An undergraduate student has found the skills gleaned from his Bachelor of Digital Business (Honours) [BDBS] programme at WOU to be extremely rewarding, in terms of employment and income – even before he graduates.
Abdul Kader Saifuddin, 30, of Penang, was recounting his experience as a successful digital marketer, sharing some of the work projects that have come his way while he pursues his second year of study in a part-time mode.
He enrolled in BDBS – under the School of Digital Technology (DiGiT) – during the September 2021 intake. DiGiT frontloads practical know-how in the first year with intensive, skills-centric, full-time courses delivered to students at WOU’s City Campus.
In his sharing session during the webinar on “Are you Techable?” organised by WOU Academy on 22 March 2023, he highlighted how he is applying the tools learnt in class to understand consumer trends and create engaging content for enhanced customer experiences.
Kader works from home but has constant communication with his boss and clients. “I need to have motivation, self-governance and discipline to complete projects on time. I communicate with my clients if I face any problems or need assets, such as a company logo or product image,” he added.
He finds digital marketing to be his cup of tea since it is a creative field, and yet data-based. “It is very results-driven. You can experiment and be creative, but at the end of the day, you must measure whether it is bringing in results. “
Kader gets a big satisfaction when the analytics chart starts to look good. “Digital marketing involves a lot of experimentation. If things don’t work out, you take that as a learning opportunity and improve it.”
He elaborated that digital marketing is about communicating your values and principles as a company, developing your brand, and communicating your product or service through marketing.
He said that a career in digital marketing should appeal to those tired of a 9 to 5 job and wanted to follow their passion. “What are you are interested in? You can start simple like blogging about your passion, and slowly develop your brand.”
Kader mentioned how he had indexed his efforts in creating a website in Google, with the Google ranking going up over time, with more product views and customer enquiries as word spreads. “I achieved the positive results after much experimentation and failure,” he asserted.
He is currently doing projects for three clients. First is creating and enhancing blog and social media posts for Swissaire, a Switzerland-based ergonomics company. Next is SB Acoustics, a Denmark-based company specialising in high-end audio. “The unique challenge is how do you convince people to spend that much money to buy the speakers?”
Third is Enso Consult, a Singapore-based consulting firm specialising in branding and digital business solutions.
He concluded: “I have a globalised client base. With digital marketing, and with Industry 4.0 and digital-based workflows, you can get global clients if you communicate well and show what you can do, which means you get paid in foreign currency.”