According to Linkedin, a digital marketing professional position is among the top ten most in-demand careers, with over 1.6 million job opportunities. Isn’t that huge? As long as technology exists, the number will grow because most traditional firms are looking for ways to move their operations into the digital world, new company concepts are emerging, and there will always be a need for a digital marketing specialist.

To know that there is an existing market, all you need to do is equip yourself with the necessary skillset so that you may be employed. The online promotion of people, brands, products, or services is known as digital marketing. Professionals in digital marketing construct email campaigns and social media profiles to represent their clients. Learning more about this industry and the abilities required may assist you in deciding whether it is the perfect career for you.

A digital marketer is a professional who manages digital advertising and marketing campaign material. They advertise and promote brands, people, products, services and companies online. To do this, they may use email campaigns, clickable ads, social media strategies and content creation.

Successful digital marketers understand many digital marketing techniques. They may use content marketing like blog posts, eBooks and infographics to promote their client. Digital marketers may also use email or mobile promotion techniques, like SMS promotions or newsletters. Social media management is an important part of digital marketing as well, as it allows digital marketing specialists to grow their client’s audience.

Though obtaining a digital marketing degree can make it simpler to find a position within the digital marketing field, it’s optional for some digital marketing jobs. You may enter the digital marketing field if you have a degree in a different field like creative writing, advertising or graphic design. The skills you learn while earning those degrees may be similar to the ones you need as a digital marketer. For example, in an advertising program, an aspiring marketer can develop communication and analysis skills.

Also, if you are skilled in social media understanding, writing and search engine optimization, a bachelor’s may be optional. Most digital marketing positions look for candidates with a high school diploma or equivalent, but not all require higher learning degrees. This depends on the specific organization you’re working for, as different hiring teams have different requirements for their ideal candidates.

To get a job in a digital marketing agency, complete these steps:

1. Determine if the digital marketing field is right for you

Before searching for marketing positions or investing in marketing education, you may want to assess your current personality and abilities to be sure the marketing field is right for you. Digital marketing professionals benefit from being outgoing and charismatic. They are usually comfortable with social interactions and starting conversations with others. They may easily identify trends and have natural creativity. Though these are optional traits for joining the digital marketing field, it may be easier to succeed if you have them.

2. Obtain your high school diploma or equivalent

Many digital jobs require their ideal candidate to have a high school diploma or equivalent. If you are still in high school, you may want to focus on classes that pertain to digital marketing like graphic design, creative writing, advertising and web design. These classes can help you develop important marketing skills.

3. Consider earning a higher education degree

Depending on the digital marketing position you want, you may want to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in digital marketing or another related field. Some marketing companies may require or prefer higher degrees for digital marketing candidates. An additional degree could help you qualify for advanced roles or earn a competitive position.

4. Create a professional email and online presence

One way to show your digital marketing abilities is to create a strong online presence for yourself. Before you reach out to companies, ensure that your email address is professional and simple. You can also create a blog or website for yourself. Try to curate your online and social media presence to show employers your digital skills.

5. Research the companies you’re interested in

Before creating your application for digital marketing positions, be sure to research the companies you are applying to. Learning more about the workplace atmosphere and company values for your potential employers can help you customize your applications. You may want to assess your strengths, the qualities they’re looking for and highlight where the two overlap in your resume and cover letter. This can help you show employers how you qualify for the role.

6. Highlight your creativity and skills during interviews

Once you have an interview with a potential employer, be sure to be on time and dress professionally for the meeting. While speaking with them, highlight your relevant skills and creativity, emphasizing problems you’ve overcome in the past. If you have experience in the field, you can give details of your past successes to show the value you’ve brought to previous digital marketing campaigns.

7. Invest in continuous improvement and education

Throughout your digital marketing career, it’s helpful to invest in continuous improvement. Consider studying digital marketing trends and social media tendencies so you can run successful marketing campaigns. By committing to constant marketing education, you can help make your content more relevant and effective.

