Connecting STEM and Digital Marketing

There’s a disconnect between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) graduates and digital marketing - but there doesn’t have to be.

Digital marketing may seem far from science campuses and STEM careers fairs, but it is based on analysis, experimentation, enquiry and constant change. Numbers and patterns are built into the very basics of digital marketing. As such it’s very different to the world of marketing as it used to be, and shouldn’t just be the specialism of marketing degrees or business schools.

Kinase is founded on the principle of learning and experimentation.

Below, we have brought together seven of the reasons why we see a real connection between STEM subjects and digital marketing.

1 Enquiry

Kinase was co-founded by Richard Brooks, who studied biochemistry at Oxford. This guided his name for the agency - ‘kinase’ is a class of enzyme which derives from the Greek kinein, ‘to move’. ‘As an agency, we pursue, share and apply knowledge,’ says Brooks. ‘We don’t take the current state of digital as immutable but as something we must constantly evolve. We have built a spirit of curiosity and enquiry at Kinase which is one of the key values which has driven our success.’

2 Speed

The fast pace of the digital industry is driven by tech (platforms, web architecture, delivery and ecommerce capability), and by changing patterns of online behaviour and shopping. The result is an industry in which new and better ways of solving problems are always going to give an advantage to an agency and to a team, creating an atmosphere of problem solving first (rather than frustrating the person with good ideas in a large, slow organisation who eventually gives up.) ‘I loved the idea of how fast paced the industry has to be to keep up,’ comments Amin Awdish, account director at Kinase who studied Maths at UCL.

3 Statistics and Maths

Of course there is an advantage to someone with a grounding in maths and statistics, or an aptitude to learn about their application. There’s a lot of forecasting, prediction, and modelling of future scenarios to be done - as well as modelling how different variables affect the whole. Correlation, regression analysis, and of course using and inventing formulae to understand what’s going on in useful and actionable ways, are all bread and butter of digital marketing work. At a larger scale, digital marketing uses econometric studies to measure and test hypotheses, and build forecasts.

The use of formulae in digital marketing is centred on providing useful metrics to spotlight the dimensions of performance most desired or most relevant. These can then become a field of off-putting acronyms - but at heart, they are ways of understanding relationships and guiding marketing spend towards its stated goal over time. The concepts of ‘return on advertising spend’ and of diminishing returns, for example, immediately put into motion what would otherwise be vague relationships between advertising and the business’ bottom line.

4 Maths but it isn’t accounting or trading

David Reed, account director at Kinase who studied Maths at UEA, says that one of the attractions of Kinase as a STEM graduate has also been relationships and culture: ‘Kinase culture is the best. Too many maths jobs are - let’s face it - very dull and focused on applying arbitrary rules (accounting), or else burn people out (trading). That sounds horrible to me. I also enjoy the communication side of maths in digital marketing e.g. taking difficult concepts and explaining them.’ STEM skills in business - but no need to wear a suit in the office every day!

5 Creativity allied to results

While successful digital marketing is founded on analysis, it does of course also thrive on recognising and testing the creative sides of advertising too. ‘I relished the opportunity to be a little creative,’ says Amin Awdish. ‘After years of nothing but maths it was nice to know that I could spread my creative wings again.’

6 Automation and coding

Automation provides competitive advantage in this industry. Crucially this occurs at every level:- from new software or ways of using ad platforms and new ways of parsing data, down to new productivity tools or individualised macros and templates. Digital marketing is a ‘way in’ to these areas - if interested, you can develop your nascent coding skills, pursue training and start to think of useful ways in which automation can produce results and efficiency.

7 Continual learning

Digital marketing at Kinase is about continual learning - redefining our own best practices, and making it possible for everyone in the agency to develop new skills and train in new aspects of digital which interest them. We know that coming into the industry, you don’t always know which aspect you will gravitate towards or have a greater aptitude for. That’s why it should be an open, collegiate atmosphere where developing your skills in pursuit of knowledge about how best to theorise and put into practise digital marketing should be at the core.

Find out More

More information about Kinase and its culture can be found on our careers page. If you find an opportunity that sounds right for you, send your CV and covering letter to careers@kinase.co.uk.