Guy, have you ever looked for a job so bad that you had to borrow or beg for money to attend an interview that you had no guarantee of acing? This country can make a man mad. No cap! Ken was that chronically unemployed graduate. He was broke to the teeth. Literally, he had a broken incisor. At this rate, he was not going to last a month before he contemplated suicide.
I mean, he had a great result, a sharp mind and a lot of passion. Engineering was his profession. All the big firms wanted experienced hands and the startups wanted free hands. He had rent to pay and a truckload of siblings to cater for. He always blamed his parents for their lack of proper family planning. There was too much pressure on him and doing “osho-free” work was not going to pay the bills.
Lockdown came and that was supposed to be the end of Solomon Gandhi, in this case, our guy Ken. No job and no money. The pandemic was packaged from China to deal Ken a heavier blow. Even I was sure. Ken was scrolling through his phone one evening shuffling between Twitter and Facebook. He had long abandoned Instagram and the fake display of wealth. It was then he saw an Ad for the position of a Digital Marketer. He had no idea what the job function was but if he had applied for a Mortuary attendant one time, there was nothing he could not do. He only had to use Google.He was scheduled for a zoom interview the next day and he was low-key pleased he was not required to transport anywhere. Dude no get shimgbai! The interview was the longest he had ever had and it wasn’t unnerving in any way because the interviewer was a young pretty lady not older than himself. They had a good rapport. “What do you understand by digital marketing Mr. Ken?” she asked few minutes into the interview beaming from ear to ear. Ken was prepared for this particular a question. He had read it up.
“Basically, digital marketing refers to any online marketing efforts or assets. Email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing and even blogging are all great examples of digital marketing—they help introduce people to your company and convince them to buy.” The interviewer was pleased that Ken read it up and was greatly impressed by his answer so she pressed on for more details.
It was obvious she liked Ken. She didn't know why but she dragged on the conversation to have more time with him. "Digital marketing, online marketing, internet advertising…whatever you call it, marketing your company online is a big deal these days. Internet usage has increased tremendously over the past decade and this shift has massively affected how people purchase products and interact with businesses. Ken, tell me what some of the tools you can use to sell your products online are".
Ken's data was running out. In his mind, was screaming for her to hurry. He needed data to play some sure games on Betnaija if he was to eat.
- "Your website,
- Branded assets (logos, icons, acronyms, etc)
- Video content (video ads, product demos, etc)
- Images (infographics, product shots, company photos, etc)
- Written content (blog posts, eBooks, product descriptions, testimonials, etc)
- Online products or tools (SaaS, calculators, interactive content, etc)
- Reviews Social media pages"
He hurriedly ran through the list.
"Bravo!" She exclaimed. Reading the hesitation in Ken's eyes she joyously announced that he could start work temporarily until the organization was sure Ken could handle it.
Digital marketing meant Ken could work from home and not bother about transport cost. He was thrilled. Ken asked how he could start the work. The interviewer respected his honesty. She understood he was new to the field. So she explained:
"The good news is, getting started with digital marketing is fairly easy. Most online advertising platforms make it easy to sign up and create your first campaign (it is how they make money, after all). Here are a few links to beginner guides for several different digital marketing strategies that would help you Ken
- Paid search advertising
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Paid social media advertising
- Social media marketing
- Conversion rate optimization
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