These are some of the top skills for digital marketers:

• Writing skills: A big part of digital marketing can involve writing emails and blog posts to attract consumers. Strong writing skills can help digital marketers create successful campaigns.
• Communication: Digital marketing specialists have to communicate effectively with their clients. Also, strong communication skills could help digital marketers analyze and reach target audience members.
• Analysis and statistics: Digital marketing specialists must be skilled with statistics and analysis so they can understand which digital marketing techniques are working best for their clients. The ability to adapt and find the best digital marketing strategy for each company or brand helps digital marketing specialists succeed.
• Social media algorithms: Successful digital marketing specialists understand social media algorithms and can predict changes within the algorithm system.
• Creative graphic design: Though this is optional for many digital marketers, having a basic understanding of graphic design can allow digital marketing specialists to assess the quality of the graphics they’re using in their campaigns.
• Website development: Blogs and sales pages are important aspects of the digital marketing field, and understanding how to build and design them can be helpful for digital marketing specialists.
• Pitching and advertising: If you are working as an independent digital marketer, you may need to pitch your services to potential clients, and if you are working for a company, you may need to pitch potential campaigns or advertising designs to your clients or management. These are important skills for digital marketers to have because they must be skilled in marketing for their clients and themselves.

How do I Start a Digital Marketing Agency Career?

There are several paths to becoming a Digital Marketer. While many Digital Marketers begin in traditional marketing roles before specializing, this is not a hard and fast rule; in fact, there is no precise previous experience required to become a Digital Marketer—only a certain set of skills. In fact, many people enter the digital marketing sector from a variety of positions, such as Copywriter, Webmaster, or Influencer.

1. Learn Digital Marketing Fundamentals

The first step toward beginning a career in digital marketing is to acquire core technical competencies in SEO and SEM, analytics, social media marketing and advertising, and email marketing.

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Alongside these, try to find ways to demonstrate that you have the many soft and transferable skills a Digital Marketer should possess, including:

• Leadership
• Strong writing voice
• Feel for the online landscape

If you’re trying to pick up experience with email marketing, SEO, analytics, and so forth in a piecemeal way, it may take months or even years for you to grow a passing familiarity into a coherent skill set.

Programs like BrainStation’s Digital Marketing bootcamp are specifically developed to immerse you in the most crucial aspects of digital marketing for efficient, accelerated learning.

2. Learn How to Use Key Digital Marketing Tools

The more digital marketing tools you have experience with, the easier it will be to become a Digital Marketer. Google Analytics and Google Ads, for example, allow Digital Marketers to measure and track the performance of digital marketing campaigns and initiatives.

SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush, are also essential, giving Marketers the ability to explore relevant keywords, check backlinks to your pages, identify related keywords, and analyze competitors’ SEO.

Important Digital Marketing Tools to Learn

• Google Analytics
• Google Ads
• MailChimp
• Ahrefs
• Salesforce
• Moz
• Buffer
• Canva
• Hubspot

Experience with an email campaign tool, like MailChimp or SendGrid, can also be invaluable when looking to break into digital marketing. As can knowledge of a customer relationship management (CRM) program, such as Salesforce and Hubspot.

Perhaps the easiest way to dip your feet in, however, is in the social media realm. Digital Marketers increasingly rely on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more to drive traffic, generate leads, and build their brands.

To help develop standout content for your social media platforms, you should also experiment with free stock image sites, such as Unsplash or Pexels, and graphic design platforms like Canva.

Developing a following (or at least a visually cohesive style), and using social media management tools like Hootsuite, Later, and Buffer, can help you stand out from the crowd when applying for a job in digital marketing.

3. Build a Digital Marketing Portfolio

For Digital Marketers, putting together a portfolio presents an added challenge. Instead of simply showing a finished product, you’ll need to demonstrate your processes and outcomes in a way that showcases your teamwork, planning, and strategic thinking.

