Software Developer Industry Niches 1 - Digital Marketing

If you are a programmer it is invaluable to be an expert in a certain industry.

Solely focusing on technologies won’t set you apart. Cause guess what, millions of others love Python and Tensorflow, too. At the same time, developers tend to get stuck in their technical universe of niches.

On the other hand, if you are an expert in other fields, like the car industry, e-commerce, energy sector or digital marketing, you will have a way better time as a developer. And the job will be more fun, too. Because now you love Python and Tensorflow AND you are an expert in a more narrow field outside of programming.

Did you know that it’s extremely hard to find developers who are fond of or experts in digital marketing?

A digital marketing company really loves to work together with such developers because processes become more easy, you don’t have to explain every little why behind some software design decisions and the work of development teams can be more independent.

Why is digital marketing a good niche?

First of all, it’s a true niche, because it’s not as hyped and popular as for example the automobile industry (which is still a great place to be, with its own advantages, and deserves an article on its own).

Secondly, you’ll get to understand the world a bunch more. After all, half of our life happens digitally nowadays. Understanding what drives companies to reach you and show you products in one or another way makes you better understand the humanity as it is today.

And lastly, you will learn amazing tricks for life. Ultimately, we all are marketers in some way…

Don't you have to market
yourself to get that super nice job?

Don't you have to market
your kid to get her into this great school or sports team?

Don't you have to market
your dog to get him to win this beauty contest?

Don't you have to market
your raw vegan ketogenic lifestyle to make other people understand you?

At a recent growth hacking meet up at SRH Berlin, Dan Levelev presented some growth hacking tricks. Growth hacking is an augmented form of digital marketing. You can apply those hacks for hyper growth to your everyday life:

Growth hack:

“Measure everything against everything to understand your ads’ success”

Every day life:

Are you looking for a job? Try different platforms and different methods inside the platforms. You can A/B test nearly everything.

Growth Hack:

“Utilise Quora to get your page ranked number 1 on Google in 10 minutes”

Everyday life:

Developers often have blogs or information to share in general. Why not having the biggest outreach and impact possible?

Growth Hack:

“Growth Hacking is Code + Data + Marketing&&Sales”

Everyday life:

Everyday life of a human developer is Code + Data + Marketing

How can you gain digital marketing expertise?

• Let hardcore digital marketers be your mentors, they have so much great free material out there (Steli Efti, Gary Vee etc.)
• Books
• Meetups
• Digital marketing and growth hacking bootcamps (I happen to be at the Growth Acceleration Berlin bootcamp next week 🚀)

So, no reason not to grow in other fields besides your technical niche. You can easily bring your developer career and developer fun level to the next level by starting to look further than your nose ;-)