Internet Project Manager

Runet continues to grow by 15-20% per year, and the specialty “Internet Project Manager” is one of the ten highest paid Internet professions. We decided to figure out where and what exactly an Internet project manager does, what skills he has and how much he costs on the market.

A few years ago, Internet projects were managed by everyone: from online store sellers to company directors. Today, the technology and advertising market has developed so much, and competition for user attention has intensified so much, that Internet projects require professional middle and senior managers. And there are almost none.

An Internet project manager is a one-man orchestra who manages a huge number of processes: manages the development and development of websites, communicates with customers, deals with promotion, and builds communication with clients. His tasks and skills may vary dramatically depending on the place of work.

 


What it works with: 4 Internet products


1. Websites and portals: corporate websites, information and news portals, promotional websites (landing pages), educational projects, corporate and personal blogs.

2. E-commerce: online stores, online services, auctions, online markets, mailings, subscriptions and other paid virtual services.

3. Online communities: social networks, thematic communities, forums.

4. The fastest growing area is mobile sites and applications. This includes all products or services that are related to smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

 


How it develops: 3 career paths


The responsibilities of an Internet project manager (and therefore the necessary knowledge and skills) can vary greatly. Several main areas of professional development for Internet project managers have emerged on the market.

1. Account manager with a technical background

Working in web studios and advertising agencies, an Internet project manager performs the tasks of an account manager (client manager) and at the same time understands the technical side of the issue.

Usually he guides clients from the brief to the launch of the project (website or advertising campaign). His task is to make client products constantly, quickly and at the lowest cost, acting as an intermediary between the customer and the team of performers. The size of his salary largely depends on the volume of work, since he receives a percentage of completed orders.

Most people come to this position as trainees with minimal knowledge, actively study within the company and after two or three years become department heads in an agency or go to the client side.

Initial requirements:

  • Knowledge of the basics of programming and website development
  • Project management methods - Waterfall/Agile
  • Creative approach to project development
  • Moderate/deep knowledge of design and user interfaces

Salaries in Moscow: from 25 to 120 thousand rubles per month (from trainee to manager).

 


2. Project manager within the company

Works on internal company projects, usually on staff. The most common type of Internet project managers. His tasks include not only managing the development and launch of the site, but also further support and development of the project. He must also maintain documentation and work with analytical data.

Companies usually hire a specialist with experience, or train a person on staff with a similar profession (for example, a marketer or website administrator). As a rule, he is the head of a department and develops by expanding the department, or by moving to another company with more complex tasks.

Initial requirements: 

  • Web basics and tech savvy
  • Knowledge of advertising and marketing features on the Internet
  • Desirable: website development experience
  • Desirable: project management classical cascade methodology (requirements, time, people, finances)

Salaries in Moscow: from 40 to 200 thousand rubles per month (from initial to top positions)


3. Internet entrepreneur is a jack of all trades

The newest type of Internet project manager, which is actively growing and developing.

On the one hand, these are managers of existing small businesses who want to independently control all the work on their company’s presence on the Internet. They have real experience in sales and interaction with people, they know the basics of business management and classical marketing, but they have little understanding of the features of web development and Internet marketing. A talented leader skillfully delegates powers and tasks, reserving marketing and strategic tasks and selecting a strong team to create and develop an Internet project.

On the other hand, these are startup entrepreneurs who create innovative businesses from scratch. They must be able not only to build and develop a product, but also to advertise and promote it, change and verify business models, and build communication with new clients.

Initial requirements:

  • Average/deep knowledge in the field of building and managing a business (people, finance)
  • Project management methods - Waterfall/Agile
  • Medium/deep knowledge in Internet marketing
  • Business modeling and Lean thinking
  • Leadership skills and ability to communicate with people

Salaries around the world:  From minus infinity to plus infinity

 


Attention, there is an error!


An Internet project manager is often confused with an IT project manager, although these are two different professions.

An IT project manager manages the development of technology projects and has serious programming experience. This is a separate caste, which can only be entered by having a good knowledge of the IT development market and mastering several programming languages.

At the same time, an Internet project manager can grow into an IT project manager by developing his technical skills.

 


What to learn: four main areas of knowledge


A good manager knows how to see the full picture of his project - even if it goes beyond his responsibility. To do this, he needs to understand several areas that require completely different knowledge.

1. Market analysis and consumer research

Even in order to make a blog for your own grandmother, you need to start by analyzing the environment, monitoring competitors and identifying the target audience. Will other grandmothers read the blog? Are there any grannies who make competing blogs?

You need to know exactly what you will do and for whom, and how you can stand out among competitors - regardless of whether the promotion and sales of the product will be your responsibility or someone else’s.

2. Web development

You must definitely understand how websites and mobile applications are made and how they work. Keep abreast of the latest technologies and use the most appropriate development methodologies in your work. Know the basics of web design and usability to create user-friendly websites. Be able to think structurally in order to create clear terms of reference for your team members.

3. Internet marketing and advertising

Modern Internet marketing and advertising have little in common with traditional marketing, advertising and PR.

Shooting banners from a cannon at sparrows, hoping that some media will write about you, inviting customers to buy is outdated. The main difference between Internet marketing is direct communication with customers and the realm of accurate data.

You need to understand how it works:  

  • Contextual advertising - advertisements in search engines and social networks (text and banners).
  • Search engine optimization - internal and external factors that influence ranking in search results.
  • SMM - building effective communication on social networks
  • Content marketing - attracting and retaining customers with the help of useful information (blogs, social networks, email marketing)

 

4. Project management

An important difference between an Internet project manager and his offline colleagues is the changing nature of the Internet. Long-term strategies and five-year plans do not work here - in a situation of complete uncertainty, you need to work through constant iterations, testing and changing strategies. Numerous development methodologies have been created to optimize work processes in new conditions - and a good manager must be able to implement them into the work of the team.

At the same time, teamwork is what all other processes are based on and what makes managers of all types and industries similar. People are the main resource of any project, and any manager who wants to achieve results needs to use this resource wisely.


Matrial prepared Natalya Skuratova, supervisor online course “Internet Project Manager” at the online education center "Netology".

Source: Startupfish