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How to Become a Digital Marketer: 9 Steps to Get a Job(2024)

How To Get A Digital Marketing Job

Digital marketing is an online promotion of brands, products, services, or people. Digital marketers write email campaigns and create social media profiles and other direct marketing campaigns for their clients.

The digital marketing career path can be very lucrative because it is one of the most in-demand skill sets.

If you’re interested in possibly obtaining a career in digital marketing, this article can help you learn how to find a job in digital marketing.

Quick Summary

  • A digital marketing specialist is a professional that manages digital marketing advertising and campaigns to promote brands, people, products, or businesses.
  • It is possible to get a job in digital marketing without a degree if you have experience in specific soft skills such as social media, writing, SEO, and more.
  • You need many skills to become a successful digital marketer, including writing skills, analytics, communication, social media algorithm knowledge, and more..
  • It is possible to get a digital marketing position without a degree in digital marketing by selecting a specialty, taking a digital marketing course, building your knowledge, building a portfolio, taking freelance opportunities, and more.

What Is A Digital Marketing Specialist?

A digital marketing specialist is a professional that manages digital marketing campaigns and digital advertising. They promote brands to grow their social media presence and promote people and products with email campaigns, ads, content creation, and more [1].

Digital Marketing

A successful digital marketing assistant understands digital marketing techniques. They use content such as eBooks, blog posts, email or mobile phone promotion, social media management, and more.

Can You Get A Job In Digital Marketing With No Marketing Degree?

While getting a digital marketing degree may make it easier to have a career in digital marketing, it is an option for specific digital marketing jobs. Suppose you have a creative writing, advertising, or graphic design degree. In that case, you may be able to get a digital marketing job because some of the digital marketing skills are similar. 

Also, you may not need a degree if you have experience with social media, writing, and SEO. Whether or not you need a degree depends on the marketing companies you are working for. 

Skills That Are Necessary To Be A Successful Digital Marketer

Here are some of the essential skills successful digital marketers need [2]:

  • Writing Skills: A large part of digital marketing involves writing emails and blog posts to attract customers. Strong writing skills can help those in digital marketing positions to create successful campaigns.
  • Communication: Digital marketers have to be able to communicate with their customers. Also, strong communication skills can help them reach their target audience. 
  • Analysis And Statistics: Digital markers need to be skilled with statistics and analysis to understand which digital marketing trends work for their clients. The ability to find the best marketing strategy for each business or brand can help a digital marketer succeed.
  • Social Media Algorithms: A successful marketer understands social media algorithms and can predict changes within the system.
  • Creative Graphic Design: While this is optional, a basic understanding of graphic design can allow marketers to assess the quality of the graphics they use in their digital marketing strategy.
  • Website Development: Blogs and sales pages are crucial parts of the digital marketing field, and understanding how to design them can be helpful for digital marketing specialists.
  • Pitching: Independent digital marketing specialists may need to pitch services to potential clients or be prepared for a job with potential employers in which they need to pitch potential campaigns to clients or hiring managers.

How To Get A Job In The Digital Marketing Industry Without Experience

A digital marketer has a comprehensive understanding of marketing education, online marketing, marketing techniques, and more. To get an entry-level marketing job, you will need to understand some essential marketing terms and processes.

Digital Marketing Process

Here is how to get a job in digital marketing without experience [3]:

1. Choose A Specialty Of Interest

There are a wide variety of specialties within digital marketing, including:

  • Search engine optimization
  • Pay-per-click advertising
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Influencer marketing

These specialties are essential to the digital marketing job and the company’s overall marketing strategy, so choose a specialty that interests you.

2. Build Your Knowledge

To build knowledge and become a digital marketing expert, you must understand digital advertising and its best practices. There are many free resources such as YouTube tutorials, SEO best practices guides, and more to build this knowledge of digital marketing.

Knowledge

3. Take A Course

To better understand digital marketing concepts, you can consider taking a digital marketing course or gaining a certificate. This is an excellent way to gain experience using marketing tools.

4. Build A Portfolio

Once you understand the basics, you can put your skills to the test by building a portfolio of marketing projects that you can showcase to a hiring manager. Exploring PPC advertising platforms like Google ads is a great way to give you an insight into your skills and your ability to show a digital marketing manager or hiring manager your knowledge.

AdSense

5. Network

To land a marketing job, ensure you are networking online and in person with potential employers, marketing specialists, and more. It can also be helpful to attend conferences and meetups to meet marketing professionals with hands-on industry experience to get your foot in the door with a potential employer.

6. Search Agency And In-House Positions

When trying to get into the digital marketing business, apply to both marketing agencies and search through in-house options. Working for an agency is a great way to gain experience with digital marketing specialists and build your portfolio.

7. Consider Closely Related Jobs 

You can gain experience in the digital marketing industry if you consider related jobs that can help you build technical skills and grow a portfolio. Some closely related jobs include:

  • Content Marketing Specialist
  • Technical Sales Rep
  • Social Media Manager
  • Digital Marketing Consultant
  • UI or UX Designer
  • Content Writer
  • Data Analyst

Each of these roles can give you skills that can translate to a career in digital marketing.

