The digital media director oversees teams of creatives and media planners, works with clients on digital media projects, and develops new digital media advertising formats. They typically have a college education in marketing or related fields and stay ahead of trends in the online marketing world. Their job is to oversee the creation of digital content, including viral marketing and interactive advertising.
The digital media director position is relatively new. It’s only been around since computer-based media and advertising became a viable market in the mid-1990s. Because the job is still new to many, the actual responsibilities of a digital media director vary from place to place. Common jobs include overseeing teams of creatives and media planners, working with clients on digital media projects, and developing new digital media advertising formats.
A digital media director typically has a college education, but there are a wide variety of fields that could land someone in this position. It is common for a person with this job to have a degree in standard or digital marketing. He or she will likely have the background to organize and create the campaigns, as well as the business sense to run a department. Less common positions that lead into this profession are graphic design, search engine optimization, and web page design and programming.
Most digital media directors run their own department or their own section within a department. Depending on the size of the organization, this can have many different meanings. They may have a full team at larger companies or a single assistant at smaller companies. Smaller companies often require the director to handle their own accounting, while larger companies do not. Company size and configuration also determine whether the director is the primary contact with digital customers.
Regardless of whether he’s alone or on a team, the most common job for a digital media director is to oversee the creation of digital content. Such content is typically advertising for the parent company or customer. It is usually intended for an online release and may include music, a graphic presentation, or interactive media.
Due to the rapid changes in this area of expertise, it is important for a digital media director to stay ahead of trends in many industries. As a result, another common job is predicting trends in the online marketing world. Companies can create campaigns targeting trends and groups that do not yet exist, betting on the accuracy of the director’s forecasts.
Two items in the media director’s tool belt are viral marketing and interactive advertising. These areas work well with online launches, and both marketing strategies rely on the audience that does most of the distribution. With viral marketing, the director creates something that will make people want to show it to other people. A person will show it to all his friends, and then show it to everyone, spreading advertising like a virus.
Interactive advertising involves giving people instructions to perform a task, find an object, or solve a riddle to learn a clue. The clue leads them to a new task, turning the hype into a game. Campaigns like this have been tried in the past, but it wasn’t until the market became saturated with media-capable cell phones and social networking sites that they became really effective.
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