If you’re looking to break into the digital marketing industry, there’s no better time than now. According to research, the digital economy is growing at triple the pace of U.S. GDP with employees working in the digital economy earning on average $114,275 a year, more than 72% of workers in the US, and over 80% in Africa.
I have compiled my top tips for aspiring digital marketers who wish to kick-start their digital marketing career today.
1. Eagerness to learn
The digital marketing industry is both fast-growing and incredibly competitive. It’s easy for businesses to differentiate between candidates who have the willingness to learn, and who are along for the ride. This industry requires passion and a desire to succeed. Things change every day in the industry.
2. Stay Updated
You need to keep on top of industry news by following major digital marketing sites and influential people on social media. As the major players such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter regularly tweak their paid advertising platforms and algorithms, you’re in for a wild ride if you don’t keep on top of the latest changes. But, I fell in love with Linkedin which strongly recommends you keep up to, it's going to give you a push to connect with business-minded people in your industry or the industry you are targeting.
Here are some recommendations on websites to get started -
PPC – PPC Hero, Search Engine Land
Social Media – Social Media Examiner, Social Media Today
Content – Hubspot
3. Networking
Surround yourself with people more talented than yourself (LinkedIn if well used, can be a great tool for that). The people you meet will be your ongoing support network when you run into problems, as well as help to open doors to opportunities you might not have otherwise found.
You can also attend industry meetups and conferences in your area to nurture relationships with other digital marketers and enhance your skillset through in-depth workshops and presentations.
4. Personal Projects
Try out your own ideas and don’t just treat industry leaders’ opinions as gospel. Everything isn’t always black and white in the digital marketing industry, you will need to try the best practice you find and what can actually get results for your business.
Every digital marketer should have personal projects to test out theories, try their hand at multiple disciplines (SEO, PPC, Social Media, Content Marketing etc.) and be able to take accountability for the success or failure of a project.
5) Learn the terminology
Digital marketers need to be comfortable with acronyms such as PPC, SEM, and SEO. They are all very different terms with a misunderstanding of them being a clear sign that you have a beginner’s skill set and need further training. The ability to analyze digital marketing campaigns and understand what elements worked or not is dependent on your ability to understand industry jargon.
6) Build your personal brand
Fancy yourself as a digital marketing hotshot but you have no visible online presence? If you want to show to an employer that you can build their company’s visibility then you need to show that you can firstly build your own personal brand.
A strong online presence could potentially be the deciding factor between two candidates who have applied for the same position.
7) T-Shaped Marketer
As a term commonly used by Rand Fishkin of Moz, it refers to having a basic understanding of multiple marketing disciplines but specializing in one or two particular skills.
It’s not uncommon for companies to find candidates with a broad digital marketing skillset to be a valuable asset as there’s a considerable cross over between the different channels. It will also make you better equipped for choosing a more specific path of focus that you can specialize in.
8) Get Nerdy
Digital marketing can often be perceived to be quite glamorous, but truth be told it’s often more technical and data-driven than we would care to admit. You won’t be developing websites from scratch but you will be communicating your marketing strategy to a team of developers or designers who have a responsibility for incorporating your recommendations.
Basic knowledge of HTML and graphic design would help to make you stand out among the less technically minded candidates. Don't worry if you don't have them, you can still be in the industry and learn on the go.
9) Metrics are King
Do you know your CPC from your CPA? If you want to set yourself apart in an interview, talk about the return on ad spent for a campaign you’ve run yourself. It’s easy to talk about an exciting creative concept you’ve helped to develop but the fact remains…money talks.
You really need to understand how each marketing channel has performed and what the key learnings have been.
10) Certification
If you really want to stand out from your peers in the industry, completing a certified digital marketing course will help. One of the issues facing the digital marketing industry is that there are no barriers to entry, meaning that anyone with a loose grasp of industry terminology can potentially get a position in a company.
As this industry matures, recruiters are becoming savvier about what differentiates a candidate that can talk the talk, but maybe will be a costly mistake for the company.
There are a lot of affordable means to get certify out there, Google, Coursera, Udemy, etc.
Franck Ahui
Digital Marketer
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