Let’s assume people love your brand. But the digital experience? Meh. This perception of your company’s ability (or lack thereof) to deliver in today’s “on demand” economy can be a deal breaker, making your brand an easy target for the competition. Tech savvy consumers are getting more finicky by the day. With the world at everyone’s fingertips, the bar gets set higher to win customers’ hearts and wallets.
But this is easier said than done. Recently, many brick and mortar retail channels have slowed to a grinding halt, yielding to digital as the primary channel for consumers to reach their brands. Times like these have enabled innovators like Amazon to surge even further ahead of the bunch. As a result, it has never been more crucial for brands to stand out from the crowd, investing in the people, tools, infrastructure to build frictionless digital experiences, and then scaling and optimizing to make customers want to come back again and again.
But how can you deliver on your brand promise and make technology a differentiator? The answer comes down to customer experience (CX) and agility. Companies must increasingly reimagine the entire customer journey again and again with increasing speed to market. The ones who have figured out how to be truly data-driven and accelerate customer insights and business decisions are more likely to emerge ahead.
But where in the digital enterprise does this magic take place? This intersection of CX and agility increasingly occurs with a new type of operations. Enter the digital operations team.
As companies adopt more digital technologies, the role of digital operations manager has become increasingly crucial Digital operations managers oversee a company’s digital assets and presence to maximize efficiency, streamline processes, and drive business growth
If you’re interested in managing the digital operations of a company, this comprehensive guide provides step-by-step advice on how to start a successful career as a digital operations manager.
What Does a Digital Operations Manager Do?
A digital operations manager typically has the following key responsibilities
- Develop and implement digital strategies aligned with the company’s overall goals
- Oversee digital marketing campaigns and initiatives
- Manage e-commerce platforms, websites, and other digital assets
- Optimize online sales funnels and customer experience
- Analyze digital metrics and identify areas for improvement
- Lead and provide direction to digital teams including designers, developers, and analysts
- Stay current on digital and technological trends to identify new opportunities
- Collaborate with departments company-wide to support their digital needs
- Establish and track progress toward digital KPIs and report on results
The role requires both strategic thinking and hands-on execution. Digital operations managers juggle a wide range of technical, analytical, and management duties. It’s a role for big-picture thinkers with strong leadership abilities.
Skills Needed to be a Digital Operations Manager
To succeed as a digital operations manager, these are some of the most important skills to possess:
Digital fluency – You need to deeply understand digital channels and platforms and stay updated on emerging technologies. This allows you to effectively oversee digital initiatives.
Data analysis – With so many metrics to track, you need analytical skills to continuously monitor performance and translate data into actionable insights.
Project management – Juggling multiple digital campaigns and projects calls for stellar organizational skills and project management abilities.
Leadership – Managing diverse digital teams requires strong leadership to provide direction and motivation.
Strategic thinking – You should be able to analyze the competitive landscape and identify strategies to help the company succeed digitally.
Communication – Clearly conveying digital plans across the organization is key, so communication skills are vital.
Business acumen – Understanding the company’s overall objectives and industry landscape allows you to develop aligned digital strategies.
Educational Backgrounds for Digital Operations Managers
While some digital operations managers take nontraditional paths, most have a bachelor’s degree in one of these related fields:
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Business Administration – Gives foundational knowledge of business operations and principles.
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Marketing – Provides useful insight into digital marketing tactics.
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Information Technology – Technical skills help oversee digital systems and projects.
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Computer Science – Programming and analytical expertise are valuable.
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Communications – Develops communication skills to collaborate across the organization.
Other common majors include digital media, data analytics, graphic design, and economics. Coursework and electives related to digital platforms and data analysis are helpful.
Gaining Relevant Experience
In addition to education, hands-on experience is critical for becoming an effective digital operations manager. Here are some roles that provide great experience:
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Digital Marketing Manager – Running digital campaigns gives inside knowledge of online channels.
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Web Developer – Technical and analytical skills gained developing websites transfer directly.
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E-Commerce Manager – Overseeing online sales funnels provides relevant expertise.
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Social Media Manager – Understanding social platforms is key for digital operations.
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Data Analyst – Crunching numbers and interpreting data is a big part of the job.
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Project Manager – Overseeing digital initiatives teaches valuable cross-functional leadership.
Seeking breadth through roles in marketing, technical development, data analysis, and project management will equip you with the diverse abilities needed to manage digital operations.
4 Key Steps to Becoming a Digital Operations Manager
When making the transition into digital operations management, follow these key steps:
1. Earn a Relevant Bachelor’s Degree
Complete an undergraduate program in a field like business, marketing, IT, communications or similar to build a solid educational foundation. Supplement your coursework with digital and data classes.
2. Gain Experience in Digital Roles
Take on roles managing digital campaigns, websites, social platforms, analytics or relevant projects. At least 2-3 years of professional experience in digital is ideal.
