Building A Career In Digital Marketing

Discussed below are ten tips and things to do to start a career in digital marketing:

1. You Need Some Online Presence

With almost everything digitized, you need to have an online presence for target audiences, customers, and clients to find you with ease. You also cannot be a competent digital marketer if you aren’t present online yourself. Employers will first look for you online before they can consider you fit for the job. Most employers will only hire digital experts with an extensive presence online. These are often perceived to be more experienced in the job.

You can therefore start small by creating social media accounts, start a marketing blog, and then link sites you have built to these blogs. These will be used as references in the hiring process.

2. Know What’s Trending

Unlike most industries, digital marketing is an ever-evolving industry. New trends and ideas have replaced many of the things that were considered relevant or ‘hot’ 5 months ago. For this reason, you need to keep up with the latest trends, as well know more about it before other people do. This way, it will be hard for you to fall behind, a factor many employers adore.

Knowing the latest trends can be somewhat intimidating to a beginner. Nevertheless, taking online classes, attending virtual seminars, and learning to be tech savvy can get you ahead of the game.

3. Be Creative

Digital marketing is a rather exciting career. It allows you to be creative with what you are doing, and even invent new ways and methods to make your work much easier. Although some systems are somewhat standardised or regulated, they shouldn’t necessarily limit your creativity. There is always a way to work around your projects to make them more efficient, unique, and worthwhile.

As mentioned earlier, digital marketing is all about being creative in everything you do. A creative mind has a higher chance of becoming a successful digital marketer as opposed to a static one.

4. Create An Exceptional Resume

You will need a dynamic resume before you can start looking for a job as a digital marketer. The resume needs to outline all your strengths, skills, and capabilities. Experts recommend creating more than one resume. This enables you to pick the best one based on the task/job at hand.

Instead of using the resume writing tactics taught in high school, why not check out various resume layouts and examples online. Here is a good guide on how to write your first resume in digital marketing. You can also find professional resume examples tailored especially for digital marketers.

5. Network and Socialize

In addition to creating an online presence and drafting a unique resume, you still need to get your name out there. Socializing and networking with the right individuals is one of the best ways to do this. You’ll, however, need to identify and join proper networking channels to get professional links and exposure. Participating in forums and interacting with professionals in the field can land you your dream job.  It also gives you a chance to learn from the best in this industry too.

6. Learn About Analytics

A proper understanding of analytics is needed to be able to design successful marketing campaigns. It is by analyzing the output data that you can know how poorly or well a campaign is doing. The fun part about this is that you don’t need a degree to learn analytics. Taking online lessons, or looking for a mentor to train you how are some of the best ways to learn analytics.

7. Experience is Key

Experience in digital systems and marketing is a huge factor for anyone looking to make a career in digital marketing. Looking for ways to gain experience as a marketer will always prove fruitful in the long run. One of the best ways to do this is by participating in projects organized by community organizations, friends, and even taking up gigs. You don’t necessarily have to be paid to participate in these. Helping market or develop a campaign for the community goes a long way in your career. It also gives you a chance to try out simple tactics and tricks to make a campaign successful.

8. Agree To All Projects

The tip above outlines the importance of gaining experience from offering free gigs whenever needed. This not only helps build your experience but also creates an avenue to encounter challenges you would face in real jobs. Saying yes to anything that gives you experience is always recommended in this area. Doing free projects also adds up to your list of skills and references.

9. Get a Trusted Certification

Although almost anyone can build a career out of digital marketing, only candidates with a certification in digital marketing make the best marketers.  Getting formal training in digital marketing, sitting for certification exams, and getting a certification in the same is therefore recommended. It not only shows how committed you are but also enriches your mind in the field as well. Digital marketers with a trusted certification always stand out in crowds of people who didn’t get any form of formal training and certification.

10. Be Ready For Entry-Level Jobs

Whether you got professional training from the best trainers in the industry, you still need to do entry-level jobs to build your way up. No one was born an expert in any field.  You, therefore, have to work yourself up the ladder. Avoiding entry-level jobs will only make it harder to find better jobs in the future. Doing entry-level jobs also prepares you for more challenging tasks ahead.