How do I Start a Career in Digital Marketing?

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USD 193200 Million

What do you think this amount represents?

Well, the figure represents the worth of the global online advertising market in 2020. This size is further projected to reach USD 235760 Million by 2026, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21% from 2021 to 2026. It is evident that companies are investing a huge share of their budgets into digital marketing campaigns. Technological advancements, affordable internet packs, and the rising usage of smartphones has driven the demand for digital advertising.

Digital marketing, in contrast to traditional marketing, uses online channels for the promotion of products and services. These channels could be email, social media platforms, search engines, websites, and mobile applications. You must have witnessed many digital advertisements while using your smartphone – some ads are flashing at the top of the websites, some appear as a pop up on mobile applications, and some may start playing while watching any YouTube video.

Behind all those catchy advertisements, an entire team is putting its efforts and utilizing digital marketing best practices. Companies need skilled marketing professionals who can think creatively and grab the attention of the targeted audience. With growing competition in this industry, it becomes imperative for employees to enroll in a digital marketing course before starting a job in this domain.

If you are new to digital marketing and don’t know how to get started, then this article is for you. We would discuss some steps to help you gain the right skills and land your dream job in digital marketing.

Your Roadmap to a Digital Marketing Career

Digital marketing presents a lot of challenging opportunities for professionals at entry-level as well as senior-level positions. You should keep in mind that one cannot become a digital marketer in one go; people usually begin by gaining expertise in any one of its aspects. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Pay-Per-Click marketing, email marketing, and affiliate marketing are some of the popular facets of digital marketing. A beginner can get started with any one of these domains and then gradually progress to the position of a digital marketing manager.

Steps to Follow

Here are the steps you can follow to start a digital marketing career.

Know the basics

The first thing you should do is understand the basics of digital marketing. This includes how to attract more customers, engage them, and convince them to buy the products, the buyer’s journey, the sales funnel, and ways to optimize the sales process. Next, one may gain a complete overview of SEO, SMM, PPC, and other forms of digital marketing.

Build your own website

Nothing can give you more practical exposure in digital marketing than creating your own website. You’ll get to work on it from scratch and keep on experimenting by launching different campaigns and trying to increase the traffic to your website. You may start with SEO strategies, upload relevant blogs, and do content marketing. You can then start promoting your products and blogs on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Learn to use some digital marketing tools

Digital marketers use various handy tools for their day-to-day activities. Right from planning a marketing campaign, deciding the budget, to tracking the performance of the launched campaigns, a range of tools are available in the market. So, it is always beneficial to have hands-on experience in using tools like SEMRush, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Google Ads, Screaming Frog, HubSpot, and BuzzSumo.

Consider working as a freelancer

One of the top reasons why professionals prefer a digital marketing career is the flexibility of working from anywhere. One need not join a fixed time hectic job, there is always an option of working as a freelancer as all activities are carried out online. Handling SEO campaigns, PPC campaigns, or social media campaigns will give you relevant experience and take you a step closer towards becoming a proficient digital marketing manager.

Add certifications to your portfolio

There are many digital marketing certifications one can achieve to demonstrate their skills in this domain. Google Analytics certification, HubSpot content marketing certification, Facebook Blueprint Certification, Online Marketing Certified Professional (OMCP), and Hootsuite Academy Marketing certification are some of the industry-recognized credentials that will take you ahead of your peers.

Take up a training course

Following all the above steps might be quite overwhelming for some people. So another approach to start a digital marketing career is to take up an online training course. You’ll find university programs as well as third-party online courses mentored by industry experts who know the latest trends and best practices of digital marketing. You wouldn’t have to worry about the study materials or tools as they are included in the course. There are industry projects, quizzes, and case studies as well that will reinforce your learning.

Finally… How is the Career Growth in Digital Marketing?

We have already discussed how high the digital advertising market size is going to be in the next five years. If you look at the future of workforce reports by the World Economic Forum or McKinsey, you’ll know that digital skills would remain in high demand in the future across all industrial sectors, including the field of marketing.

Digital marketing managers are already earning an average annual base pay of $73K in the US as per Glassdoor. With experience and certifications, their salary can go as high as $112K. Some of the top firms hiring digital marketing managers include IBM, HP, Amazon, Verizon, Accenture, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Walt Disney Company. As such, there is a growing interest among professionals to step into the world of digital marketing.

Moreover, LinkedIn has also listed Digital Marketing Specialists among the top ten most in-demand jobs with global job openings reported to be around 860K. The most sought after skills for a digital marketing specialist included content strategy, Google Analytics, SEO, social media marketing, and Google Ads. All these stats would surely make you confident about starting a career as a digital marketing manager. So, when are you taking a digital marketing course?