If you are able to include samples of published work such as newsletters, social media posts, or content marketing articles, clearly indicate your role in their creation—did you develop the strategic plan for a digital marketing campaign? Write the copy? Design the layout? Coordinate the ad-buying campaign?

Sharing credit is important; rather than hogging the spotlight, it’s to your benefit to demonstrate that you know how to work as part of a team, or even lead it.

When it comes to sharing the outcomes of your efforts, use as much data as you can. Digital Marketers traffic in hard numbers, so don’t be shy about listing them here to back up your claims—for instance, “I added 1,200 qualified leads via a targeted social media campaign in Q2 of 2020” or “I grew organic web traffic 18 percent year-over-year.”

Being data-forward is especially appropriate when it comes to SEM and SEO.

Not all companies measure ROI across all their digital marketing strategies, but SEM and SEO adhere to fairly straightforward metrics. One caveat: if you’re sharing work you performed for actual clients, be sure to obtain their consent before sharing any proprietary information.

If you have no work experience, your portfolio can feature the results of the hands-on exercises you conducted as part of your digital marketing coursework. Once you’ve got all your materials together, put them online in a glossy, well-organized package. Use this space to describe your process and the creative solutions you’ve devised at each step.

Your online presence is also a part of your portfolio, and so should demonstrate your creativity, voice, and professionalism. If you prefer to keep your social channels private, consider launching one for a passion project—an Instagram account for sharing your surfing photography, for instance, or a blog dedicated to cooking and recipes—and including this in your portfolio as well.

How to Make a Marketing Portfolio

• Showcase your teamwork, planning, and understanding of digital marketing strategy
• Include newsletters, social media posts, or content marketing articles you created
• Use data to back up your claims
• Obtain consent before publishing client work
• Create an Instagram account for sharing your projects
• Publish a blog dedicated to your passions

4. Develop Your Marketing Resume

In most cases, your resume is your first contact with a potential employer, so it pays to get it right. Here, it’s best to keep it simple. Research shows that you have about six seconds to make your first impression, so keep your resumes’ layout clean and well-organized, and the information concise.

Use bullet points where appropriate. The emphasis should be on your marketing skills and experience, and hard numbers help (bearing in mind that your portfolio is the place to dive into details).

We also recommend that you tailor your resume to each application. Look at the job posting and at the company’s online presence; your cover letter and resume should match their tone. Show your personality and creativity in a way that reflects the personality of the company brand.

The job posting will also reveal the company’s hiring priorities—and these are the skills your resume should foreground.

These skills typically fall into three categories:

• Marketing skills (including software skills and other technical requirements)
• Transferable skills (like sales, design savvy, or writing experience)
• Adaptable skills (like leadership or problem-solving)

That first category should get top billing on your resume—these skills should be the first thing your eye lands on. Transferable and adaptive skills can then be cited at the bottom of the page or woven throughout.

Tips for Developing Your Marketing Resume

• Keep your resume clean and concise
• Use hard numbers to emphasize marketing skills and experience
• Tailor your resume to every application
• Show off your personality and creativity
• Display your marketing skills first, then your transferable and adaptive skills

5. Network to Make Connections in Marketing

Unsurprisingly, developing a wide network as a Digital Marketer begins online. In addition to the aforementioned social channels or blog, you might launch your own industry-related newsletter to showcase your own original content, demonstrate thought leadership as a digital marketing expert, and share your work while also growing your personal platform.

Building out a strong online presence is to one’s benefit in virtually any field, but particularly so in digital marketing, where the proof is in the pudding.

There are also several networking events for Digital Marketers in both the online and offline worlds, offering additional opportunities to network within the field.

Toronto, for instance, hosts an annual Digital Marketing Conference, while the industry website MarketingTerms lists dozens of virtual networking events dedicated to a range of specializations and market sectors.