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Digital Way Finder: Working In Digital Recap

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On April 27th, devoted Twin Cities professionals flocked into our office space, to escape the typical Minnesota spring freeze, the road construction, and to hear from our expert panelists about all things digital! Since not everyone could be with us to soak up the helpful tips and tricks on working in digital, we thought we’d provide a brief recap of the discussions that took place.

The digital greats – introducing the panel

After our stomachs were reasonably full with delicious food and we’d flexed our networking muscles, our Senior Client Strategist and moderator Jon Lenz, introduced our panelists for the evening. Each of our panelist represents a facet of the vast world of digital, and through an Q&A format, were able to use their expertise to help define what digital means, where it’s going, and how we as professionals can take it by the reins.

working-in-digital-panel

The ever-growing dominance of digital

As panelist Chris Prokopanko of Cargill put it, digital is starting to encompass truly everything – especially as digital transformation is sweeping through different industries that previously didn’t rely upon it for growth. But regardless of your role or career in the future, you have to have a digital skill set. It’s not just a ‘nice to have’ anymore, it’s a ‘need to have’.

Panelist Lynne Leaf of Merrill Corporation stated that on a corporate side, they’re still playing catch up, and starting to require digital marketing representation on every team in the company. Educating our coworkers on the importance of digital strategy and skills is the first step in matching progress with digital in the product sphere with that of progress in digital marketing.

Generalist vs. specialist – the ideal skill set

An ongoing debate that never seems to have a clear answer:

Chris put the question into perspective with a great analogy – it’s a matter of I’s & T’s.

  • I’s are straight and narrow people who are very deep in one area of digital – they’re entrenched in the tiny kinks and details of a specific facet of digital and have the answers to the tough questions.
  • T’s are people who branch out and have their fingers in all of the pies – they have knowledge of how things work (think SEO, marketing automation, social, etc) and are versatile, but might need to rely upon specialists to really tackle a complex issue.

Perhaps this was just a lead up to a great joke about working in IT (get it? I’s and T’s?), but for people looking to further their careers, it’s important to know what companies are looking for in the talent pool. Erica Hanna of Puke Rainbows pointed out that when there is a large budget for a project, she brings in specialists because there are more resources to devote to digging into new and exciting techniques. When there’s less money for a project, generalists are brought in because they know how to get the job done and hit every benchmark. Panelist John Arnold of Celarity tackled the question from his perspective as a recruiter: if you want to move up in a company, you need to be able to jump around and fulfill different types of roles – this is why being a generalist is ideal. However, if independent or freelancing work is more your speed, being a specialist and having a deep knowledge in area might be the key to success.

“Don’t dismiss people’s experience because they’re not in an a department that has leverage. Don’t kill someone’s ideas because of the barriers that separate your role from the marketing decision makers.” – Chris Prokopanko

On the topic of the ideal digital tool belt, or skill set, John pointed out that analytics skills are the most in demand. Certifications like Google Analytics and Adwords are the most requested by companies- they’re the easiest to get and are becoming a standard in the industry. Don’t have those certifications? Don’t fret – he and a few of the other panelists all agreed one thing: If someone’s smart enough, you can teach them anything. Chris said, “If people have the right personality and the right amount of drive, I will teach them. Those two aspects make them more appealing to me from a hiring perspective. It’s harder to teach someone to have personality than it is to teach someone a new skill.”

Being a partner vs. selecting a partner

Lynne said something during this section that I thought was particularly prevalent:

“When I look for a partner, they need to listen, they need to understand our business, and they need to understand the company dynamics. It’s hard, but we need someone with the bandwidth to take on the projects that we can’t devote internal resources to – we can’t always be on top of SEO. We need someone externally to get digital value. Partners need to scale with us as our company scales. Always under promise and over deliver.” – Lynne Leaf

Panelist Erica Hanna of Puke Rainbows presented thoughts on the opposite side of the partnership. Check out this video on the three things Erica looks for when choosing to partner with a client.

Conclusion

We are so grateful to the attendees and panelists who took the time to connect and share their experiences. If you weren’t able to attend this Digital Way Finder, don’t be too sad; there’s a way to stay up-to-date on all things Spyder Trap! Sign up for our monthly newsletter for updates on events, blog posts, and career information.

https://twitter.com/meeterica/status/857737759750053890

The post Digital Way Finder: Working In Digital Recap appeared first on Spyder Trap Digital Marketing Blog.


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