Top Five Careers You Should Consider In The Media Industry
The media industry has often been portrayed as one that’s glitzy and glamorous. For many aspiring media professionals and students taking a communications course, red carpet events, networking, and working with big brand names seem like the dream.
Yet the industry is much more than that. It’s much more versatile than you might imagine, with an almost endless number of roles and jobs to choose from. If you’re looking to work in the media industry as a professional, you can rest assured there’s bound to be something for you. Here are our top five career paths to consider in the media industry.
1. E-commerce
If you haven’t already heard, business is booming for the e-commerce sector. As this emerging trend exists primarily online, it’s no wonder that it’s so closely tied to the media industry. In fact, there are several roles a media professional can play in this growing sector.
For starters, e-commerce brands and companies are always looking to get the edge over their competitors in terms of marketing and reaching new customers. As such, many look for experts in media agencies to help them with digital marketing and to create campaigns for that needed boost. If you’re good at digital marketing and picking up on people’s online shopping habits, this could well be the role you’ll thrive in!
On top of that, artists and animators are always in demand to help create eye-catching digital collaterals for e-commerce sites. For example, ad banners need to be visually creative enough to capture a potential customer’s attention and retain it, while every website needs to be carefully designed to ensure the customer has the best experience possible.
2. Community Engagement
In today’s world saturated with social media, the personal touch is more needed than ever for every kind of business. Whether it’s a shipping or clothing brand, a strong online presence is needed to humanize the company and make it that much more relatable and attractive to customers.
A huge part of making this happen is the community engagement aspect on social media. For businesses, it’s not enough to just have a website or a Facebook page — in fact, it’s best to have someone trained to run it round the clock. This way, they can answer inquiries, look at feedback, and design interactive campaigns for community engagement. The more engagement you have, the more relatable your brand will seem, and the better you will score in terms of efficiency and responsiveness.
This role extends beyond the digital realm as well. A community engagement specialist also has to talk to partners and stakeholders in real life, getting buy-in from important members of the community. They may also help to plan and execute roadshows and other networking events to boost the company’s presence offline. As such, strong interpersonal skills are needed, along with a healthy dose of confidence and socializing skills.
3. Content Creators
That Facebook video you watched this morning? That lifestyle article you read? Chances are, all these were conceptualized, written, and checked by content creators. They’re also known as content specialists or content marketers — and their job is simply to create content.
Not just any content, however. In such a competitive digital world where a thousand things are vying for the consumer’s attention, the best content creators are those that can create shareable, exciting, and attention-grabbing content that achieves the client’s aims and objectives. A firm, working knowledge about what makes people tick and how to best appeal to target audiences is key to be a good content creator. After all, what appeals to teenagers may not be what appeals to working adults, and different approaches are needed to target different groups.
Apart from knowing the target audience, content creators also have to know how the digital realm operates. This means having insightful and applicable knowledge about search engines and how they function. By having this information and creating content accordingly, they can help boost their company’s online presence, traffic, and sales by leaps and bounds. Needless to say, this is certainly a valuable position in the media industry today.
4. Data Analysts
In a world full of creatives and artistic individuals, data analysts are the much-needed logical group of people who help to keep everyone down to earth. They are the brains behind different campaigns and strategies, helping to keep the teams on track.
Not only do they help media teams with campaign work, but a large part of their role is also to help serve consumer insights. They analyze different consumer patterns — everything from how long a viewer looks at an ad, to how many clicks a website has over the course of a day. In essence, they put data on a target audience, so that the content strategists can know best how to engage the specific audience. This can range from things like posting at optimal times to predicting the kinds of giveaway contests customers will engage in. For companies based on subscription patterns, data analysts also help to study subscription patterns so that the best strategies can be implemented.
Another big part of their job is also to help with ad targeting. With lots of testing, market research, and data analytics tools, companies know what kinds of ads work, when, and with whom. The data analysts will get the information from tracking tools, make sense of it, and use it to strategize.
5. Campaign Managers
Similar to content creators, campaign managers also need to have a good working knowledge of the industry and what appeals to consumers. However, their primary role is much broader. Instead of focusing on the content itself per se, they have a higher responsibility for the marketing strategy of an account. This account can be of a product, service, brand, or whole company.
Usually, they are allotted a specific budget which they can then distribute across the different marketing channels. This includes buying ad spaces, hiring designers, and paying for content boosts online. Ultimately, they aim for the maximum possible return in terms of sales for the account.
This is a demanding job and requires the individual to be well-connected to clients, bosses, and employees from different departments. As such, more senior members in a media agency are appointed for this role. If you’ve worked in the media industry for a long time, this could be something to consider. You’ll find that you can use your years of experience and understanding of the market to help plan and strategize campaigns.
All in all, the media industry is full of opportunities and fulfilling careers for all kinds of people from all backgrounds. Whether you’re more creative or analytical in nature, you can be sure you’re in for an exciting and challenging career here.