Career Opportunities in Digital Marketing and Mobile Banking in Bangladesh

Digital advertising costs 62 percent less per lead than traditional advertising.

Do you know that Coca Cola has gone from “creatively bankrupt” in 2004 to “creative marketer” of the year at Cannes in 2013? Do you know that approximately BDT 7000 crore gets transferred through mobile phone every month in Bangladesh?
I'm talking about digital marketing and mobile banking. The story of mobile financial services in Bangladesh started in December 2006 with the launch of BillPay by a mobile network operator (MNO). Digital marketing is pretty new. With the launch of 3G in Bangladesh, the possibilities of the digital marketing have taken a new direction.
In view of these developments in mobile financial services and digital marketing, in this article, I'll discuss some of the career related issues of these two sectors. The ideas and views expressed in this article are personal, gathered through my extensive experiences in these sectors.
The story of my mCommerce career started here in Bangladesh with one of the leading telecom companies. After finishing my studies in the US in 2006, I got the opportunity to join the company and lead the team of mCommerce (mobile banking) Finance team. We started developing everything from scratch. Finally when the product “BillPay” was available everywhere in Bangladesh, I felt that I was blessed. To this day, whenever I see the sign “BillPay”, I feel proud that I was a part of the team.
Then came Airtel, with a vision to do something different, even in a financial setting that is still quite dependent on traditional banking system. I joined Airtel Bangladesh Ltd and started working on mobile banking; there is so much to do in this field, the sky is the limit.
Now let's discuss how a fresher can get into mobile banking or digital marketing.
Since we have a complete bank-led model running in Bangladesh, a fresher needs to concentrate on “money and banking related courses” if he/she wants to build a career in mobile banking. Knowledge in communication, marketing, trade, distribution and IT would also help. Finally, since this sector is still at its early stage, a person with innovative ideas and passion for something new will be able to add value to it. You need to have in depth knowledge on the success stories of mobile banking, come up with products/services which will eventually bring convenience to the life of the customers. Since Telcos are playing an important role as well, career opportunity in the Telco sector is also very promising in Bangladesh.
Now about digital marketing: you need to be tech savvy, need to know how to tell your story through your commercial website, or how to ensure customer engagement through your social media marketing tactics. A fresher with or without a marketing background may look into the possibilities of a digital marketing career. In recent years, employment in digital marketing has grown up to 52 percent. So the opportunities are huge in this sector as well
As a fresher, what steps should you take to get into these exciting fields? Networking is the key. A good place to start is Linkedin. You'll find professionals belonging to every area -- be it HR, marketing, digital social media or mobile banking. Another step is to register at several MFS and digital marketing blogs through which a fresher may easily gather knowledge as well as get their names out there. Slide share is also another good source to gather knowledge on these sectors.
 
The writer is a professional with over 11 years of experience in mobile banking and is currently the Head of mCommerce Operations at Airtel Bangladesh Ltd.