After talking to a diverse marketers in London, this is what we’ve learned.

The face of marketing is ever changing, now more than ever, with the digital revolution pushing changes in marketing at a dramatic rate. Marketing jobs are also having to change to keep up with the development of modern ethically conscious consumerism.

This change is already happening in London as businesses recognise the need for a more varied selection of roles within a marketing department. No longer is a catch-all marketing job title sufficient. These days, there are many sub-roles, and specialists are needed in each area. More specific and diverse job titles reflect this.

For example, a job advertisement asking for a ‘Storyteller’ might sound peculiar, especially when it isn’t a job in a school or play group, but is a high salary position within the marketing department of a large corporation. This is a real job description though. Setting the scene, and effectively telling a story is a valuable ability. Every business has a message to put across, and unless you can convey that message to consumers in a way they’ll both understand and engage with, your message is pointless.

From online product descriptions to press releases regarding the ethical practices and environmental responsibilities of a company, a storyteller can be a hugely valuable asset to any marketing department.

These new marketing roles can be very different, requiring an entirely different skill set that can’t easily be acquired by hiring just one person for a generic marketing role. For example, a good storyteller needs a whole different set of skills to a data translator, another new job role that we’ll look at next.

With online and mobile marketing, you get a lot of data. Plenty of data is always a good thing, it can help you adapt your marketing campaigns quickly. You’ll soon know what is working for you, you’ll have an overview of demographics, but all this information is pointless if you don’t know what to do with it. There’s no point having hard drives packed full of data without someone who can translate it for you. Heads of companies don’t want raw data, they want it collated, analysed and displayed in an easy to understand, visual manner. A data translator will have these skills, to find trends, to get you the statistics you need and to show you the facts and figures in way that is visually appealing, such as via graphs, bar charts and infographics. Getting the value out of raw data is a very specialist role.

Another new role emerging is that of a values oriented marketer. These days, consumers value good ethics and corporate environmental responsibility. Employing a member of staff whose role is solely to promote the reputation of a company can be very beneficial. From cause marketing campaigns, to spreading the word about the ethical policies of the company. Brand promotion is big business these days as we are increasingly concerned about the ethical practices of the companies we buy from. Great examples of employment opportunities & career success are social enterprises and certified B-corporations.

A specialist customer liaison employee is also paramount. With the growing popularity of social media, and e-mail as the first point of contact, companies are now expected to be contactable around the clock, via a variety of channels. It’s not just a case of manning the phones and checking the post each day any more! Keeping on top of your Twitter feed, Instagram, G+, Ello, Pinterest, Facebook page, blogs and email correspondence is a huge task and it is very important process of social listening. These days there is a lot of transparency. If a query via Linkedin goes unanswered, this will be noticed by others, not just by the person making the enquiry. This is a situation that must be avoided. Successful brands listen and interact with their customers, they build a community and engage consumers in a dialogue. An online presence should appear to be seamless. Employing someone with good customer service skills, as well as good social media marketing skills is very worthwhile.

These new positions are a relatively new concept in the UK, but they have proved to be successful in the US already. Often these roles are well suited to young people, those who are fluent with the modern technology, who have always known it as part of life, rather than some older people who are not as familiar, as they haven’t grown up with these methods of consumerism. British online interaction is second nature to the younger generation called millennials, combine this innate knowledge with some marketing skills and you have a potentially great employee with a good range of skills for interacting with customers and building a community or fan base for your products, brand or services.

Of course marketing changes all the time, so we can expect these roles to change and adapt frequently, but there is definitely a trend for growing specialisation within marketing departments, and a need to keep up with growing demand from consumers and a change in their preferred method of receiving marketing messages and interacting with brands.

Want to know more about marketing trends in UK? Email  Ems @ LincolnMartin.com