Digital marketing is a fantastic job for everyone looking to start a career in a high-growth industry. You don’t need a specialized degree to become a digital marketer. You can acquire the necessary skills online through dedicated courses and by working on your online properties.
In this guide, you'll learn the benefits of pursuing a digital marketing career.
1. Great Career Opportunities
In the last few years, the purchasing journey has been increasingly pushed into the online world. Brands have responded by shifting their advertising focus and spending into digital channels, leading to massive changes in the job market.
There has been a vast increase in demand for marketers with social skills, with paid social media positions increasing by 116.4%.
Elsewhere, jobs in ad serving (84.6%), analytics (46.1%), and web content production (30.3%) have all seen significant increases too.
This means professionals in digital marketing have plenty of access to career opportunities.
The most popular digital marketing positions include:
SEO Specialists: Experts with extensive search engine optimization knowledge. These professionals can improve search rankings through keyword analytics, backlinks, and on-page optimization.
Digital marketing specialists: Professionals with a range of skills in designing, executing, and managing online advertising campaigns. They offer support with PPC, SEO, social media advertising, and more.
Social media managers: Social media marketing experts can help with the creation and promotion of social campaigns. These experts may either focus on a single social media channel or multiple avenues for promotion.
Content marketing specialists: Content marketing specialists are writing experts with sensational keyword research and web analytics skills. They can produce content, as well as help with content promotion and outreach.
eCommerce specialists: Specialists in eCommerce handle the development and execution of eCommerce marketing campaigns, using paid ads, SEO, and email marketing funnels.
2. Ability to Work from Home
Given the opportunity, 98% of people say they’d work remotely at least part-time. Digital marketers operate mostly through cloud-based tools and technology. This means a career in digital marketing is perfect for anyone who wants to work from home.
All you really need to stay productive in your role is access to the right technology. This could mean using cloud-based tools to track the performance of SEO campaigns and PPC marketing campaigns. It may also involve uploading content to websites and creating social media campaigns from a distance.
While some digital marketing professionals prefer to work in an office so they can bounce ideas off their peers, many are happy following a remote working routine and practicing digital marketing from home.
Just some of the most common careers suitable for work-from-home marketing jobs include:
- Search engine marketing
- SEO expert
- Email marketing manager
- Affiliate marketing
- Social media marketing manager
- Paid advertisement expert
3. Earn a Good Salary
The exact income available from your digital marketing career will depend on what kind of job you pursue. On average, however, the digital marketing salary for in-demand marketing positions is on the rise.
As companies continue to rely more heavily on digital marketing strategies to reach customers, they’re also willing to pay more for the right skills.
Usually, when you begin your career in digital marketing, you’ll start at a “Junior” level, helping with more basic tasks in SEO, social media, and content production.
Junior positions are intended for those still gaining experience and can pay around $40k per year, depending on your responsibilities, and your employer.
As you begin to gain more experience, your earning potential will increase, for instance:
- Digital marketing specialists: 5-9 years of experience: average earning of $55k per year
- Digital marketing manager: 10+ years of experience: average earning of $97k per year
4. Work as a Freelancer
Sometimes, the concept of working for an employer in your marketing career won’t appeal to you. Fortunately, there are plenty of scopes to create your own path as a freelancer.
If you decide to manage your own career as a digital marketing freelancer, you could earn anywhere between $50 and $200 per hour. Notably, marketers with a wide range of skills, specialist knowledge, and experience will usually earn the most.
Freelance positions give you the opportunity to choose exactly how much you want to charge your clients. You can pick which companies you work with based on personal values. Plus, you’ll have the freedom to choose your own hours.
Notably, the freelance digital marketing landscape can be quite saturated, so it’s important to ensure you have a personal brand that stands out. Work on building a portfolio to demonstrate your experience in your chosen area of marketing.
5. Start Your Own Business
If you love working as a digital marketing consultant and want to take your career to the next level, you can even start your own business. This usually involves hiring other marketing professionals to work with you as part of a digital marketing agency.
Agencies usually offer a wide variety of marketing services to their clients, ranging from SEO audits and analysis to content creation.
Creating your own digital marketing agency is a lot simpler today because you can hire and work with remote employees from around the world. There’s no need to purchase an office space or dedicated building.
When starting your digital marketing business, you’ll need to:
- Choose which kinds of services you want to offer, and source the correct talent.
- Build your online presence with a website and marketing strategy.
- Define your business model and pricing strategy.
- Ensure you have access to the right tools for marketing success.
- Develop a strategy for capturing and retaining long-term clients.
6. No Degree or Prior Experience Required
As mentioned above, you’ll be more likely to get a high-paying job in digital marketing if you have experience in your field. However, you don’t need a high-level degree to get a job. You can start by understanding what digital marketing is, or even take a few simple courses online to ensure you’re on the right track.
Start by taking digital marketing courses related to the part of digital marketing you most want to get involved with. As your career starts to progress, you’ll be able to develop new skills and potentially offer a wider range of services.
7. Non-Boring Job
Perhaps most importantly, a career in digital marketing is never dull. It can be a challenging job, particularly when marketing trends change so rapidly.
Social media ad settings, PPC campaign options, and even SEO algorithms are always updating to keep you on your toes. At the same time, the types of marketing with the biggest impact on your audience are likely to change as the marketplace evolves.
