If you are thinking of building a career in digital marketing, then these tips are for you.
I have been in this field for over 4 years now (as of 2019). Although it is not a long career experience, I have already gone through some ups and downs. In this article I am going to share my experience with some of the tips you must follow to be a successful digital marketer.
Tips to Start a Career in Digital Marketing
1. Evaluate Yourself
The very first tip I have for you is – you need to evaluate yourself first. Find out yourself if you are really interested in digital marketing. Because what I have found is that some people just randomly come in this field because their friend is doing well. It is not guaranteed that you also do good just because your friend did a good job.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. So, what I suggest is evaluate yourself if you are really interested in this field. You will be spending your time creating websites, analyzing content, developing content, marketing, communicating with customers, data analysis, and many more.
But one good thing about digital marketing is it is a vast subject. There are many specializations like
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Pay Per Click (PPC)
- Social Media Strategist
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- Affiliate Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Head of Content
- Content Marketing and so on
So, if you are interested in any of these topics then you can jump into the digital marketing world.
2. Learn Basic of SEO
Digital Marketing starts right from the basics of Search Engine Optimization commonly known as SEO. There are lots of online resources to learn but what I suggest is join some institutes to establish the base. This way you can get practical knowledge and more in-house training to broaden your knowledge.
I personally started designing a website and creating content watching Youtube and Internet resources. After failing many times, I joined a digital marketing institute to learn SEO.
3. Start a Website
One most important tips for those who want to be a Digital Marketer is starting a website. You learn lots of things more than what you learn in the institutes. You learn how the website is built, you lean domain and hosting and lots of other things.
In fact, starting your own website ifs the first gateway to start a career in Digital Marketing. You can start from free websites platforms such as blogger.com, WordPress.com. Although there are dozens of free websites development platforms, I strongly recommend starting in bloggers.com and WordPress.com.
4. Learn Basic of Graphics Designing
If you love graphics designing and love creating stuff, that is fantastic. If you don’t then it is recommended to have basic graphics designing skills. You will have to be designing graphic images for your blog posts, social posts, etc. If you feel using photoshop is super complex then there are free designing tools like Canva.com, Visme.co.
5. Digital Marketing is All About Practicing
If you only study the theory of digital marketing without practically implementing it, then you are not going to achieve success as a digital marketer. You have to implement, trial, face the problem and keep experimenting with the different strategies to get a result.
6. Follow Succesful Professional
I have been following some of the world’s best digital marketers like Neil Patel, Brian Dean,
7. Follow These Websites
There are the world’s best websites which can be great resources for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), Pay Per Click (PPC), Email Marketing, Inbound Marketing, and other digital marketing resources.
- Search Engine Journal (SEJ)
- Moz
- Ahrefs SEO Blog
- HubSpot Blog
- SearchEngineLand
- RelaibleSoft SEO Blog
- Backlinko
8. Follow These Best Youtube Channels
There are plenty of awesome videos who teach lots about digital marketing trends, forecasts, and best practices. Also great content on Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Strategy, Ads Management, Marketing Strategies. I suggest following channels to get regular tips, updates and deep insights into the practical examples. I personally follow all of the following channels for actionable tips.
9. Join Digital Marketing Community
Another tip for you is to join the community where already experts and digital marketing enthusiasts are in. If you join the community, you can get more exposure and also be updated with the latest updates. Join different “marketing” and “growth hack”, “SEO” groups on Facebook, LinkedIn.
If you can not join the group then start building your own community on social media. Not only an online community but also participate in an offline community. Gradually promote and establish yourself so that people will notice that you are there.
You can also attend various workshops, meetups, conference and programs to gain knowledge and increase network with other professionals.
10. Have a Strong Profile on Social Media
Being a digital marketer, you need to have your own strong profile in all across social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. I recommend you to have your own personal website because having a personal website will create a positive impact on other people.
Using social media also allows you to connect with other professional people. Especially LinkedIn is the best place for professionals to connect with different people from the same field. Keep sharing useful content on social media to engage people.
11. Spend Time on Pinterest and Quora
Pinterest and Quora and the most underrated tool by the digital marketing professional. But if you use these tools, you can dominate your niche. Pinterest is a visual search engine with over 300M monthly active users. There are many Pinterest expert who is killing the market. I personally follow – Anastasia Blogger. She is doing a wonderful job on Pinterest Marketing. People generate thousands of FREE traffic from Pinterest.
Quora, on the other hand, is a great source for driving traffic to the website. Quora is a #no 1 question answer website where millions of users looking for answers. As a digital marketer, you should be using Quora as a marketing tool.
12 Join Agencies (As an Intern or Junior Level)
I am assuming that you are in the beginning phase. This is one of the best tips about starting a career in digital marketing agencies from junior level (or even intern). You get lots of opportunities to learn about how things work in the practical world. When you work with seniors, you get lots of exposure, practical training, enhance skills, understand the marketing, face the customers and many more.
Some of the junior posts you may join are –
- Content writer/Manager
- Junior SEO Specialist
- Copywriter/Content Analyst
- Assistant Digital Marketer
- Junior Marketing Specialist etc
As you keep working and gaining knowledge, you gradually sharpen your skills and be promoted to higher positions.
NOTE: I recommend you to join digital marketing agencies, software companies rather than joining other firms as a digital marketer. You get to learn a lot in the digital marketing company or software development companies. Also, join reputed companies and don’t care about the pay at the beginning. It all depends on what you learn si where you work.
13. Dare to Face Failure
Brace yourself, you are going to face lots of failures in the beginning.
More you fail more you get the chance to learn. Without failure, you do not learn anything. My first three websites completely failed. But I got a chance to learn a lot. This is not only my story but behind every successful result, there are lots of untold failure stories. So, learn to learn from failures.
14. Do Not Give Up
Continuity is the best secret of success!
Some people just quit when they do not get the result instantly. This is a big mistake in any profession. You need continuity in any field of profession to achieve the result. So, do not just give up!
15. Digital Marketing Is Awesome Field
After all the tips, I have good news for you. Digital marketing is not only about working for others or running your own company. Once you become experts in a specific field, such as SEO, affiliate marketing or PPC, you can work freely from anywhere anytime. You will have freedom in life. You are not necessary to look for a job like other professions. People are making thousands of dollars every month just working from home.
Another interesting fact about digital marketing is you can have multiple streams of passive income. This is the beauty of digital marketing.
So, these are the tips for starting a career in digital marketing. If you implement these practices you will have a successful life withing few years in digital marketing.
