Since the 1990s, digital marketing has rapidly become a highly desirable career pathway for many. I fell into marketing, but I know many people who had it as their first choice for a long time. If you’re looking at getting into a digital marketing career, you’re going to need to prepare yourself. You’re also going to have to brush up on your digital marketing skills. I don’t want you to see this as a bad thing. In digital marketing, it’s crucial to practise self-improvement regularly. I never think that I know everything and always work hard to brush up on my skills.
Thankfully, in this article, we explain some of the best ways to prepare yourself for your digital marketing career. This isn’t necessarily just about the qualifications and training you need. Although this does help, it’s also going into the type of person you need to be if you’re going to succeed. Marketing is a creative field by nature, and you can’t afford to be a stick in the mud. This will just be setting yourself up for failure- thankfully, your mentality and approach to marketing doesn’t have to stay the same. It can change.
Run Your Own Blog/Website
Getting your own experience can be vital to landing a digital marketing role. I know that I found it challenging to find a job in digital marketing- so I created my own business and worked hard to get the experience I needed. Now, I’m not saying that you should rush into starting your own business. I should have given it more thought. Thankfully, I didn’t. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in my current position, but that’s beside the point. Running your small blog or website will get you a wealth of experience in writing, creating and managing content.
There are loads of providers that can get you on free plans to host a blog on their platform. Alternatively, if you want to get a little bit of experience running your small website, you can use Wix or Squarespace platforms. I have to stress that if you’re creating a serious website for business purposes, you should use WordPress or another system instead. This is because these DIY platforms don’t offer enough advanced tools to get you adequately seen online.
If you want to get a professionally designed website, you can get in touch with us at Driven Media Solutions, and we’ll be more than happy to assist you.
Secure Relevant Work Experience To Start Your Digital Marketing Career
This is quite a difficult one, I know. I see too many companies posting that they are looking for an entry-level digital marketing candidate. That sounds good, though, right? Well, it would be if they didn’t require multiple years of experience for the entry-level role. As a prospective job-searcher, you can’t be faulted for your lack of knowledge. This is a fault in these companies’ systems, prioritising trying to pay the bottom dollar for the right talent. Despite this, it is still possible to secure your area’s work experience. If you’re able to, you should think about doing an unpaid internship to ensure some expertise. Just make sure the company’s legit.
If you need paid work, that’s completely understandable. I can adequately advise that you continue to self-develop your skills. This way, you’ll be more desirable as a candidate. You should also consider looking around the various recruitment agencies found in your town or city. I’ve done agency work in the past to get experience, and sometimes, the pay isn’t bad at all. The only problem with this is that your role isn’t always guaranteed, so you should still be looking for permanent positions.
There are also a wealth of digital marketing apprenticeships that pop up from time to time, so it will be worth keeping an eye out for those.
Ensure To Engage On Social Media
If you’re looking to prepare yourself for a digital marketing career, you need to engage on social media. This will give you practice on how to write engaging copy and will also give you an idea of how the algorithms on these platform work. I mainly engage with LinkedIn. That’s my preference. This is because it’s a business-centred platform. If you’re not on LinkedIn already, you should get on there. You’ll be able to connect with the hiring decision-makers in companies, and you’ll also be able to highlight that you’re open to work. LinkedIn has a job search platform, but I’ve never found much success with it.
When you’re setting up your LinkedIn profile, you need to do as much as you can to get noticed. I suggest that you fill in as much of the information on your profile as you can. This means your previous work history, education, skills, and work-based training. By doing this, you’re presenting the best version of yourself to the countless number of LinkedIn users. In turn, this means that you’ll be way more likely to either find a job or new opportunities. It’s also a great way to get technical advice about your skillset. I connect with loads of copywriters on LinkedIn for their tips.
Be Ready To Continue Learning In Your Digital Marketing Career
Once you’ve gotten into a new digital marketing role, you shouldn’t rest on your laurels. That’d be like winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games and not even turning up to defend your medal in the next games, even though you reasonably could. You need to continue learning and developing as a professional to ensure that you’re always on the top of your game. Ultimately, this is how you climb up the career ladder or succeed when you eventually want to start your digital marketing agency. If you don’t sharpen a blade, it becomes dull, and that’s what’s going to happen to your mind if you don’t keep training and learning.
