Wasn't it just yesterday” that marketers would “stuff” loads and loads of keywords into their digital content? Long gone are those days when the roles of “keyword collector” and “links hunter” were so hype! Completely different jobs and roles lie ahead, in the future of digital marketing!
Staying relevant, as a digital marketer, in the context of:
- globalized futuristic technologies
- people being “insatiable” for innovation
… means creating “experiences that people want to consume” (Adam Kleinberg, CEO of Traction)
And even though we don't own some sort of crystal ball that would tell us for sure what the marketing space has in store down the road, this industry, too, has its leaders. And their guesses do weight a lot!
Which experimental digital marketing jobs of the present will make it big in the future to come? Here are 5 of these next-generation roles in digital marketing, the ones that are most likely to turn from "eccentric" to... indispensable in the years to come:
1. Machine-Learning Engineer
How could our algorithmic present world not give rise to a specific job for the future of digital marketing?
Delivering “just” digital content will be hardly enough in the years to come: content blackened-up by machine-learning algorithms and statistics will the be the only “relevant” one in the future!
And here are the skills defining the profile of a machine-learning engineer:
- proficiency in programming
- a working knowledge of ML techniques
- fluent in coding (a hands-on experience coding in Scala or Python)
- statistics (mathematics, physics) expertise
In short: a machine-learning engineer is a kind of 2-in-1, expert statisticians-passionate programmer!
2. Bot Developer
Virtual assistants are part of our day-to-day lives. They join us when we travel and we need to find the best place to eat or we simply get lost; they accompany us on our shopping sprees and the list of interactions can go on...
So, it's pretty obvious that, since people slowly, but surely, grow “dependent” on bots (since they make our lives easier), bot developer roles will be in high-demand in the near future!
Here's what you should check off your list of knowledge, talents and gained expertise:
- preferably an undergraduate degree in computer science
- familiarity with design, linguistics, engineering, ethic and natural language processing
- strong understanding of interactive language arts
- content writing talent
- a solid background in game and interface design
Major tip: now if you want to be two (or three) steps ahead of this portrayed future of digital marketing, opting for a niched domain (and implicitly gaining a niched expertise, too) will “future-proof” your job!
3. Mixed-Reality Designer
Since mixed-reality's at the intersection of art and science, if you're passionate about graphic design and drawn to the emerging tech sector, you're on the right path already!
Besides these two passions of yours (design and emerging technologies), here's what you should consider identifying or adding to your list of competences, talents and acquired knowledge:
- a degree in computer animation or graphic design
- a working knowledge (if not a hands-on experience) of user experience design, social psychology
- proven storytelling skills (telling stories through computer images is a talent/skill you can't afford to ever stop polishing)
- some level of experience working with Unity3D
4. VR Editor
“Constant seekers of the new”, “early adopters of innovative technologies”, “visionaries” and “advocates of the video's power to”:
- persuade
- inform
- inspire
This is how VR editors could be briefly described!
Virtual reality is no longer a “too eccentric, too sci-fi like” type of technology.
It stands all the chances to turn into a technological realty (think Google Cardboard for instance!). So, people “crazy” enough to shape facets of this virtual reality will be constantly needed in the future of digital marketing!
If you're considering such a role, make sure you fit the following profile:
- hands-on experiences with Unity3D and Adobe Creative Cloud
- extensive experience in applying the object-oriented development patterns
- passionate about video arts
- some sort of project management experience
And we feel like stressing out that: besides all the tech competencies that you should pile up on your resume, it's vital to genuinely perceive video as a powerful channel aimed to move, inspire, inform (and all the other above-mentioned “roles”)
5. IoT Marketing Strategist: An Indispensable Role in The Future of Digital Marketing
With a number of 8.4 billion connected devices by the end of 2017, worldwide, some kind of robust strategies for handling these “chit-chatting” devices are needed.
Therefore, the role of IoT marketing strategist will become a both common and indispensable one by 2020.
And here's what an IoT marketing strategist's resume should highlight:
- his/her telecommunication engineering background
- laser-focused skills in radio frequency technology, automobiles, wearables, retail sensors, digital signage
Note: your “vision”, if we may call it so, as a potential IoT marketing strategist, should be one where human-machine interactions happen in the most natural way.
And these are the 5 most promising jobs (now perceived as “experimental”) which leaders in the marketing industry bid on and forecast that will shape the future of digital marketing. What's your opinion on this topic? Will these 5 roles be in high-demand in a few years or rather get replaced, in short time, by the ones emerging from the next wave of innovation?
