Internet advertising jobs may consist of many different positions, each having a unique set of responsibilities. At a smaller agency or in the case of jobs in online advertising which are in-house positions at a company, all of these functions may be the bailiwick of one individual. This is not necessarily as daunting of a prospect as you may think at first. When there is only one client to work for, the challenges are exponentially less demanding than if you have a portfolio of dozens, even hundreds of clients to keep satisfied.
Some internet advertising jobs are merely variations on the sorts of positions commonly seen in marketing and advertising firms. For instance, art directors, copywriters and editors all have interactive counterparts. Of course, the unique demands of the medium are where the difference really lies. Art directors and graphic artists working jobs in online advertising need to be familiar with the way different browsers display peculiarities and the way that an ad appears in print is rather different than it will appear on someone's LCD screen - the look is subtly different, as is the psychological impact; these are issues which designers and artists working in interactive medium need to be aware.
Similarly, copywriters who work on interactive projects will see a few differences in the sort of tasks they are assigned. Of course, one difference increasingly seen now is that there will be copywriters and editors who work only on web based advertising, generally with ''interactive'' being appended to their job title, as in ''Junior Copywriter – Interactive''. The nature of the copy which they must produce is also different than that seen in a print advertisement.
Web based advertisements tend to be extremely small (such as in Google Pay Per Click Ads) and the message of the client must be conveyed in very few words indeed; this is something which requires both skill and a touch of art – some have compared it to writing haiku. The other extreme is the large amount of long form copy which is asked for by clients for web based use. These long form pieces are commonly in the form of informative 400-800 word articles on a specific topic, often optimized for a specific keyword or key phrase. Of course, copy for site content is also in heavy demand by the clients of advertising and marketing agencies who provide online advertising.
Search engine optimization is an absolute must for anyone in online advertising jobs. This feature is one that more than nearly anything else is what drives the success of online advertising campaigns. Google is the 900 pound gorilla in the room of internet business and everyone knows it. Search engine optimization involves using phrases which are relevant to the topic which those within the target market of the client are likely to search for when looking for products and services similar to those offered by the client. This increases the page ranking of the client's website, bringing more potential customers to their website.
This is a very complex area of study, with search engine algorithms determining relevancy changing frequently. Furthermore, it requires a skilled copywriter to be able to work sometimes awkward phrases into compelling, well written copy multiple times without reading as awkward or stilted. SEO is a growing field and anyone working jobs in online advertising must have at least an understanding of the subject to be successful in producing work which will meet the internet advertising needs of their clients.
Programmers and developers are also often engaged in internet advertising jobs. They produce more complex advertising such as animations and script based marketing tools for clients. Developers are essential team members in any online-centered advertising firm now. It once was the case that most advertising and marketing agencies would turn to a freelancer to produce this sort of content, but with a growing demand for ever more complex web-based advertising, most agencies now have at least one full-time developer on staff.
Online advertising jobs are growing in number; indeed, web based advertising is a rapidly growing field and there is a high demand for those who have the necessary skills to produce quality online advertisement solutions for an increasingly web-savvy client base.
