How to Become a Digital Marketer

You’ve heard of digital marketing, and you think maybe this would be a good career for you. So how do you get started on the road to becoming a Digital Marketer? The steps to follow are making a decision, learning about digital marketing, completing some projects, building a portfolio, making industry connections, looking for a job, and staying positive. Learning how to use the most common tools helps, too. This can be a big life change, but if you want to switch to a career in digital marketing, this is the path you need to take.

What is a Digital Marketer?

Over half the world’s population uses the internet, and businesses have noticed. Most companies and organizations have a website and use digital marketing to reach potential customers or clients. Digital Marketers use social media platforms, website content, email campaigns, paid and unpaid advertising, and video marketing to promote goods and services to a target audience.

Digital Marketers use data analytics to identify an audience likely to be interested in the products or services they sell. Next, they create a detailed description of that audience, focusing on the pain points and problems the product will solve. Then, Digital Marketers set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the marketing campaign's performance. Common KPIs are sales goals or increasing traffic to a website.

After setting goals and determining strategy, Digital Marketers create high-quality content to engage the audience and place it near the top of search engine pages. After posting the content on social media, Digital Marketers use tools like Google Analytics, SEMRush, or Moz to analyze its performance. Digital Marketers also interact with followers on social media in the company’s brand voice. 

Some Digital Marketers work for agencies and take care of many accounts, while others work for one company. Some are employed in-house, while others work remotely. Digital Marketers in agencies and larger companies often work as part of a team. They may only be responsible for one part of the workload, such as content marketing, SEO, or data analytics. Many people start their careers as freelance Digital Marketers working at home by themselves or in small startups.

Read more about what a Digital Marketer does.

What Tools Do I Need To Get Started?

There are many tools available to Digital Marketers, and some of the most common fall into the categories of tools for data analytics, search engine optimization (SEO), and content management. There are lots more, but if you start off by learning some of these, you can get started in digital marketing.

Data Analytics

Although it is challenging to learn, Google Analytics (or GA) is one of the tools Digital Marketers use the most. After installing a tracking code onto each page of your website, GA collects and tracks user data, compiles it into reports, and provides insight for strategies to improve website or app performance. Google Analytics provides crucial information to help Digital Marketers create a target audience, track user behavior, and determine success. It is one tool that every Digital Marketer must know how to use, and it is free.

Google Ads is the search giant’s paid online advertising platform. When it comes to digital marketing, there are two types of advertising, paid and unpaid. Unpaid, or organic, advertising relies on content to build a following, but this can take several months to accomplish. Paid ads work much more quickly. Digital Marketers use Google Ads to create highly targeted advertisements to reach their audience, measure successes, and identify weaknesses. You can use Google Ads for free, but you must pay for ads you run.

SEO

In digital marketing, it’s very important for your website to appear at or near the top of a search results page. Users don’t often look much further than halfway down the page, so Digital Marketers use SEO tools to find the best keywords, optimize content, and build links. These tools can tell you your campaign’s reach, what people are saying about your company online, how many people are seeing your posts and sharing them, and other details crucial for running campaigns. There are many SEO tools out there, but two of the best-known are SEMRush and Moz.

SEMRush

SEMRush includes many powerful tools for Digital Marketers for generating the best keywords and phrases, tracking website performance, researching the competition, and identifying leading topics for content marketing. SEMRush works with Google Analytics to track site performance. Unlike Google Analytics, you have to subscribe to SEMRush, but there is a limited free version that allows you to familiarize yourself before you have to start paying.

Moz

Moz is another digital marketing tool that lets Digital Marketers perform site audits, track ranking, analyze backlinks, and search for the most effective keywords. It helps determine the best content and marketing strategies, fix SEO issues, and track competitors’ sites. You can set up automated checks to stay on top of problems with the site. Moz also has a free version that isn’t as powerful as the paid version.

Content 

Content tools fall into two categories: content management systems (CMS) and publishing and scheduling software. 

WordPress

Another important digital marketing tool is the content management system, WordPress. This free, open-source software allows Digital Marketers to create and maintain a website without knowing how to code. Numerous templates and plugins can be used to customize the site. WordPress is a great way to start a blog.

Hootsuite

Once they have created content with WordPress, Digital Marketers need to create a posting schedule and set the content out to different social media channels. Hootsuite helps with planning campaigns, managing ads, and analyzing results. 

Steps to Become a Digital Marketer

Everyone’s path is slightly different but generally follows the same trajectory when switching to a new career. Here is one scenario for becoming a Digital Marketer.

Decide to Start

Maybe you’ve noticed articles on the internet about digital marketing or have a friend that works in the field. This has piqued your interest, and you want to learn more. This might seem simplistic, but before starting something, you have to decide to do it. Start with some questions like, What do Digital Marketers Do? How much do Digital Marketers Earn? Is Digital Marketer a good career choice for me?

Once you have your questions, you can start your research. There are many videos on YouTube that can help you find answers. There are also digital marketing podcasts and blogs; you can find information sessions or career fairs in some areas. The way forward should become clearer as you gain answers to your questions. If Digital Marketer sounds like an exciting career, it’s time for the next step.

