If you haven’t read about web marketing before, you might want to reconsider; the industry is booming! With the on-going switch from traditional to digital media platforms in the past few years, this comes as no surprise. However, the web marketing industry is facing an issue: the lack of qualified job candidates.
“Companies all over are having a difficult time recruiting the kind of people they’re looking for,” said Robert Funk, chairman and chief executive of Express Employment Professionals, a national staffing agency. The same is true for Gabriel Shaoolian, chief executive of web design and marketing company Blue Fountain Media, who said he had 10 openings right now because his company simply could not find enough highly qualified people with technical backgrounds.
Even if you aren’t in the marketing field, you’re likely aware that a strong online presence has become a key factor in determining a business’s success in marketing. People and businesses alike are now paying close attention to their social followings, media purchases, online budgets, website stats, and rankings. With the right variables in place, the returns on investment can be outstanding.
How are recent graduates dealing with this demand? Many marketing graduates from both high schools and colleges are facing quite the surprise when they find out exactly what analytical and technical skills are expected from them upon entering the workforce. With marketing progressing so quickly in the digital world, newcomers are expected to be creative and business-minded (a unique balance to begin with), but also to be tech-savvy analysts.
The 2012 SEO Industry Survey confirms this high demand for web marketers clearly. In interviewing web marketers in over 90 countries, the survey revealed that 71% of respondents stated that the demand for SEO marketers was increasing, and 72% of respondents said that demand for social media marketers was increasing.
To cater towards these new demands, Brighton College has launched a new Internet Marketing program that will give students a strong foundation in both the business and technical areas of online marketing; with courses covering topics in SEO, SEM, Social Media, Website Architecture and others, students will become Google Adwords Certified upon graduation, opening doors to plenty of opportunities in the field. A strong feature of the program is the final project component where students design, create, implement and monitor a campaign from scratch using actual monetary budgets to meet project and business goals.
With such growth in this new and exciting industry, a solid educational background in the field is a major asset for new job candidates. For more information on Brighton College’s new Web Marketing program, visit our website.
