Spooky season: the scariest things about working in digital marketing

As the autumn leaves fall and Halloween approaches, it’s not just ghosts and ghouls that send shivers down the spines of digital marketers. In the digital marketing world, there are plenty of challenges and that can shake even the bravest of professionals.

In spirit of the spooky season (& on Friday the 13th…), our experts at Click weigh in on the ‘scariest things about working in digital marketing’.

Google updates

Search engines are a central part of the work we do in digital marketing – but as technology advances, so do the search engines. September was a huge month for this, with Google launching both a Core Update, as well as updating their Helpful Content Guidelines. Here is what Click had to say on the topic:

“The google update announcement is usually a scary feeling for me.

You don’t know how its going to affect your client until its happened, sometimes good, sometimes bad.”

– Jess Mclear, Account Manager

 

“When google releases 3 big updates within the space of two months”

– Owen Parry, SEO Manager

Google’s free support

Google clearly has a reputation for making digital marketers quake in their boots. When junior Google execs reach out to clients offering ‘free support’ as a sales tactic, this can be particularly fear inducing for marketing agencies.

“It is always scary when “Google” contacts your client directly to offer their “free support”. This tends to be a junior Google sales person pushing clients to increase budgets and adopt their latest features.”

– Alan Reeves, Director of Search

Artificial intelligence

“AI is scary!”

– Charlotte Chapman, Head of SEO

Do we need to say anymore? AI has advanced leaps and bounds in recent years, becoming almost ‘mainstream’ in the digital world, particularly within digital marketing. From fearing that your boss will replace you for a robot alternative, to anticipating a Hollywood-style digital uprising, AI is feared by many, and not just digital marketing professionals!!

Annual leave & workload

The digital world is ever-changing; digital marketing trends ebb and flow daily, and missing a day can sometimes feel like missing a year. Having to always be on your toes to keep up with the fluctuations in the digital world means that us digital marketers are very busy people! When we go to take our much needed (and thoroughly deserved) breaks, this can lead to us returning to a workload that is chilling to catch up with.

“Booking holidays and having to catch up with everything before and after! And writing handovers haha. The whole process makes me not want to book a day off ever again”

– Sabina Rana, Account Manager

Spelling (& other) mistakes

When you are producing written copy that hundreds (or potentially thousands) of people are likely to see, you want to make sure that it is professional, pristine, and that there are no silly errors in the mix.

“I always check my emails multiple times, and get another pair of eyes to look at them to make sure I haven’t made any silly mistakes before they go out. This isn’t just spelling – but ensuring the right links are embedded into the emails, the merge fields are all accurate, and that there are no grammatical errors! Pressing that send button each day is the scariest thing I have to do by far!”

– Sian Badich, Senior Marketing Executive

Final thoughts

While we’ve explored some of the spine-tingling challenges that come with working in digital marketing, it’s important to remember that this field is far from a truly ‘scary’ or fear-inducing industry to work in.

Digital marketing can be a thrilling adventure for those who embrace its ever-evolving nature. The scariest things we’ve discussed are more like friendly ghosts that keep us on our toes and make the day-to-day aspects of our roles almost exciting.

The ‘scary’ aspects of digital marketing challenge us to adapt, innovate, and continue learning in an industry that never sleeps.