Learn Digital Marketing

After deciding to become a Digital Marketer, you need to figure out how to learn it. If you are in college or about to start, you can major in business, marketing, or advertising to learn digital marketing. But what if you are finished with college or not planning to go? You can still learn digital marketing by signing up for training courses, either in-person, live online, or on-demand. There are many programs to choose from, so think about what works best for you, list your preferences, and look for classes that tick the most boxes.

Noble Desktop offers digital marketing courses that teach the skills you need to start a career in the field. You can choose in-person classes at Noble Desktop’s New York City location or attend live online digital marketing courses via video conferencing from anywhere in the world. You can also find other digital marketing courses, bootcamps, and certificate programs in your area using Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool. Noble Desktop also offers classes on specific channels, such as Facebook Marketing, email marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs & Twitter, and Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube, among others. Other resources that can help you prepare for a career in digital marketing include Noble’s digital marketing blog, which has detailed articles about many aspects of digital marketing. 

Complete Projects

Once you have some training, it’s time to get to work, but how will you do that? It can be tough to break into a new industry, but getting hired as a Digital Marketer without a lot of experience is possible. Start out with volunteer work. Many non-profit groups out there want to publicize what they do but can’t afford to hire someone to do their marketing. You can find a lot of work this way, and while you usually won’t make any money, each assignment you take helps you gain experience, build skills, and make connections that will be useful when applying for jobs.

Another way to gain digital marketing experience is by starting your own project. Start a blog and learn how to build an email list. Learn how to use tools like Google Analytics to drive more traffic to your website. If you have a craft hobby, create a webstore and experiment with marketing your products. Whatever you choose, take screenshots, save images, and keep examples of your work to put in your portfolio.

Build a Portfolio 

When you start your job search, you will need a portfolio. This is a website featuring your resume, contact information, and examples of your work. You can pull examples from class projects, passion projects, or volunteer work. Many training programs offer instructions on how to put together a portfolio and design their assignments to give you something to show to prospective employers.

There are a few things to keep in mind when you are building your portfolio. Choose three to five of your best projects to showcase. Any more than that will be overwhelming. You can put links to all of your work on another page on your website, but choose the very best for your home page, and make sure to use the highest quality images you have. Add a page with your resume of relevant jobs and include volunteer work if this will be your first paid digital marketing job. You can also add a page for testimonials and references if you have them.

Make Industry Connections 

Networking can help you find a job in digital marketing, but where do you find other professionals? Search for digital marketing groups on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Some larger cities have digital marketing groups that meet periodically. Check out MeetUp for your area to see if there is a digital marketing group. LinkedIn is an excellent place to make connections, too.

Start the Job Search 

Now you are ready to start looking for a job as a Digital Marketer. Open a LinkedIn account and create a profile. Add links to your resume and portfolio, and go to the jobs section on the site. LinkedIn will send you notifications of advertisements that match your skills. Sign up for some of the many employment websites, like Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com, where companies advertise jobs. You can get email notifications of relevant jobs and easily apply if your resume and portfolio are added to the websites. 

Digital Marketer Career Path

Digital marketing is a good career path for people comfortable working on the internet. As more and more businesses move online, digital marketing job prospects are likely to remain high. The outlook for tech jobs overall is optimistic, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that demand for digital marketing jobs should increase by 10% by 2026, which is an above-average increase for all careers. 

While some companies require a degree in business or marketing, you can get a job as a Digital Marketer without a college degree. Many employers are more interested in what you can do than in diplomas. One of the best ways to launch a career in digital marketing is to create a website and some social media accounts. You can learn a lot on your own by watching tutorials, reading blogs, and listening to podcasts. Test out different techniques and document results for your online portfolio. After they get started, many people find that taking a training class in digital marketing helps bring them up to speed.

You can also move into a career as a Digital Marketer by freelancing. Freelance Digital Marketers are independent and flexible and set their own schedules, rates, and work environment. If you are a motivated self-starter, freelancing could be for you. If you prefer more direction from a supervisor, you may do better working for a company or agency. 

Read more about the typical Digital Marketer career path. 

Why Become A Digital Marketer?

With internet sales booming, switching to a career in digital marketing is a good career move. Whether you are considering email marketing, social media marketing, data analytics, or SEO and website optimization, digital marketing jobs are in high demand. This is expected to increase over the next decade.

Digital marketing is a field that changes rapidly, with new tools and platforms constantly improving and evolving their services. If you are a multi-tasker, that is a necessary skill for Digital Marketers. You can also work from anywhere, so digital marketing is a good choice if you are looking for a flexible work environment.

Digital marketing also pays well. The reported yearly average base salary for Digital Marketers is $58,000, with benefits worth $2,000-$3,000 more on top of that. Wages go up as you gain experience or shift to a specialization. You can also receive promotions to a leadership or managerial position that pays more.

Read more about whether Digital Marketer is a good career.

Learn the Skills to Become a Digital Marketer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers many digital marketing courses that teach skills to help you switch to a career in digital marketing. Small class sizes and expert instructors help you learn digital marketing in in-person or live online classes. Plus, you can take a course over again for free at any time during the following year. 

Noble Desktop offers many bootcamps in digital marketing like Facebook Marketing, email marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs & Twitter, and Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube. You can also choose the Digital Marketing Certificate or a Social Media Marketing Certificate course. Other Noble Desktop resources that can help prepare for a career in digital marketing include the digital marketing blog with valuable articles about social media marketing, SEO, and other essential tools for digital marketers.