I can’t decide if is an upside or a downside, but one aspect of working in Digital is you are always studying. The very nature of working in digital requires you pay close attention to emerging trends, new technical developments and so forth. But there is a whole raft of other disciplines you must be conversant in to be a successful Digital advocate. And all this takes time, and endless enthusiasm.
If you want to be in front of the client you need to be able to speak with authority on UI design, IA design, back end, software, hardware, brand management, quoting and billing, margins and ROI, social media and ecommerce, video and audio, the 100 new applications that Google bring out every week and God knows what else. The list goes on and on. The one thing you don’t want to be doing is promising stuff you can’t deliver, so from that perspective you need to know at least what you can and can’t offer.
I think to be successful in Digital Advertising space you need to have the right attitude, and that attitude is “I’ll give it a go”. Clients asking questions for something is one thing, but then there are your colleagues who are in need of help with the transition to Digital as well. When a work mate asks you for something they are usually asking because they assume you are an expert in that area, or that your area is the closest fit to whatever category the question falls into. This can become quite tiresome, but at the end of the day, somebody has to learn the new stuff, and it is most likely going to be you. Often it comes down to the fact that you are the only one who can be bothered making the effort to learn whatever the new technology or problem is , but so be it. That’s your lot in life now – you are the person who learns new stuff. Eat it up!
I didn’t study anywhere near this hard when i was at university or design and arts college, and anyone who’s seen my grades would hardly be surprised by that fact (bizarrely I also had a lot more disposable income but that is another matter). But the point I am making is that aside from working your day job, racking up the billable hours that go towards paying your wages, you also lead a double life as an eternal student that not many people appreciate. And what’s more the course you are studying is ridiculously broad. How can you possibly stay on top of all this?
If you are anything like me the amount of information you have coming in through channels such as, RSS feeds, twitter, countless eNewsletters etc is mind-boggling. But believe me, once you’ve been looking at this information pouring in for a while you actually become quite good an skimming through all this data, snacking on mildly interesting information, and not committing to gorging until you are fairly sure that it is something you really need to know. You do have to make a commitment to keeping up with new information however. The Digital and Digital Advertising landscape over the next couple of years will move incredibly fast and those who are not in a situation to move with it will be left in the cold.
The crux of all this is that to exist in the Digital Advertising space is you need to talk with authority and to do that you need to know what you can and can’t promise. Because let’s face it, despite the magnificent growth that Digital has experienced and continues to experience, and the general mainstream acceptance of Digital as a crucial brand and service delivery mechanism(s), there is still a lot of doubt and ignorance about what we actually do. And it is up to us to be there waving the flag with informed, insightful and reassuring information. Good luck with your studies. If you find anything useful can you please maybe tweet it for the rest of us?