Thankfully, there are several different training courses that you can do to help upskill yourself. Some of these may require payment, depending on the course’s complexity and length. You can still find a lot of free courses, though. If you’re not one for learning in a formal setting, don’t think that’s the be-all and end-all. I enjoy reading, so when I need to know more about something, I’ll load up a half dozen articles about that subject and begin learning. You don’t need someone else to teach you- you need the discipline to do it yourself.
Get Yourself a CV That Stands Out
This is critical to ensuring your success in a digital marketing career, especially at the start. We spoke a little bit before about the importance of securing your first work experience in the sector. How do you think you’re going to do that? I can tell you that you’re not going to do it with the first CV you ever created. Chances are, this CV is not going to get the job done, and that’s okay. I’ll tell you now that my first CV will never see the light of day again due to my embarrassment of that document.
CV Writing was previously a service offered by Driven Media Solutions, but unfortunately, we have discontinued this. There are still a lot of great resources that you can use to get a CV written. You can go to your university and speak with a career’s advisor. Alternatively, you can also talk to a CV writing company or a friend to get some help. With a good CV, you will find that way more doors will open for you. You’ll also have to think about writing a cover letter with your application to highlight better why you’re a good fit.
Teach Yourself About Analytics Early in Your Digital Marketing Career
If there’s one thing marketers love, it’s analytics. I still find that my head goes on a bit of a wobble when I’m flying through statistics. This is why you need to learn about this early because then it only gets more comfortable as you go on. By mastering the art and science of data analytics, you will be able to handle better how a digital campaign is going. For example, if you can understand what constitutes a low engagement rate, you can learn about where the campaign is going wrong. Alternatively, if you know what good engagement is, you’ll know to continue what you’re doing.
If you’re struggling to find the right way to teach yourself about data analytics, don’t be discouraged. It can be incredibly challenging. I worked with it at first. There are so many great courses out there that can break down the basics and help you build up your understanding. Eventually, you’ll learn to get the hang of it, and you’ll be listing off statistics like you were born to do it. Honestly, a quick search will reveal a wealth of courses you can do.
Don’t Be Afraid to Break Convention
This is important in digital marketing. The game aims to stand out to get more exposure, so why would you want to be the same? Of course, sometimes being different in your approach can lead to mixed results. I winced when reading Burger King’s IWD 2021 tweet thread. That kind of difference can lead to a lot of negative attention. Some people still loved the campaign, but it’s been widely divisive. When you’re breaking convention, take a quick moment and like yourself, ‘is this message going to offend or get lost in translation? If the answer is yes, it’s probably best to stay clear.
If you find that you think you’re quite unimaginative and scared to break convention, that’s fine. I used to feel that way, but then I started surrounding myself with creative people. If you want to get into the habit of being more creative and standing out, you should look at people’s thought processes and ideas like that. You’ll inevitably begin to learn from these people, and it will turn you into a much better digital marketer.
Conclusion
As we discussed in this article, getting started in the digital marketing sector can be difficult. This is why it’s essential to ensure that you have a well-polished skillset or formidable application. You want to stand out against the crowd of people in a very competitive career. Most marketing roles will receive hundreds of applications at the very least. You need to be able to compete with them. Having an understanding of analytics will be a massive benefit to you.
Your best bet would be to revisit your CV and try to get some more, potentially unpaid experience. This way, if you find that your initial attempts for paid roles are unsuccessful, you can still bulk up your experience. Running your blog or website in the interim can help you become a much more desirable candidate whilst teaching yourself skills. Engaging in social media can also be a great way to get industry contacts and potential work.
Once you’ve secured your role, you still need to keep going. You’re going to need to continue learning and developing your skills, so you don’t fall behind. You also need to take care not to become too predictable or boring in your approach. Otherwise, you’ll stagnate. Your message will be out of touch.