Nine Ways To Launch A Successful Career In Digital Marketing
Businesses are flocking towards the modern-day marketing initiatives with gusto. Taking into consideration the real-time nature of projects, and the immediate impact they can have on an organisation; a career as a digital marketer is one filled with potential and opportunity, and one that you don’t want to miss out on!
While it’s certainly one of the most rewarding career choices you can make, contrary to popular belief, it’s not easy to just jump straight into a successful career in digital marketing. To reach your potential as a digital marketer, you must first do some groundwork before you launch your career.
To help you reach your potential as a digital marketer and to guarantee your successful future, here are our top nine tips on how to launch your career in digital marketing.
1) Build your online presence
The first place any prospective employer or client will go to look for you when they consider a professional relationship is, obviously, online. If you’re advising someone that you can deliver a successful digital marketing campaign, you must have real time evidence of this that they can find for themselves.
This means creating personal or professional digital marketing blogs, social media accounts linking to a website you’ve built or previous projects you’ve worked on. Building your personal online brand is the first and most essential step to becoming successful in your digital marketing career.
2) Stay up to date with current trends
Digital marketing is evolving at breakneck speed. Thirty years ago, it would have been unfathomable to read a newspaper online, and the term SEO was just a twinkle in the eye of the past. Today, people are making successful careers out of both of those mediums so who knows what new heights digital marketing will reach in the next ten or five years, or even the next six months?
With the constant evolution of digital marketing practice, it’s crucial that you stay up to date with current trends by signing up to relevant news lists, conducting thorough online research, attending local seminars, and by following some of the great digital marketers in your niche.
This career is one that you need to live and breathe if you want to do well and make the most of the potential opportunity that is yours for the taking.
3) Don’t be afraid to get creative
There are proven systems and methods in place which are a good starting point for your digital marketing campaign. But, if you have a unique idea that might have substance, don’t be afraid to implement it. The whole digital marketing sector has been built upon people’s unique ideas, and if you’re just about to stumble upon the next big initiative, you need to be brave enough to apply it; nowhere does it say that you have to conform!
4) Network
Networking is imperative to the success of your digital marketing career. It’s not an area that you can succeed in by working alone because of all the various elements involved in running a successful campaign. Making valuable contacts will ensure that you get the benefit of the experience of others, and will widen the scope of your offering.
It’s also advisable that you build up your own network of specialised experts. Get an SEO expert on your team, a graphic designer, a copywriter, and a web developer. If you’re going it alone, having those strong bonds will allow you to offer a much more holistic approach to a client’s digital marketing project making them much more likely to choose you.
5) Build a portfolio of your successes
There is no louder voice than that of a satisfied customer. Build a substantial portfolio with all your recent testimonials and examples of successful projects you’ve worked on. Having a broad range of your skills presented in a visual document will ensure that potential clients or employees have easy access to a sample of your skillset and will have no doubt that you’re the right person for their project.
6) Learn analytics
Analytics give you the power to analyse the success of your campaigns. The data will show how well (or poorly!) the market responds to you and will help you make recommendations for future campaigns.
Analytics are relatively instant to access due to the instantaneous nature of digital marketing and to ensure the success of each and every campaign it’s important that you have a thorough understanding of all analytics available. Google, email programs, and web providers all provide valuable analytics, and the data they provide will directly impact your processes.
7) Get experience
One of the best ways to kickstart your career in digital marketing is to immerse yourself in it. Help your friends out with their projects and get involved in as many side gigs as you can to get a full range of experience. As much of a bigger picture understand as you can get in the area will help you provide a valuable service and make sound recommendations to your clients and employer. Digital marketing can be an incredibly creative role so as many places as you can be that spark your ingenuity, the better. This might involve working for free, or at a low rate in exchange for testimonials but the experience alone will be worth it.
8) Understand all basic concepts
While you may choose to specialise in SEO, social media, or website promotion services, it’s essential that you have a thorough understanding of all digital marketing concepts if you want to be successful. This includes email marketing campaigns, web development, mobile marketing strategy, planning, execution and analytics. Without a bigger picture, it’ll be difficult to make recommendations and implement what will hopefully lead to a successful campaign.
9) Get certified
Amateur digital marketers are to be admired because they’re taking the resources that are at their fingertips and they’re having a go. But nothing will compare to the success of a digital marketer with formal qualifications, and once you become fully certified, this will automatically help you stand head and shoulders above the competition.