Why Software Experts are Essential in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing means reach and revenue, but it also requires security making software experts an essential component.

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

Software engineering and coding are almost synonymous in meaning to each other, with only slight differences between the two titles, but that too may be completely non-existent at times. However, irrespective of whether you are a Level I coder, or a certified, senior computer engineer, rest assured that your need and demand in marketing can only grow from 2021 onwards. we’re going to elaborate more on that next.

Every Digital Marketing Agency Needs a Team of Cybersecurity Experts

If the likes of Amazon, Toyota, Apple, British Petroleum (BP), Berkshire Hathaway and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China can be hacked, it would be fair to state that no company is safe, including a random, small scale, ad agency. Smaller companies are much easier to protect than the multinational giants though. SMEs in marketing and branding may only need one IT guy, while huge names in the sector will employ multiple teams of IT security experts for ensuring both the safety of their own online presence, as well as that of their client data. If they do get hacked and their client data is revealed in the process, ensuing lawsuits can be ruinous, especially for smaller establishments.

Why It is Easier to Protect Smaller Companies

Amazon has roughly 1.2 million employees across numerous nations, while the Industrial & Commercial bank of China has a total of 445,106 employees (mostly in China). It is not difficult to imagine how hard it would be for such huge corporations to secure every possible point of vulnerability across the planet. On the other hand, a small digital marketing agency has a handful of employees and online assets, which are easier to control and protect with the help of a dedicated IT team.

Why Small Agencies Cannot Ignore Cybersecurity Either

Those that do not think that IT security is essential for small businesses always get hacked sooner or later unfortunately. Although they are easier to protect, and it is true that most small agencies are not on the high priority list of any cybercriminal organization, it’s also true that they are easy prey without protection. Hackers know that all too well and when they are not busy trying to hack NASA, they will often find and get inside unprotected smaller company databases to steal what they can, be it data, money or both. 

Awareness is increasing as no one wants to lose money because someone with a deep understanding of computer software architecture decided to be an evil genius. As a direct result of that, the opportunities for cybersecurity experts within the marketing sector are also increasing exponentially. Growth is also being powered by the fact that even more marketing operations have been shifted online after the pandemic, boosting the need for IT security experts all across the field of marketing.

Why Target Small Marketing Agencies Though?

Marketing agencies are targeted because they will often contain sensitive data about their clients within their database, which allows the hackers to further reach out and hack some of their clients, if they can. If an organization is working with a marketing team that has no viable cybersecurity measures in place, they are likely to be easy targets as well. In fact, marketing agencies contain so much information on multiple clients and potential leads, that they are often targeted with silent attacks. These would be similar to a Trojan Horse but much more modified than the classic malware.

What happens is that as soon as someone executes the file, it goes silent and does not infect or affect the internal system in any way. The idea here is that the virus will not be detected unless it begins to disrupt the company’s regular functions. The malware resides peacefully within the system, stealing and supplying all customer data, lead data and financial data to its source of origin, never really affecting productivity in any way. Similar to what the Greek Trojan Horse was all about, it will often steal data in harmony for years, before being detected somehow.

The Highest Paid Job Opportunities Inside or Outside Marketing are Only Available to Expert Level Software Engineers

Considering that the job growth rate for software developers is estimated to be as high as 22% between 2019 and 2029 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the national average for all jobs is 4%, you would have to assume that whether you decide to work in marketing or not, you will not exactly be struggling after completing your computer science masters from an accredited (online or offline) university. However, you will have to consider that Master’s degree very seriously if you really wish to bag one of the highest paid jobs in any sector of IT.

For example, one of the highest paid IT jobs is closely related to marketing and business management. This would be the senior enterprise architect’s role, as it requires both a master’s degree in computer science and significant experience in business and marketing. Among others, one of the chief duties of an enterprise architect is to convert and organize the company’s requirements in a way, so as to help in the development of perfect solutions. These solutions are often related to marketing needs very closely.

The average salary of a senior software engineer is roughly $119,000/year in 2021, with their prospects of earning more than $140,000/year being quite expected. However, it varies depending on their choice of specialization, company, location, and field of work. Some of the best paid software engineers work in:

• Software Architecture – The average annual salary hovers between $135,000 and $140,000 approximately
• Data Architecture (Level 4 or 5) – $147,165 per year on an average
• Cloud Computing Architecture (Expert Level) – $145,600 per year on an average
• Enterprise Architecture – $140,000 per year on an average (approximately).

As you may have noticed by now, the role of a software engineer is so intricately connected with everything digital these days that finding a job in marketing as a software engineer does not really have to be about marketing at all. Every company requires IT management teams, whether they are from an external or internal source. Things like building databases and securing them are all basic needs for almost any company to operate today, which is why software engineers usually do not find it difficult to work in marketing at all. In marketing, software engineers essentially serve the same crucial roles that they would serve in any other non-technical field, albeit with a few exceptions at times.