Search Marketers – Too Generalist?

Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments

In the last few years the online marketing field has grown to become more sophisticated, in line with the increasing demands of more knowledgeable clients and the constant evolution of the search industry. They say that the only constant in search is change’. They are right. A few years ago, it was more than feasible for a search marketer to be a generalist in SEO and PPC who dabbles in web analytics. But today, online marketing has expanded to include social media marketing (SMM), Web Analytics is a job title in itself and both SEO and PPC have grown to include a vast range of methodologies and analyses specific to each field.

Today, dynamic websites quickly become monoliths with 100s of pages compared to the traditionally static 5-10 page site. Dynamic is the new status quo, which makes SEO more tactically challenging. As businesses begin to grasp the significance of attribution, search marketing is being recognised as a channel in the marketing mix, rather than being just an independent online cash cow whose relative role is not measured among the other marketing activities.

Employers Playing Catch-up
However it does not appear that most companies who hire internal search marketers recognise the rapid, dynamic evolution of the field. Most search marketing job descriptions appear to be written for the generalist, who is capable of dabbling in it all, but mastering little.

Social Media, Pay Per Click, SEO and Web Analytics are job titles in themselves. If working for a small business, certainly, one person can man the fort on all these elements, but with varying interest and competence in each. What is concerning is that businesses expect both experience and expertise in each of the above specialisations without in fact acknowledging that each is in itself a specialisation. Being a generalist does not breed expertise in any of them.

Job Descriptions Wooing Search Marketing Candidates

One recent job description listed the following required skills:

Google Analytics
Google AdWords
Alexa
Facebook for business
Twitter for business
SEOBacklinks
Meta tags
Directory listings
Blogging
PR
Copywriting
Website HTML + coding
Design skills in Photoshop

The salary? No specifics were given, but the word ‘underpaid’ was utilised.

Today’s search marketers need to be analysts, writers, coders, designers, tacticians, marketers and strategists. Yet as the search marketing field continues to evolve, can this generalist approach be maintained while delivering quality search expertise?

I do not believe it can. Businesses need to start recognising the broad expansion of Internet marketing and start making hiring decisions accordingly or the average search marketer will continue to know a few things about everything without ever becoming an expert in a chosen online field.