With digital marketing, you need to constantly learn to stay ahead of the curve, and rapidly increase your skills over time. You’ll also have endless opportunities to meet new people, learn about different companies, and help brands grow.
Because this career path interacts with virtually every industry, you could even pursue opportunities in the sectors you’re most passionate about, like medicine, or technology. Working in a diverse environment means you’ll never get stuck in a rut with your marketing career.
How to Get Started in Digital Marketing
Getting started with a career in digital marketing is surprisingly straightforward.
The first step is simply deciding what kind of marketing career you’re most interested in. Explore different options like SEO and social media marketing and ask yourself which one appeals most to your specific skills and passions.
1. Learn the essentials
Though you don’t need a full degree in digital marketing to thrive in this career, you will need some basic knowledge. Look for opportunities to learn about digital marketing through online courses, focusing on the area you’re most interested in. You can consider options such as website marketing, content marketing, or affiliate marketing.
If you’re not sure which area to specialize in yet, you might start with a number of different courses to see which tactics you feel more comfortable with. Develop marketing skills in high demand, like social media marketing, content, and SEO.
If you want to become a comprehensive digital marketing manager, you may need to expand your knowledge in multiple areas of advertising, from video to mobile, and even email promotion.
2. Build a website
Once you know the essentials for your career in digital marketing, it’s time to start building a platform where you can advertise yourself. Creating your own website or portfolio site is an excellent way to apply the skills you’ve learned in the real world. It’s also a chance to highlight your talents and begin drawing the attention of potential leads.
Your website can be as simple or complex as you like, but it should follow the best practices of SEO, with backlinking, keyword research, and technical optimization.
Your site should also have an area where you can showcase your work, and a blog where you’ll be able to post content to improve your image as a thought leader.
3. Work on mastering SEO
You’ll be able to learn some of the basics of what SEO is and how it works when you start developing your knowledge of digital marketing. However, it’s important to remember that a good career in digital marketing requires a commitment to constantly updating your education.
Search engine optimization techniques are influenced by algorithms created by Google and other search engine leaders. These algorithms are constantly changing, based on what the search engines learn about their user’s search journey.
Commit to constantly learning about the latest algorithm updates, so you can apply what you know to both your own site and client campaigns.
4. Get certified in Google Ads
A lot of digital marketing positions involve either consulting on or creating Google Ads campaigns. Otherwise known as “PPC” advertising, this is the process of using paid campaigns to promote websites and products on search engines.
Google Ads campaigns can accelerate a digital marketing strategy’s result when combined with SEO. By getting certified in Google Ads, you can demonstrate your expertise to potential clients, and improve your chances of future job opportunities.
5. Explore social media advertising
If you want your digital marketing career to include some social media campaigns, you’ll need to learn how different aspects of social media promotion work. Notably, each channel has its own rules and features to consider.
Most social media marketers start by learning how to use Facebook and Instagram, then progress to exploring options like LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok.
If you have an idea of what kind of companies you want to work with, this should help you decide where to build your social media skills.
For instance, expertise in LinkedIn is essential if you work with B2B brands. You might also need to consider learning about TikTok to support companies trying to reach younger customers.
6. Work on your analytical skills
No matter where your career in digital marketing takes you, there’s a good chance your clients will want to see proof you can deliver results. Learning how to use analytics tools can help you to prove your value and ROI.
Google Analytics is one of the most common tools used in digital marketing campaigns. When you learn to use Google Analytics, you can show your clients or employer which campaigns have the best impact on their results.
You can also use your collected information to better decide future marketing strategies. Making informed decisions based on real data should generate better outcomes long-term.
7. Start building experience
Once you have all the skills required to impress potential employers and clients, it’s time to start working on your experience. You might start by volunteering for low-end marketing positions or working with local companies trying to fill junior marketing positions.
Another option could be to develop your skill as a freelance digital marketer. If necessary, this is a great way to begin your marketing career around another job, as you can choose your own hours. Working with clients will also force you to enhance your skills and set up best-practice processes for your work.
Look at online freelancer platforms like Upwork and Fiverr for work opportunities.
Start with small, manageable tasks first, and read the job posting requirements clearly before applying. Keeping your prices low should help convince clients you’re worth a shot.
8. Commit to constant learning
As mentioned above, a digital marketing job is never dull, because the landscape changes. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and continue attracting new clients or employers, you’ll need to ensure you’re on the cutting edge of the industry.
Follow influencers in the marketing landscape and use their articles to guide your own learning processes. Pursue digital marketing certifications and stay up-to-date with the latest changes to SEO algorithms and social media marketing strategies.
During your digital marketing career, you’ll spend significant time researching the industry and working on your skills. On the plus side, this means your talents are constantly expanding and increasing.
On the other hand, it also means digital marketing might not be the ideal career option for people who hate learning.
Could You Thrive in a Digital Marketing Career?
An online marketing job can be highly lucrative and fulfilling in a digital-first landscape. With this role, you’ll be able to constantly develop new skills, meet new people and become a crucial part of an ever-changing industry.
Of course, working in digital marketing won’t be the right type of job for everyone.
Just because marketing is fun doesn’t mean it isn’t hard work. These jobs are best suited to people with creative and analytical minds.
If you’re capable of committing to constant learning, great at promoting yourself, and happy working with a wide range of companies and clients regularly, this could be the path for you.
