How to Start a Career in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is one of the most exciting and flexible career paths today. With businesses of all sizes needing a strong online presence, there’s never been a better time to break into the industry. And the best part? You don’t need a marketing degree or years of experience to begin.
When I first stepped into digital marketing, I didn’t have all the answers, I just knew I wanted to work a remote job and write content for brands I love. Fast forward to today, I help businesses find their voice and visibility through SEO, content strategy and smart online marketing.
What is Digital Marketing?
Let’s clear this up first: digital marketing isn’t just posting on social media or running ads. It’s an entire online ecosystem that helps businesses grow. From SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to email marketing, content strategy and analytics.
Here are the main branches:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Helping websites rank higher on Google.
Content Marketing: Writing blogs, guides or posts that attract and engage customers.
Social Media Marketing: Building brands and communities through platforms
Paid Ads (PPC): Running ad campaigns and retaining customers through smart campaigns.
Analytics: Measuring what’s working and optimize accordingly.
Start by exploring each area, you’ll quickly see which area’s excite you most.
Learn the Basics of Digital Marketing
There are tons of free resources out there to help you start learning. By dedicating just one hour a day to learning, your consistency will pay off! These are my favourite free resources I used when starting out:
Google Digital Garage
Hubspot Academy
Coursera & Udemy
YouTube
Start Practicing
You don’t need to wait for someone to hire you to start doing digital marketing. You could try to create your own brand or blog. Start by picking a niche that interests you and start posting content you love. This doesn’t have to be overly complicated!
Build a Portfolio
Once you’ve done a few projects, paid or unpaid, start keeping track of the results. These include before and after metrics, screenshots of your campaigns and short summaries of what you did and what impact it had. Even if your client was just your friend’s Etsy shop, results are results.
Apply Smartly, Not Blindly
When you start applying for jobs or freelance gigs, tailor every single application. Each company is looking for someone who cares about what they’re offering. They’re looking to see if you can enhance their brand & how you can add value to their team. Having a portfolio ready is a great way to highlight your skillset and where you differentiate.
Keep Learning
Digital marketing never stops evolving, yesterdays'‘s trend is tomorrow’s spam. This is one of the things that make digital marketing so exciting, but also scary! Go ahead and sign up to that free course, launch your mini passion project & start calling yourself a digital marketer.
