NO BS MARKETER “That’s Not a Real Job”

 

In 2025, you can manage five foreign clients, run paid ad campaigns, design content strategies, consult brands, and close deals; all without leaving your bedroom in Maharagama. You don’t need to own a shop. You are the shop. But unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, if your work doesn’t come with a salary slip or an office with a view of the Parliament Lake, your relatives assume you're either: 

a) Running a pyramid scheme 

b) Unemployed but “pretending to be busy” 

c) Secretly trying to go abroad (so they approve) 

It's both funny and tragic. 

Ask any young digital marketer in Sri Lanka; the biggest obstacle isn’t client acquisition. It’s parental approval. 

 

SMMA (Social Media Marketing Agency) Owners Are Not Playing 

Let’s get real. A 23-year-old running a social media agency from Sri Lanka is managing international brands, consulting on brand positioning, optimizing ad funnels, writing copy that converts in three seconds, and generating six-figure returns for their clients. Meanwhile, they’re still getting asked by their family when they’ll sit for an MBA or “apply to John Keels or MAS.” 
This is the Sri Lankan paradox: We send our kids to learn English, teach them how to use a computer, push them into marketing degrees, and then completely freak out when they actually do marketing online. But guess what? These agency owners are doing the work that traditional agencies now desperately try to imitate; faster, smarter, and way cheaper. They know trends before they trend. They speak the native tongue of Gen Z. They don’t wait three weeks to make a creative; they do it yesterday. And they don’t need a “brand workshop” to know a company has an identity crisis. They spot it by looking at your Instagram bio. 

Parents / In Laws, Listen Up 

This part is for the parents. The aunties. The uncles. The "concerned" neighbours. Please stop asking your son or daughter when they’ll get a “real job.” They have one. They just don’t wear shoes for it. In fact, your child may be earning more in one international client retainer than your generation’s average monthly income. And they’re doing it without needing to go abroad or beg a company for “exposure.” If they say they’re running a digital agency; don’t laugh. Ask them how it works. Ask them who their clients are. Ask them how you can support them. Because let me tell you, the rest of the world already is.  

 

 

Why Sri Lanka Still Doesn’t Get It 

Our economic thinking hasn’t evolved past the “sell a physical product = profit” model. If it’s not something you can weigh on a scale or put in a bag, people assume you’re jobless. But here’s the thing: in today’s economy, services scale faster than products. A social media agency can go from 2 to 10 clients in 3 months with zero additional overheads. No rent. No warehousing. No inventory. Just talent, tools, and time. Meanwhile, a physical product business is begging customs not to hold their container hostage. We’re still playing checkers in a chess game.  

 

 

Now, let’s not forget the content creators; the YouTubers, TikTokers, Instagrammers, and UGC creators. These guys are the front lines of attention. And attention is what the entire marketing industry is built on now. Many of them collaborate with digital marketers and agency owners. It’s not one or the other. It’s an ecosystem. A content creator brings the eyeballs. A strategist turns those eyeballs into conversions. A media buyer monetizes it. A copywriter wraps it in value. A client cashes in. It’s a beautiful system; but Sri Lanka still sees it as a “waste of time.” 

 What Needs to Change 

If we want to retain our best talent, stop the brain drain, and build a future-proof economy, we need to radically shift our thinking. 

Here’s how: 

1. Respect service-based digital work. Whether it’s copywriting, ad management, or UGC scripting; it's skilled labour. Treat it that way. 

2. Encourage digital entrepreneurship. A 19-year-old building a SMMA is more likely to create jobs than someone stuck in a job they hate. 

3. Promote digital education. Schools and universities should teach real-world skills like performance marketing, client pitching, and digital brand strategy; not just case studies from 2006. 

4. Stop mocking ambition. Not everyone needs to be an engineer. If your daughter wants to be a strategist, let her. If your son wants to manage international clients from his iPad, don’t call it “playing on the internet.”  

 

If you’re a social media agency owner, a digital consultant, or an aspiring marketer reading this, don’t let the noise get to you. You are not behind. You are not weird. You are early. Your uncle might not get it, but your client in Melbourne will. Focus on being excellent. Deliver real results. Build case studies. Nurture relationships. Charge what you’re worth. And most importantly, be ethical; don’t fake it till you make it. Master it till you earn it. Don’t chase clout, chase competence. You’ll sleep better at night, and your clients will stay longer.  

Let’s retire the idea that “real work” looks a certain way. Let’s empower young Sri Lankans to build global careers from local soil. Let’s stop shaming ambition and start celebrating it, even if it doesn’t look like what we’re used to. The world has changed. Let’s not be the last to notice.