These Unbelievable Internet Jobs Didn't Exist 5 Years Ago

Sponsored by LUMSA

If watching the hit television series Mad Men has left you hankering for a job in marketing or advertising, you might be pleased to learn that the industry has evolved way past scribbling down pithy slogans on cocktail napkins and drinking around-the-clock.

Thanks to mobile expansion and the rise of social media, data mining, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, businesses have adopted a number of new digital practices and technologies at a dizzying speed to cater to millennials, blurring the traditional boundaries between journalism, marketing and advertising.

We spoke to the digital specialists running LUMSA’s MSc in Marketing and Digital Communications to give you the lowdown on hot new advertising and marketing jobs that should be on your radar if you’re starting out in 2017.

1. Community manager

The job in a nutshell: According to the Social Media Examiner, 92% of marketers report that social media is important to their business. Working as a community manager, you will be in charge of starting discussions online and converting internet users into sign-ups for a site. Think of it as the modern-day internet equivalent of Don Draper popping into his favorite dimly-lit bar, ordering an Old Fashioned and asking the bartender whether he would consider switching to Lucky Strikes.

Salary: According to Glassdoor, a community manager could expect to make on average £29,718 in the UK, ≈US$38,400 (June 2017), €25,071 in Germany, ≈US$28,500 (May 2017) and €45,225 in France, ≈US$51,500 (April 2017).

2. Social media manager

The job in a nutshell: A social media manager updates and manages social media channels (currently this is usually a mix of Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+) for an organisation, and is in charge of crafting an overall strategy to increase sales, exposure, customer engagement and brand loyalty, using data metrics like engagement and reach.

Salary: According to PayScale, you could expect to earn around €18,000 in Italy, ≈US$20,500, CHF 72,000 in Switzerland, ≈US$74,300, €31,015 in Germany, ≈US$35,300 (May 2017) though salaries do vary depending on your employer, geographical location and years of experience.

3. Content manager

The job in a nutshell: In this day and age, businesses need a solid content strategy to survive. According to a survey by HubSpot, brands that publish over 16 blog posts a month obtain 3.5 times more traffic than brands with less than four blog posts a month. As a content manager, you would oversee a team of copywriters to implement your strategy, with an eye to increasing total number of web visitors, sales, client satisfaction and retention.

Salary: According to Glassdoor, content managers in the UK earn on average £36,136, ≈US$46,600 (May 2017). In Germany, salaries range between €46,000 and €100,000 ≈US$52,400-113,900, depending on experience, location and employer (May 2017).

4. Virtual reality consultant

The job in a nutshell: Virtual reality is still an emerging market, so there’s isn’t much in the way of a set natural career progression (which is a good thing, because this gives a lot of flexibility). Working as a virtual reality consultant, you would be helping clients plan a virtual reality project, whether a 360 virtual reality tour or planning an immersive game. You might brainstorm ideas with clients and advise them on best practices and tools. This is not a technical role, as you will be the point of contact between tech nerds and clients.

Salaries: According to Alphr, average starting salaries in the UK are approximately £30,000 ≈US$38,700 (February 2016).

5. Data analyst

The job in a nutshell: Big data has already taken over the world. According to Forbes, data is growing so quickly that by the year 2020, every human being on the planet will generate 1.7 megabytes of data every second. Indeed, from healthcare to cyber security to retail, it has such an enormous potential that the White House has already invested US$200 million in big data projects! Working as a data analyst, you’d be crunching numbers and interpreting data sets like user behaviour, site traffic and data-driven insight to inform marketing and advertising strategy.

Salary: According to PayScale, data analysts earn on average €41,576 in Germany, ≈US$47,400 and £25,511 in the UK, ≈US$32,930, and CHF86,458 in Switzerland, ≈US$89,300 (May 2017).

6. User experience manager

The job in a nutshell: When we talk of user experience, or UX for short, we mean the way a person feels when they are browsing your website, video game, app or device. It’s such a hot topic at the moment because new media is constantly redefining itself, what with the permanent influx of new technologies like virtual and augmented realities, and any failure to address usability, utility, engageability and appeal can make a business crash. As a user experience manager, you will be working with teams of web designers and developers to improve “user experience” and drive business (and things like revenue, growth, retention etc.).

Salary: According to PayScale (May 2017), a user experience manager earns on average £44,974 ≈US$58,000, and US$111,662 in the US.

Become a Don Draper 2.0 with LUMSA in Rome

The Italian university’s MSc in Marketing and Digital Communications covers topics like digital public relations, web analytics, data mining, corporate social responsibility and web design. It would train you for a number of careers in the marketing and advertising industry, including all of the jobs listed above. And what lovelier location to study than Rome, the Eternal City, where you’ll never farther than a (cobble)stone’s throw from the Vatican City or San Pietro?

If you have any queries about careers in marketing and/or the program, drop Professor Alessandro Giosi a line, and he’ll get back to you with more information.

Sleep on it.