8. Build Experience With Freelancing

Job boards and freelancing platforms make searching for digital projects manageable, and you can do them from home. While this isn’t a great long-term solution, it can help to build your portfolio and understanding of digital marketing concepts.

Digital Marketing Freelance

9. Customize Your Resume And Cover Letter 

Customizing your CV and cover letter for each opportunity is crucial when applying for entry-level marketing positions.

Additional Tips For Getting A Position In Digital Marketing

Here are some additional tips for obtaining a digital marketing job:

  1. Create A Brand: Marketing yourself through social media marketing or other forms is a great way to show potential employers your digital marketing skills. You can show you understand branding by developing a brand for yourself and promoting it.
    “Your brand is what people are saying about you when you aren’t in the room.”
    – Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman, Amazon.com
  2. Foster An Online Presence: Having online outlets such as a blog, video channels, or social media profiles allows you more space to show your personality and abilities.
    “90 percent of people trust their peers on social networks while only 15 to 18% of people trust brands.”
    – Danny Brown, Award Winning Marketer, DannyBrown.me
  3. Understanding New Trends: You can show potential employers that you understand all the current marketing trends by using them online.
  4. Strengthen Creativity: Consistently improving your skills, whether that is writing, graphic design, or another skill, is a great way to show passion for the industry and increase your chance of getting a paid position.
  5. Consider Unique Opportunities: When you begin your digital marketing career, consider freelance or part-time opportunities to help you build your soft skills and relevant skills and gain experience for your portfolio.

What You Can Expect From An Entry-Level Marketing Job

If you are applying for a digital marketing job, you should know what to expect once you get that entry-level position. Here are some of the everyday tasks you can expect when breaking into becoming a digital marketer. 

Endless Learning

Digital marketing is a lifelong learning business. The industry is constantly changing, and marketers need to stay up on the latest trends. They do this by reading articles, attending webinars, using online learning platforms, and networking.

Online Course

Processes 

When you become a digital marketer, you will need to adhere to several standard operating procedures or SOPs.

SOPs are detailed instructions made to outline traditional processes such as creating landing pages, measuring conversion rate optimization, and running various campaigns.

Research

One of the most common tasks you will perform in these marketing roles is data entry and research. You might need to collect data from several sources and input it into the marketing software or spreadsheets.

Research

Teamwork 

Digital marketers work closely together as a team. They may collaborate with designers on creative projects, work with copywriters to create compelling ads, or brainstorm with other marketing experts.

Autonomy

As you gain experience with digital marketing and your position, you can expect increased autonomy over tasks and projects you complete. Gaining autonomy over time is a key aspect of professional growth that allows you to steer your career path and develop skills. 

FAQs

Is Digital Marketing A Decent Career?

Digital marketing is an excellent career. We live in a largely digital world, and marketing is moving more and more toward digital advertising. Companies continue to need to improve their online branding and visibility, and there is an increasing demand for digital marketing. 

Digital Ads

How Much Do Digital Marketers Get Paid?

An entry-level digital marketer earns around $40,000 per year. Mid-level marketers and affiliate marketing managers earn around $72,000 a year, and senior-level managers and marketers earn around $82,000 a year. Salaries also vary by business and location.

Can A Digital Marketer Work From Home?

Yes, a digital marketer can work from home and earn a decent salary. Getting a digital marketing job is one of the easiest ways for a newcomer to get started in the industry. 

How Long Will It Take To Learn Digital Marketing?

It typically takes people around one to three months to learn marketing tools and techniques, but it can take up to six months or a year to practice and perfect those skills. 

What Is The Most Difficult Part Of Digital Marketing?

The most difficult part of any digital marketing job is to generate quality leads. Finding new customers is key to promoting businesses, but quality leads can sometimes be tough to find.

Lead Generation

What Are The Biggest Mistakes That Digital Marketers Make?

The biggest mistakes that digital marketers make include not having a blog, avoiding social media, not considering mobile users, not offering discounts, underusing keyword research, lacking customer service, ignoring the competition, and targeting an audience that is too broad.

Where Can I Start Learning Digital Marketing?

You can start to learn digital marketing by enrolling in an online course, learning from experts, subscribing to blogs, listening to podcasts, watching webinars, watching YouTube videos and social media channels, and more.

Which Digital Marketing Role Is The Best Paid?

Email marketing specialists are the highest paid at an average salary of $54,000 a year, followed by a digital marketing specialist at $50,000 a year.

Money

Start Your Digital Marketing Career Today

To become successful in digital marketing, there are many skills you need to familiarize yourself with, such as writing skills, communication, statistics, analysis, knowing social media algorithms, website development, pitching, and more.

You can land a job in the digital marketing industry by choosing a specialty, building your knowledge, taking a course or getting a certificate, building a portfolio by doing freelance work, networking, customizing your CV and cover letter for each job, searching agency and in-house positions, and more.

If you can learn the necessary marketing skills and showcase them to a prospective employer, you have a good chance of getting a job in digital marketing.

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Article by

Matt Diggity

Matt is the founder of Diggity Marketing, LeadSpring, The Search Initiative, The Affiliate Lab, and the Chiang Mai SEO Conference. He actually does SEO too.

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