How to Get Started in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is an exciting industry as it allows you to work across many areas such as social media, email, SEO, content creation, analytics, or PPC. Here are some simple steps to help you get started:
1) Get a qualification or digital marketing certification – A digital marketing qualification will show that you have a certain level of knowledge and skills. However, it’s important to pick a credible certification that is internationally recognized, informed and taught by experts, updated continuously (as the pace of digital can be hard to keep up with!), acknowledged by top marketing associations and offers career opportunities.
Learn about digital marketing tools and platforms – There are a lot of tools you should use boost digital marketing activities across a range of channels. Here are some great examples:
- Social media marketing – Hootsuite, BuzzSumo & SkedSocial
- Data and analytics – Google Analytics 4, Kissmetrics & Data Boards
- Email marketing – Marketo, MailChimp & Campaign Monitor
- SEO – Ahrefs, Screaming Frog & SEMRush
- Paid search & Social – Wordstream, AdEspresso & Google Ads Editor
- UX and Design – Canva, Hotjar & Google Optimize
- AI – Jasper, ChatGPT & Murf
These tools will help you to perform a variety of key functions to optimize and measure your digital marketing campaigns.
Build your personal network by joining digital marketing groups – Creating a network or joining an online group on LinkedIn will help you to connect with other marketers or budding marketers. Through this network you can get advice, ask questions or even find out about a job opening that you could apply for.
4) Follow or listen to digital marketing experts – Learning from experts is a great way to understand more about digital marketing and keep on top of any trends. Experts you should be aware of and who have worked with the Digital Marketing Institute include.
5) Keep on top of digital marketing trends – There’s always something new to learn about digital marketing so it’s important to keep up with trends and developments. Along with following experts you should check out our resources page for regular blogs, podcasts and webinars on all areas of digital marketing.
6) Start acquiring AI marketing expertise – As a new and rapidly expanding skills area, having knowledge and expertise in artificial intelligence can make you a top candidate for any job. Companies are looking to integrate AI into their products and applications to make them faster and more personalized. Examples of areas of AI you can learn about as a marketer are natural language processing (like Chat GPT), decision-making algorithms and image recognition.
6 Expert Tips on Getting into Digital Marketing
When you’ve set your sights on a career as a digital marketer, you can take certain steps to find success in any position and industry. Here are six tips to help you specialize, strategize, and streamline your career.
Get Digital Marketing Experience through an Internship or Volunteering
The key to kickstarting any career is to get experience. The best way to do this when you’re starting out is to look for volunteering or internship opportunities.
While these positions are normally unpaid, the experience you will get will be invaluable. Look locally for any opportunities or give a shout-out to your network or across social media to see if anyone has an opening.
Be creative with your posts to get attention. Think about what your strengths are and the things you are passionate about.
Pick a Digital Marketing Specialty & Study
hile many companies do look for generalist digital marketers, many marketing departments are looking for specialists that can optimize a certain area such as SEO or analytics.
So it pays to pick a specialty that you’re interested in and build up your knowledge and skills in that area. Do some research and see what books can give you insights (Seth Godin is a marketing guru that has written many books on marketing) or look for videos that can give you practical knowledge (there are tons of tutorials on YouTube that can teach you how to use digital marketing tools or platforms).
Attend a marketing conference
Although knowledge and resources are widely available from podcasts, blogs and webinars, investing in a conference or event offers you benefits that other sources can’t.
At digital marketing conferences, you have the opportunity to listen to global industry experts, get advice from marketing professionals, and get insight into future digital marketing trends. There are tons of conferences out there so prioritize what’s important to you. Is it the topics covered? Is it the caliber of speakers? Is it the local angle to make contacts you can tap into?
A lot of marketing conferences usually have networking events where you can talk to global experts. You could also identify a mentor while networking that could help kickstart and shape your career.
Become a Member of a Professional Marketing Body
Digital marketing is a professional industry, meaning that being a member of a professional body can help demonstrate your credibility and stand out from competitors when it comes to the interview stage.
You could join a body such as the American Marketing Association, the Australian Marketing Institute, or the Canadian Marketing Association. Explore what each marketing body offers such as networking opportunities, training, or events to see if can offer you value.
Learn how Successful Brands use Marketing
Often the best way to learn if by looking at how leading brands have succeeded in their marketing campaigns or strategies. Different brands use different tactics dependent on factors such as their audience, industry, USPs and resources.
Keep Learning About Digital Marketing
Although education can be a valuable asset to any career in digital marketing, learning doesn’t stop when school is out. Investing in training throughout your career will help you become a stand-out digital marketer with varied and in-demand skills.
As we already mentioned, the digital marketing industry continually evolves so your industry knowledge should too.
Reasons to Learn Digital Marketing
Learning digital marketing is a way for you to get into an exciting industry that’s constant;y changing and offers a great path for career advancement. Here are some of the best reasons to learn digital marketing:
- There’s huge demand for digital skills – Our recent survey with CMOs found significant shortages in digital skills with the top three being data analysts (47 percent), general digital marketing skills (37 percent), and UX designers (34 percent). This means that companies want people with digital skills across industries, particularly as technologies like AI become more important.
- Companies cite a lack of digital skills as a barrier to growth – 71% of CEOs anticipate the skills and labor shortage is one of the biggest business disrupters reported Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey while Korn Ferry predicts the digital skills gap will cost businesses trillions of dollars by 2030. With digital skills, you will be an in-demand candidate with lots of job opportunities.
- You can earn a good salary – According to talent.com, the average digital marketing salary in the United States is $65,948 per year. Entry-level positions start at $49,993 while most experienced workers can make up to $107,387 per year. With this kind of salary on offer, it’s well worth learning digital marketing.
- It can offer you flexibility – Many digital marketers have the option to work remotely or as a freelancer or consultant. In fact, the number of workers searching for freelance and temporary work has more than trebled reports Aspire’s ‘2023 Interim Recruitment Trends’ research. The demand for skilled digital marketers means that companies are willing to offer perks like remote working as a way to attract and retain talent.