My experience in working as a digital marketer and opinions about career prospects of digital marketers

1. WORKING IN DIGITAL
MARKETING
Career prospects for Digital Marketers

2. AGENDA
• Why Digital Marketing?
• Starting your digital marketing career
• Career tips for digital marketers
• Future career prospects for digital marketers

3. SPEAKER PROFILE
Christopher How
• Started his digital marketing career in 2006
• Worked in numerous global corporations to manage their
digital marketing strategies across the region
• Currently working in Philips Lighting as Senior Digital
Marketing Manager, ASEAN Pacific

4. WHAT OTHERS SAY
Sara Miller
Marketing Specialist at D2L
Chris is a very insightful Digital Marketing Manager. He is very technically capable and is always willing and
able to help me with my questions and very supportive of the wider team on a regional and global level.
He's very knowledgeable on an extensive variety of digital platforms and conducts thorough research to
ensure it's the best option for us. Our marketing team continues to see great results when Chris is involved
in our projects. I will always turn to Chris for his insight and support. A pleasure to work with and a valued
colleague.
Stephen O'Brien
Senior Digital Specialist
Chris was part of my global team in launching BlackBerry 10, playing a key role in driving APAC marketing
programs and championing digital among senior management in the region. I would happily work with him
again.
Jason Stone
EMEA Digital Marketing and Global Social Media Lead at Willis Towers Watson
I have worked with Chris the last couple of years and always found him to be enthusiastic and happy to help
with all things digital. Technically very good, he has been very helpful on global conference calls and sharing
best practice. We'll miss him at Jones Lang LaSalle!

5. WHY DIGITAL MARKETING?
My story
• Grew up watching my dad repair computers for
a living
• First encounter with the Internet during primary
school 6
• Created my first website at the age of 14
• Decided not to pursue the family business and
venture into programming in Polytechnic
• Decided to focus on digital marketing in 3rd year
of diploma studies

6. STARTING YOUR
DIGITAL MARKETING
CAREERWhat kind of companies should I apply
Multinational
corporation?
Small
enterprise?
Agency?

7. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION
• Why?
• Glitz and glamour of working in a well-known company
• Exposure in running regional and global digital marketing activities
• Large budget to spend on digital marketing activities
• Why not?
• Limited to the company’s target audience
• Marketing activities need to make a big impact to stand out from the rest

8. SMALL ENTERPRISE
• Why?
• Makes you think ‘out of the box’ to implement marketing activities
• More focus on Singapore-centric digital marketing activities
• Small improvements in marketing activities are noticed
• Why not?
• Limited to the company’s target audience
• Limited budget to spend on digital marketing audience

9. AGENCY
• Why?
• Opportunity to implement a wider variety of digital marketing activities for different clients
• Able to work on projects targeting different target audiences
• Moderate budget to spend on digital marketing activities
• Why not?
• Revenue-driven approach in pitching digital marketing activities
• Long hours of work and 24/7 on standby for clients
• More paperwork and reporting to do for clients

10. WHAT IF NOBODY HIRES ME?
Create personal projects to build
your digital marketing experience
• Built OurMall.sg, an online
shopping directory from scratch
• Drove huge number of traffic to
website using user generated
content
• Made money through Google
Adsense and affiliated marketing

11. CAREER TIPS FOR DIGITAL
MARKETERS
• Metrics is king – ANALYTICS is everything
• Know everything and specialize in some
• Be eager to learn
• Stay updated and relevant
• Network with talented people
• Build your personal brand
• Certification in industry recognized courses
• Run your own personal projects

12. BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
• Create your own blog and
write about digital
marketing
• Build your social media
presence
• Share and interact with
other digital marketers

13. CERTIFICATION IN INDUSTRY
RECOGNIZED COURSES

14. RUN YOUR OWN PERSONAL
PROJECTS
Created a gold investment blog to
test content marketing through
blogs in 2007
• High traffic generated from
keywords related to gold
investment
• Made money through sponsored
posts
• Interviewed by 2 publications as
a thought leader among other
investment gurus

15. FUTURE CAREER
PROSPECTS FOR DIGITAL
MARKETERS
1. Companies are willing to pay for
digital marketers
2. Digital marketing expertise is still
highly sought after
3. Digital marketers continue to evolve
with technology advancements
4. Chief Digital Officer: C-level roles
created for digital marketers
5. Convergence in roles: Digital
marketers are headhunted to be head
marketing teams

16. WHAT IS YOUR ORIGIN STORY?

17. THANK YOU
To find out more about my thoughts on digital marketing career prospects and a copy
of this presentation, please visit:
http://www.askchrishow.com/digital-marketing-career/