3. Develop Management and Leadership Skills
Seek opportunities to demonstrate management abilities such as overseeing projects, mentoring teammates, and spearheading initiatives. This showcases vital leadership skills.
4. Apply and Interview for Digital Operations Roles
Once you have the right mix of education and experience, start actively applying and interviewing for digital operations manager positions. Highlight your digital, data, leadership and management accomplishments.
With the proper background and skillset, you’ll be well-prepared to transition into an exciting and fast-paced role managing digital operations.
Showcasing Your Value as a Candidate
Here are some tips for standing out as a strong candidate when seeking your first digital operations manager job:
Highlight data-driven examples – Quantify your impact on digital campaigns and projects with real metrics and KPI improvements. This shows you can drive quantifiable results.
Demonstrate leadership skills – Provide specific examples of projects you’ve led and teams you’ve overseen to exhibit leadership abilities.
Discuss technology knowledge – Showcase your working knowledge of digital platforms and current awareness of technology innovations.
Present ideas and strategies – Come to interviews ready to discuss digital optimization strategies relevant to that company’s industry and business goals. This demonstrates strategic thinking.
Ask thoughtful questions – Asking smart, researched questions about the company’s digital challenges and opportunities makes a great impression.
Exude passion for digital – Convey genuine excitement and interest in managing digital operations during the interview process.
Continuing Your Professional Development
Even after landing that first digital operations manager role, ongoing learning and development is crucial to excel in the ever-evolving digital landscape:
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Pursue certifications in areas like digital analytics, paid search, social advertising and e-commerce. Demonstrating specific expertise is very valuable.
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Attend digital marketing and tech conferences to stay on the pulse of the latest innovations and trends.
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Take online courses through platforms like Coursera, Udemy and LinkedIn Learning to build skills.
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Read industry publications like Digiday, Adweek and eMarketer to keep your knowledge fresh.
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Learn from mentors by seeking guidance from more experienced digital professionals.
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Cross-train by having your team members provide insight into their specializations.
Committing to constant learning will ensure you have the know-how to develop winning digital strategies over the course of your career as the field continues rapidly evolving.
Landing a Role as Digital Operations Manager
Managing digital operations is a fast-paced but rewarding role focused on maximizing a company’s online impact. By earning a relevant degree, gaining hands-on digital experience, developing leadership abilities, and showcasing your expertise throughout the interview process, you’ll be on the path to launching a successful and dynamic career as a digital operations manager.
The old definition of digital operations
So what is digital operations anyway? And how did it become a catch all for so many different functions? A simple Google search offers a wide variety of inconsistent and even contradictory definitions of digital operations. Here are a few:
The Digital Operations Manager is responsible for the stability and availability of all of our Digital platforms, (including the management of our partners and vendors), to ensure the best digital experiences… The Digital Operations team also governs all processes and procedures which deliver change to those platforms, with a view to minimizing incidents and operational risk while maintaining the agility required …to be first to market.
Here’s another one:
Digital Operations is a new type of company operations. One that learns from the consumer technology products we love and use every day. It understands employees are customers. It knows that to get the best technology, it must look past traditional IT.
And another:
Digital Operations Management brings together machine learning, automation, and DevOps-centric workflows to mobilize teams when it matters most.
Okay, so none of these definitions are wrong, but they are broad and diverse in scope. If we combined all of them, digital ops would own everything from platform to personalization to vendors, automation, partners, process and risk. So what wouldn’t they own in the digital org?
The birth of digital operations
Before the web, brick and mortar operations departments were sometimes perceived as dull, repetitive or lacking creativity and innovation. Operations groups in large manufacturing companies were about managing supply chains with efficiency and automation, but they were not yet “digitized.” The marketing, finance and IT departments may have been more appealing places to grow your career.
Even in the early days of the web, the concept of a “digital operations” team barely existed. Early websites for large brands tended to live within the overall sales and marketing function. There were a few basic job functions, such as marketing, SEO, UX, content, and metrics, along with more technical functions like web development and information architecture.
As digital adoption grew and scaled exponentially, the “eCommerce” or “digital” group often spun off into its own P&L and business unit. Soon, new functions appeared, like A/B testing, mobile, emerging tech, personalization and platform.
The concept of a “digital operations” team emerged by default within large enterprises to address gaps in support for pre-existing operations functions and sales channels that were seeing increased demand for more tech savvy skill sets. A perfect example of this is the traditional call center, where customers were calling and emailing to complain about issues on the web site, when call center agents were barely trained to support it. While business phone systems are a solid option for providing other types of customer support in case they have a quick question, they need careful integration with website technology to handle UX issues effectively.
Shortly thereafter, user acceptance testing and QA teams were moved into digital operations, along with agile delivery, program management, platforms and content. Pretty soon, a bevy of digital support roles were being relocated into digital operations, and suddenly digital ops was born, with no clear definition of the function as a whole.
