How to Get a Leg Up on the Competition in Digital Media

3/12/2019

by Devin Morrissey, Guest Contributor

Digital media has impacted just about every industry and brand out there. When you use a computer or mobile device, stream media, or share a post on social media, you're using digital media. Any business that has a mobile app, live chat on their website, a Pinterest account, etc. is utilizing digital media. In order to compete, companies need experts and creative thinkers who are adept at digital media. Whether you're looking for a job in the industry or you're a digital media company that needs to stand out, you'll need to present certain skills.

Varied Skill Sets
For most companies, digital media isn't just one thing — it's not just a blog or just a Twitter account. Most brands have a few different offerings. They may have a website and a complementary mobile app, plus a drip email campaign and a presence on a few social media platforms. Here are two different ways to ensure every aspect of your digital media is handled professionally:

Hire individuals who have varied skill sets, such as understanding the creation of eye-catching graphics, including proficiency with standard software in the industry like the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. There is some potential for skill crossover; sometimes a content writer can also be a social media marketer, or a graphic designer can have experience developing apps.
Hire an individual or a small team with advanced expertise. If you can't seem to find people who have enough of a background in every area needed, look for people who are highly talented in one area. You may need a bigger team, but everyone on it will be an expert in their field.

If you're trying to get a job in digital media, you may notice that there are certain skill sets that are required that you don't have yet. This is a good opportunity to round out what you offer employers by going back to school part-time or taking certification courses. Even if you haven’t taken the GMAT or GRE, you can still qualify for programs to earn your MBA.

Create a Digital Portfolio
While the type of portfolio will differ, digital portfolios for both job hunters and businesses are incredibly important — it could even be the one thing that helps you land the job or close the client. Here are a few tips for creating a digital portfolio:

Show off different aspects of your experience. If you've worked on campaigns for a variety of industries, show the breadth of your expertise. If you've developed work for many platforms — WordPress websites, Facebook ads, MailChimp newsletters — present a variety.
Keep it fresh. Your portfolio should reflect your best work and your latest work. If you have a sample from a few years ago that's still relevant, that's fine, but you always want to show that you've done great work recently too.
If you're a recent grad or a new business and you don't have a lot of samples yet, create mockups. This shows people what you're capable of. Just be upfront about the fact that they’re mockups instead of examples of actual work.

No matter whose interest you’re trying to capture, a visual portfolio that can be easily accessed online is the best way to show off your work and give people an idea of what you can do for them.

Understand the "Why" Behind Everything You Do
Whether you're interviewing for a job or talking to a potential client, you have to know the reasons behind what you're doing with digital media. Here are some questions you might ask yourself, as well as examples of possible reasons for your decisions:

Why are you being hired to write great blog posts? To give the company's audience relevant, valuable information in order to build trust.
Why is part of the job monitoring the company's Twitter feed? That's where they provide customer service support and they want to troubleshoot issues within one hour.
Why does your company develop newsletter campaigns to send to clients? You've discovered through analytics that newsletters have the highest engagement rate and you feel it's a powerful tool to connect with your audience.
Why do you develop Instagram marketing campaigns for your clients’ businesses? The industries that you work with have a young audience that uses Instagram more than other social platforms.

Saying that you write blog posts because every business produces content or that you set clients up with Instagram because it's a major social platform isn't enough. You need to show that you have deeper, relevant reasons for what you do — this is the only way to encourage trust in your next potential boss or customer.

Final Thoughts
When it comes to digital media for business, the possibilities are endless. Digital media is used in traditional companies, like banks and schools; in the entertainment field, including film, gaming and music; in B2B companies, like PR firms and data providers; and the list goes on and on. It carries such a heavy and important weight in the online world that some companies even opt for specific insurance to cover it. If a business has any type of digital presence at all, even if it's just a website, they have their hands in digital media. In order to be a part of the digital media landscape, the company will need to find ways to differentiate itself.

Author bio:

Devin prides himself on being a jack of all trades; his career trajectory is more a zigzag than an obvious trend, just the way he likes it. He pops up across the Pacific Northwest, though never in one place for long. You can follow him more reliably on Twitter.

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