program from Digital Vidya in the year 2017 and I was keen on learning all the modules which form a part of the Digital Marketing course.
Apart from attending the session life, I used to go through the recordings from other trainers too on the same module and then implement the teachings practically which made me well-versed with the concepts and acquire hands-on skills.
Why did you choose Digital Vidya’s course?
Shubham: Since I attended Digital Vidya’s CDMM program in the pre-COVID era and it was again online, it gave me the flexibility to attend the session, being a full-time working professional, and go through the recordings in case I missed it which otherwise wasn’t possible with the offline classroom-based program.
However, I understand the importance of attending the offline classroom-based training program, and in the initial phase even I was inclined towards an offline classroom-based program but Digital Vidya’s team changed my perspective and helped me understand the importance of online classes with the flexibility of attending multiple session from different trainers and repeating the same modules again at your time and convenience from the comfort of your home along with lifetime free access to latest module recordings to keep yourself updated.
How has the course contributed to your career growth including new job opportunities?
Shubham: This course along with the certificate from Digital Vidya, vSkills, and the other Google, Facebook, Linkedin, and HubSpot free certifications helped me build a robust CV and cover letter as a fresher in the field of Digital Marketing and grab offer letters from some of the prominent startup digital marketing and advertising agencies when I had started off and the lifetime free access to the latest module recordings helped me keep myself updated with the new updates within the industry and platforms.
Why do you think it’s important to learn Digital Marketing today?
Shubham: Although Digital Marketing (or) Internet Marketing started to gain pace somewhere around 2009-2010 in India it was still relevant and booming when I joined the course 7 years later.
Today, after 5 years it is still in a growing and maturing stage where you could find openings for Digital Marketing roles in some of the most prestigious and renowned IT companies and banks globally which wasn’t the case 5 years back.
Share about the benefits you can foresee about building a career in the Digital Marketing industry.
Shubham: This is the most common question I get asked often and let me tell you that the best part of Digital Marketing is that even if you’re NOT from a non-tech background, you can still build a career and excel in your career.
You can switch from any other previous role or background and it’s not highly complicated as learning Rocket Science or Data Science. And as mentioned earlier, there are ample job opportunities available in almost all types of industries and banks and even if you’re a business owner it helps you scale and understands your business and marketing efforts.
How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? Which Digital Marketing resources (i.e. blogs/websites/apps) do you visit regularly?
Shubham: Digital Marketing is ever-evolving and dynamic. Almost every other day you’ll hear about a new feature being released on some platform or a new Google update that might be released.
Although there are a great number of blogs available which provide high-quality content I prefer to read Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, Social Media Examiner, and E4M to stay updated.
Which are your favorite 3 digital media channels (e.g. Twitter, Google, etc) and why?
Shubham: As a Marketer, I feel Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat (also TikTok – outside India) are the top platform which has great potential to grow with the young generations flocking over it and capturing a major market share.
Which are your 3 favorite Digital Marketing Tools?
Shubham: Keytool.io, Keyword Planner, Facebook Ads Insights.
Share the names of 3 people you respect when it comes to Digital Marketing.
Shubham: There are a lot of popular authors and booming content creators who produce great quality content and whom I follow, the top 3 would be Neil Patel, Avinash Kaushik, Brian Dean, etc. and you can follow them on LinkedIn to stay updated, and build your presence too!
What is your advice to newbies who want to build a career in Digital Marketing?
Shubham: If you’re sure and decided to build a career in Digital Marketing and want to succeed as a newbie, the most important factor would be dedication and persistence in terms of time and effort for learning and implementing it practically.
And if you do it right, although you might have to take a hit in terms of pay scale since you’ll be a fresher but instead of taking it as a setback, I’d suggest you take it as an investment which would fetch you much larger returns in the coming years and the same was my case when I started off.
What are the challenges a person is likely to face when s/he enters the Digital Marketing industry? How can s/he overcome those?
Shubham: As I mentioned above, my dedication to continuing while working a full-time job to complete the full course motivated me to keep going while learning and implementing the teachings practically instead of just theoretically.
And the way to overcome it is to set your goal and career if you’re sure of Digital Marketing and then follow the popular authors and content creators and implement what they share slowly to start an income stream, however small it may seem at the moment.
For someone who’s looking at a full-time or part-time job or an internship in Digital Marketing, what approach would you advise?
Shubham: I would suggest first starting off by dedicating yourself to learning (revising, going through recording, multiple trainers, etc.) and then implementing the teachings yourself and trying to work on real-time projects.
Only after the course completion, try to appear for the free certifications/exams by preparing using mock/practice tests and only then appear for the final or paid exams that would add to your CV while giving an interview for internship/part/full time.
And regardless of how many companies you’ve worked for or how many years of experience you have, make a SINGLE-page Resume with the right keywords since it helps you get picked up for the first HR phone call.
Digital media especially Social media channels such as Facebook can eat up a lot of your productive time if not used wisely. Do you agree? What can one do to efficiently leverage these channels for personal growth?
Shubham: As a Marketer, all these social platforms are great to use and people often forget that we also form a part of the platform’s user base. And it becomes really important to differentiate yourself as a user and a marketer.
What I personally recommend and do as well is, while working I don’t use them for personal use and only in my free time, I dedicate a certain time for personal usage. Remember, these platforms are made for us, we are not made for them.
In my view, as humans the most valuable thing is ‘your time’ and ‘health’ and more important than money since money can be earned back but not the other two – so use it wisely.
If you were given a chance to rebuild your career, what changes you would have made to have even better growth and fulfillment?
Shubham: I was fortunate enough to realize my passion and a keen interest in Digital Marketing early in my career, however, as they say, it’s never too late – better late, than never to find your passion in life. Apart from a delayed start in digital marketing, there is nothing more I would change, I’m in the best place of my career right now!
How do you see Digital Media evolving in the future?
Shubham: Digital Media or Digital Marketing is at its peak right now, with the whole COVID pandemic, the old and traditional marketers are compelled to rely upon Digital Marketing than traditional marketing and there is no turning back with the biggest advantage of measurement and insights on ROI to a great extent compared to the traditional media channels which otherwise wasn’t possible.
Would you like to share a few words about the work we are doing at Digital Vidya in educating others about Digital Marketing?
Shubham: Digital Vidya is a pioneer in the Digital Marketing field since 2009 and is one of the best institutes not only in India but globally. And with the onboarding of the Delhi School of Internet Marketing (DSIM), it has made itself more robust in terms of presence and more specialized knowledge.
Apart from the CDMM, Digital Vidya also invites industry experts in the form of webinars and also organizes specialized industry-specific modules like Affiliate Marketing, Shopify Marketing, Adobe Analytics, etc. which is an add-on for the students along with lifetime free access to the latest module recordings to keep yourself updated.
Are you inspired by the opportunity of Digital Marketing? Start your journey by attending our online Digital Marketing Foundation Masterclass worth Rs 1999 FREE :).
