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Newsday
In today's digital environment, marketing professionals face a complex and demanding environment that requires them to master a variety of skills across multiple disciplines.
These T-shaped marketers, as they're known, are expected to have a broad understanding of many digital marketing elements, while also having deep knowledge of one to three specific areas. These elements include digital strategy, content marketing, social media management, e-commerce, email marketing, paid traffic acquisition, optimization and testing, data analytics, search marketing, copywriting, and community management.
This diverse skillset will enable marketers to adapt to rapid technological advancements and changes in consumer behavior, making their role more important than ever.
Challenges in the local market
Digital marketing in TT faces major challenges due to two main factors.
Firstly, many local organisations have yet to embrace or fully understand the digital space and lack the necessary infrastructure to execute an effective digital marketing strategy.
Second, the education system often does not adequately cover most essential digital marketing skills, resulting in a workforce that is unprepared for specialized roles.
As a result, job boards tend to feature generic titles like digital marketer and social media specialist, while other important specializations aren't recognized as clear, catch-all roles.
Mismatch between the job market and job descriptions
This also explains why published job descriptions for digital marketers are often inconsistent and lack a clear understanding of digital marketing.
These job ads often require applicants to have a wide range of skills, including digital marketing, graphic design, animation and even videography.
Apart from these, employees may be unfairly asked to perform non-work related tasks such as customer service, answering the phone, and manual labor, suggesting unrealistic expectations regarding leisure time.
Job ads like these often specify advanced proficiency in Adobe Suite, Final Cut Pro, and After Effects, indicating a major misunderstanding of the focus and scope of the job.
Digital marketing jobs may also require you to work in a warehouse when orders come in and be part of a picking and packing team.
This is a clear indication that companies don’t think marketing takes up much of their time, and instead think they have the free time to do other things that aren’t related to marketing.
Remuneration discrepancies
As detailed in the HRC compensation report, the salary outlook for marketing professionals in TT is pessimistic.
It highlights that there are only 57 management positions in the marketing department, with monthly salaries ranging from $19,000 to $34,000.
This shows that most marketing professionals earn less than $19,000, with the typical range for most non-management positions being between $5,000 and $11,000.
Carib is an exception, offering salaries of $15,000-18,000 for junior marketing staff.
Considering that these positions require advanced degrees, the compensation may not be attractive enough to pursue a career in marketing.
A major TT conglomerate recently advertised for a digital marketing role, which called for a wide range of specialist skills, from content creation and social media management to SEO, video editing, photography, animation and data analysis. Despite the breadth of expertise required, the position only came with a salary of $11,000, highlighting a huge disconnect between expected responsibilities and compensation on offer.
Global Opportunities
Given the salary disparity and job limitations, it may be more advantageous to seek international opportunities. For example, an entry-level social media position in the US may start at around USD 45,000 per year or TT$ 25,000 per month, highlighting the financial benefits of working in an international market.
Is it a viable career?
A career in digital marketing can undoubtedly be rewarding, but the current job market and salary levels limit its viability in TT.
If you’re passionate about getting into this field, consider expanding your skill set beyond basic skills like social media marketing into more lucrative areas within digital marketing.
Salaries for these roles are often higher overseas, so it can be profitable to pursue international opportunities and attract clients from wealthier countries.
This approach takes advantage of TT’s low cost base, is economically attractive to foreign companies, and is more lucrative for local experts when paid in a stronger currency.
Here are my recommendations for anyone in marketing, or someone who is further along in their marketing career and looking to grow:
Expand your skill set beyond the basics by mastering advanced digital marketing disciplines. Pursue global opportunities and earn in a stronger currency.
This strategic approach will not only enhance your professional capabilities but also maximize your earning potential, especially in international markets where your skills fetch higher value.
Kellon Rose is a digital strategist who works with businesses to build their digital presence and monetize their platforms.
For more information, visit KeronRose.com or listen to the Digipreneur FM podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
