digital marketers: specialists and generalists

Digital Marketers: Specialists & Generalists Ofentse (Rapakgadi) Olunloyo

“Take a risk and keep testing, because

what works today [might not] work

tomorrow, but what worked yesterday

[might] work again.”

Amrita Sahasrabudhe

Complex &

Constant Change

Amrita hit the nail on the head there - digital

marketing is synonymous with complexity and

constant change. It is complex enough to keep

you on your toes and changes often enough to

keep you preoccupied with the latest updates

head to toe.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Rant alert:

I might be stepping on a few toes but I

think that digital marketing is NOT for

everyone. Let’s just say, not everyone who

is in the field is a professional. There are

simply too many impostors in the field but

that’s another article for another day.

Rant over!

ProfessionalsDigital marketing professionals come in

different forms and they are multi-

skilled all-rounders with a burning

passion for digital marketing. For the

sake of simplicity, let’s assume that

there are two categories of digital

marketing professionals.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Specialists vs. Generalists

The first category of professionals is

happy to specialise further into areas

such as search engine optimisation,

social media, paid search and content

management. Let’s call them the

specialists.

The second category of professionals

is the opposite of the specialists. Let’s

call them the generalists.

DIGITAL MARKETING

DIGITAL MARKETINGGENERALISTS

This article is about the

characteristics of the latter. So,

what makes these generalists

so special? let's find out:

The ability to juggle & connect

the dots

Most generalists have their hands full with

campaigns, analytics and/or reports for

search engine, social media, email and

content marketing. Their ability to multitask

makes them masters of juggling and

connecting the dots between search, social,

email, content etc. They will gladly connect

the dots between the cost per lead of that

Facebook lead generation campaign and

the spike in web traffic.

#1

The passion to learn & keep up to

date

#2Problem solving, troubleshooting, figuring

out new things and the ability to break and

fix things; these are important skills for

succeeding as generalist. Most generalists

like to be the first to learn about and try out

the latest updates, be it LinkedIn’s redesign

or WhatsApp’s new snap feature. They are

passionate about keeping up to date with

the latest trends, updates and more.

The passion to learn & keep up to

date

#2In this case, suffering from FOMO (fear of

missing out) keeps them on top of their

game. Generalists are also big on sharing

what they know and always have a

professional opinion.

Whether it is getting Google certification, taking a

course on Udemy or attending the IAB Digital Summit,

the cream of the crop of generalists take it up a notch

by putting their money and/or time where their

mouths are. They are highly driven top performers

and have a strong desire to know what’s happening in

the industry and identify or set trends. Their craft is

personal to them, that’s why they actively seek

opportunities for self-improvement by themselves,

for themselves.

DIGITAL MARKETING

EXTRAORDINAIRES

Adaptability & flexibility to change

#3We’ve already established that constant

change is the name of the digital marketing

game. This goes without saying, generalists

need to be flexible and adaptable to

change whether they like it or not. Like

Amrita Sahasrabudhe said "what works

today [might not] work tomorrow, but what

worked yesterday [might] work again".

Research and testing [or trial and error if

you will], take up a big chunk of generalist’s

time. That brings us to the fourth and final

point, generalists are analytical and creative

thinkers.

Analytically & creative thinking

#4Digital marketing is both an art-form and a

science, which is why generalists need a

balanced mix of analytical and creative

skills. They need to be able to tell stories

through creating creative copy, images,

videos etc. and be able to analyse metrics

objectively [in the same breath].

In digital marketing, numbers always tell a story and a

specialist or generalist should be happy to tell the story, be

it good or bad.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions

www.linkedin.com/in/ofentseolunloyo

www.olunloyo.com/ofentse

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