Digital Project Management:
The nature of front office projects compare to traditional IT projects is one that generally involves a more co-operative project.
Not only do you need developers and testers but you might need artists, user experience and web analysts or more.
As a result THE key skill of a digital PM is the ability to be a strong scrum master who knows how to be a gatekeeper not just a facilitator.
Digital Strategist: There is still a lot of pushback from companies regarding embarking on digital campaigns and most of this derives from a lack of understandable direction. The front office loves quantifiable measures (If I call 100 people I will get 10 meetings and 2 sales) and the digital universe isn’t setup to be conducive to quantifying results. That is where the digital strategist comes in. They are the purveyor of all things actionable and can translate what a business needs into a measurable digital strategy.
Part 2 of our series
Let’s continue on with the newest instalment in looking at digital positions. The Digital Revolution is upon us. As organizations start to build out their front office technology teams there are many different skills and positions that are needed.
Let’s keep the list the same for now:
To recap; If you want to be part of a winning front-office digital team you need to always keep in mind the purpose of your position; to drive sales, full stop.
This week we look at the Digital Strategist, CRM Implementers, Web Programmers and Search Engine Marketers (SEM).
Digital Strategist: There is still a lot of pushback from companies regarding embarking on digital campaigns and most of this derives from a lack of understandable direction. The front office loves quantifiable measures (If I call 100 people I will get 10 meetings and 2 sales) and the digital universe isn’t setup to be conducive to quantifying results. That is where the digital strategist comes in. They are the purveyor of all things actionable and can translate what a business needs into a measurable digital strategy.
Full Stack Web Programmers: Let’s face it when we are talking digital we are really talking about the bells and whistles of the internet. Without the net, none of this fun stuff happens. And when it comes to the internet, web programmers are king. Whether it’s Java, HTML, .net or any of the other online languages the key skill companies are looking for right now is scalability. Internet traffic has increased exponentially over the last few years and as a result there is a pressing need for applications that can handle the scale of new traffic.
Search Engine Marketers: Paid per click advertising is not a new concept but with data scientists understanding consumer needs better than ever, targeted ads are of high importance in many front offices. Unlike an organic search, SEM relies on buying ad space for targeted users and search strings. A strong understanding of search engine optimization, cost-benefit analysis and Analytics are all musts for this role. The ability to design and code using the front end technologies also helps in building landing pages.
CRM Implementers: CRM’s (customer relationship management) are all the rage in front offices today. A customized or big name CRM that allows a company to communicate directly with their clients in an online, safe and trackable environment has obvious appeal. The key skillset for a role like this is in understanding all the different needs of the front office; for example, the marketing department wants modules that are vastly different from the sales department. A thorough understanding of the big names like Salesforce as well as the flexibility of COTS (custom off shelf) is a must.
That’s it for part 2, we will take a look at a few more positions in coming weeks. Remember if your position reports to the CMO, CDO or VP of Sales, the value you provide to an organization is in someway related to increasing sales and revenue!
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Andrew is one of the newest members of Planet4IT, but he brings with him a fresh new perspective.
With one eye on the job market and the other on the IT world, he’s the man to go to for information on how the latest advancements in Data, Digital Marketing and Social Media are affecting business.
Andrew encourages you to reach out to him through not only telephone or email, but LinkedIn and Twitter as well
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