CAREER IN DIGITAL MARKETING- ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
Starting a career in digital marketing is a great choice. There is increased demand for digital marketing professionals worldwide, the salary is good (depending on experience) and it’s a job you can do on your own as a freelancer or by joining a digital marketing agency.
If you are starting out now, your first concern should be to build your skills. Digital marketing is not a ‘single thing’ that you learn by taking a course and then get to work.
There are many disciplines that make up digital marketing and you should be an expert in all of them if you want to reach the higher end of the pay scale.
The best way to learn digital marketing is to practice on your own website. Create a blog and start writing content. Spend time mastering SEO and then move on to Google Ads and Facebook marketing.
If you have the opportunity to join an established digital marketing agency then do it. The experience you will gain working with experts and on multiple projects will be invaluable.
If you want to become self-employed or start your own digital marketing business, then start your career as a freelancer and gradually build your clientele and expand your business
Digital marketing is a great career choice. We are living in a digital world and marketing budgets are moving to digital advertising and away from traditional marketing channels.
Companies need to improve their online visibility and there is an increased demand for digital marketing jobs worldwide.
The fact that you don’t need to be physically present in a particular location makes digital marketing ideal for people looking to start their own businesses or work as full-time freelancers.
Few steps you can follow today to pursue a career in digital marketing:
- Get to know the basics of digital marketing
For all the beginners, the first step is to understand what digital marketing is and observe how Digital Marketing works, the main components that enhance digital marketing.
It has several components that cover multiple areas of online promotion. But you need to understand that it’s not a one or two discipline, has some processes (channels) that can participate in the concept- Digital Marketing campaign. The list of channels through which internet marketing works are
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Usually covers two areas; Search Engine Optimization- organic SEO and advertising search, a paid one.
- Website Marketing – A way to promote and gain customers to your businessvia the website.
• Content Marketing – Ways to use different types of content in your digital or social media marketing campaigns.
• Email Marketing – Using your mail to sell the product or service.
• Social Media Marketing – Marketing of several social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchats.
• Mobile Marketing – Marketing on app stores like Google Play for Android and Apple store for IOS.
• Video Marketing – Marketing on Vimeo, YouTube, and several other legal video channels
• Affiliate Marketing – Generating sales by promoting other brand or products, service and getting a commission for that.
- Start your own website
Once you get to know the basics, the next step is to get your hands dirty and start practicing digital marketing.One of the best ways to apply different digital marketing concepts in the real world is to start your own website.
Digital marketing is not a theoretical concept, but it’s highly measurable and practical. It’s not enough to know the theory behind SEO and social media marketing but you need to know how to apply the different techniques in practice.
Throughout your digital marketing career, you’ll be asked to promote different kinds of websites to either increase their organic traffic (SEO) or sales through PPC and social media advertising.
To gain the necessary skills and confidence, start your own website that will combine both concepts.
In other words, set up a blog and work on increasing your rankings and at the same time either create a product or find a product to promote through advertising and try to make sales.
I know that this process will take time and if you are new to this, the learning curve will be big, but it’s the only way to build a solid foundation for your career.
Having your own website will not only help you to learn the different concepts but you can use it as a showcase to convince new employers or clients to trust you and secure a good contract or job.
When we hire new digital marketing specialists we don’t just look for certifications but for people who can prove their knowledge and having a website with high rankings and traffic is the best way to do this.
- Become an SEO Expert
If you are not good at SEO, you cannot be successful in the digital marketing career in the long term. You must become an SEO proficient and then build every other skill. With this SEO technique, you can learn how to create a dynamic website through which both you can generate income, and you have the option to apply the same technique to improve your Facebook paid campaigns and Google Ads. So, build your SEO career picture-perfect, and when you think that you have mastered all the skills of SEO then continue with the rest.
Get a Google Ads Certification
Part of your job responsibilities as a digital marketing consultant is to use Google Ads (previously known as Google AdWords), to promote products or services in the various Google properties and websites on the Internet.
The fastest way to acquire the necessary skills is to get a Google Ads certification. Google has a plethora of resources to help you become a Google AdWords Expert and getting a certification is a great way to prove to your clients or potential employers that you have the necessary skills.
- Facebook Ads Advertising
The next baby step is to start with Facebook Ads. As a digital marketer, you should know how the various social media networks work (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn) but in the recent trend, most of your time & campaign budget, will be spent on either Facebook or Instagram. Besides being a great social network, Facebook is now one of the best and important tools for any digital marketing campaign.
Achieving an organic exposure on Facebook is getting tedious, hence the only way to use Facebook as a tool to sell and to learn how to use their advertising platform. If you are the one who has followed the steps above earlier and have good knowledge of SEO, Google Ads then learning how to use Facebook Ads will not be difficult. Most of the concepts in Digital Marketing are much similar to PPC, yet you still need to learn how the tools could be used and familiarize yourself with the other Facebook policies.
- Become an expert in Google Analytics
Besides learning the different tools that can generate traffic, a digital marketing professional needs to know Analytics.
One of the main characteristics of any digital marketing campaign is that everything is measurable.
You know how many people viewed your campaigns, how many people clicked on your ads, how many conversions they generated, and a lot of other metrics that cover every aspect of a campaign.
To be able to make informed decisions based on real data, you need to know how to measure the effectiveness of a campaign and how to analyze the results.Your starting point is becoming an expert in Google Analytics.
- Know your attitudes and values
As well as hiring people based on their skills, competencies, and soft skills, many organizations hire people based on their values. This move towards values-based recruitment means it’s important that you have a good understanding of your personal attitudes and values. This can involve embarking on a journey of self-discovery, as you aim to unearth what is really important to you.
Organizations are looking for people who will ‘fit in’ with their company culture and who have the mindset to thrive in the work environment. In an interview, you need to exhibit the attitudes and values that will resonate with the recruiter. Show them that you’re excited by the opportunity.
- Understand how you can give value
Companies are not just hiring resources to fill a role. They are looking for people who can give value to the organization. They’re looking for people who fit in with their culture and whose values align with theirs.
By researching the company and conducting self-analysis, you can find out where there’s overlap between your values and theirs. Consider how you can add value to an organization and help it differentiate itself from its competitors.