Many graduates of this generation prefer a domain that can assure a secure and happy career and put a lot of time into researching and understanding it, especially the one who are very much confused with software testing and digital marketing roles which are promising and can assure a consistent growth and opportunities with a decent pay scales.

A Quick brief on Software Testing and Digital Marketing:

Software Testing:

Software testing forms an integral part of software development. Testing usually involves comparing expected results with actual results, so that the system is bug-free. Software testing can be done manually or using automation.

Digital Marketing;

As the technology evolved, digital marketing became an inseparable part of it. Digital marketing is also known as online marketing, web marketing, or internet marketing. With the advent of Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, people became highly dependent on digital marketing in their day-to-day lives. It is a procedure wherein strategies were formed and executed to gain the interest of customers browsing different websites and increase the chances of winning a click on their advertisements.

Choosing a career path between the two can be quite tricky and confusing at times. India has a lot of IT professionals and a recent study by a Search Engine optimizer shows that the IT field has settled for recession and digital marketing could be promising in 2023.

Skill Sets Software Testing Vs Digital Marketing:

The skill sets needed for both of them could be different. Digital marketing involves creativity, being vigilant to the environment around us, staying up to date with the current trends, and identifying what route customers are on. Customers vary based on geographical locations also. So it is necessary to do a demographic study also. 

A digital marketing career needs communication skills, a passion for digital media, networking, and a willingness to research. To be a successful digital marketer, one need not know too much about technology, only the basics of computers would do. On the other hand, software testing requires analytical and mathematical skills, a good understanding, and experience in automation languages like shell/Perl/Python/TCL and sometimes javascript too and automation tools like load runner, WinRunner, and qtp, etc.

Digital Marketing Vs Software Testing Salaries & Roles:

The salaries also vary. The software industry is known for its salary structure and hikes. Digital marketing is an emerging field and its payscale may increase in the future was the prediction several years ago and has now come true, digital marketing salaries are much higher than software testing salaries and vary by a wide range and the right professionals are paid very well as there is a scarcity of good marketers.

Payscale is low at entry-level in both arenas. As the person gains experience, the salary improves in both and digital marketing has very good hikes than expected due to companies looking for the right marketing professionals. The promotions and postings are quite similar. In software testing, the initial level is Test Engineer, senior test engineer, test lead, and then test manager or technical architect. In digital marketing, it is a digital marketing analyst, specialist, Team lead, Team manager, strategist, and chief marketing officer.

Software testing Vs. Digital Marketing Work-Life Balance

Regarding work-life balance, the software testing industry is known for its long working hours and loss of balance and monotony. An accomplished digital marketer’s life is not as tough as a software tester and there are a lot of flexibilities available from vocational variations, to work-from-home options. A digital marketer’s life is exciting because of the various career options that come along with it. It offers job satisfaction much more than anything else. 

Software Testing vs Digital Marketing Growth:

As an industry, digital marketing is expected to grow and flourish in 2020. According to the Economic Times, Digital advertising is to grow at 32% CAGR to reach Rs 19,000 crore by 2020. According to research firm RedSeer Consulting forecast, the Indian e-commerce industry which is currently pegged at $53bn would cross the $100 bn marker by 2020. There are 8 key trends in digital content consumption which make it unique. Also in a survey conducted for the cost to reach 2000 audiences, digital marketing won against traditional methods. On the other hand, the software industry has seen a boom ever since selenium came into the market. Selenium and python have numerous job opportunities.

The working model of digital marketing involves social media platforms, affiliated marketing, mobile app marketing, pay-per-click, content marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, display advertising, eCommerce website creation services, etc. Digital marketing planning (DMP) has three stages: Opportunity, Strategy, and Action. To grab opportunities, the company must study its current value in the digital market and plan for resources to improve its chances of winning profit. The strategy involves brand positioning and defines digital targeting approaches. Academicians have defined the 4Ps of marketing as Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. The action requires the company to decide the budget for online content creation.

Software testing is a broad term that includes multiple levels of sub-testing features which makes it unique. To deliver a product to the market, there are various levels of testing that have to be completed. Testing is classified in various ways. One classification is functional testing and non-functional testing. The various methods of testing are unit testing, integration testing, system testing, sanity testing, smoke testing, interface testing, regression testing, and user acceptance testing. Non Functional testing includes performance, reliability, soak testing, etc. Software testing tactics also include internationalization and localization. They validate that the software product can be used in different languages in various demographic locations.

Regarding certifications to be done to improve in software testing career, ISTQB or International Software Testing Qualifications Board is a famous one. In a digital marketing career, there are many websites that offer certification. Some of them are Copyblogger and Copy Hackers. Both have certification programs. Google Analytics certification, google AdWords certification, google mobile sites certification, bing ads certification, youtube video certification, HubSpot content marketing, HubSpot email marketing, Hubspot inbound methodology, Facebook blueprint advertising, etc are some of them.

It is always better to trust our gut feeling and passion before we decide on a career path. Be it Software testing or digital marketing, we need to put in our honest efforts and over time we gain experience in what we do, which gives us an upper hand or mastery over what we have been doing.

In summary, Digital marketing Vs software testing careers, both have their own pros and cons. They intersect and vary in many aspects.