How to Become a Digital Marketer in 3 Months

If you want to become a Digital Marketer in a few months instead of getting a college degree, your best course of action is to enroll in an intensive training program. Bootcamps and certificate courses will give you a basic foundation in digital marketing and enable you to plan and carry out your own campaigns or apply for jobs as a Digital Marketer. While some job advertisements require a college degree, plenty do not, and it is definitely possible to become a Digital Marketer in two or three months.

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.

Can You Really Become a Digital Marketer in Three Months?

If a two-year or four-year college degree isn’t for you, you can sign up for digital marketing courses that teach you the foundations of the subject in two to three months. It will mean devoting a lot of time to classes and studying and finding the right program for you.

Bootcamps and certificate programs are intensive courses that focus on the principles and techniques of digital marketing, unlike a college education that includes other subjects. Bootcamps take two to three days and provide a deep dive into one aspect of digital marketing, like social media marketing, Facebook marketing, or blogs and content marketing. Certificate programs take longer to complete, but they are designed to give you the total skill set you need to succeed as a Digital Marketer. 

You can choose between in-person, live online, and on-demand sessions to learn digital marketing. Certificate programs take two to four months to complete, which is considerably shorter than college. Certificate programs are also significantly cheaper than four years of college, with in-person and live online classes tending to be more expensive than prerecorded on-demand courses that don’t have a real-time instructor. While some employers require a bachelor’s degree, those positions are increasingly rare. The most important part of a career in digital marketing is what you can do on the job, and as with tech jobs, employers are more interested in your abilities than in a degree.

Noble Desktop offers a course that includes classes on Digital Marketing Strategies, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. Participants will learn to develop, execute, and measure marketing strategies using various tools and metrics. Students will work with each tool to launch campaigns across Google Ads and social media channels, analyze web data with Google Analytics, and learn about other key digital marketing strategies. This course is great for individuals looking to start a career in digital marketing, entrepreneurs looking to start a business and leverage digital marketing, or business owners looking to grow a business using digital marketing techniques. This program also includes a free retake so students can come back to refresh the material. 

Do I Need a Degree to Become a Digital Marketer?

Some companies list a college degree as a requirement when advertising digital marketing jobs, but many do not. When it comes to degrees for a career in digital marketing, your chosen major will depend on what you want to do with it.

Many people interested in working as Digital Marketers choose to study advertising or business in college, but there are other ways to go, too. English and psychology are popular majors for people interested in content marketing and social media marketing. Computer science and information technology are also common majors for people who want to focus on the data aspects of digital marketing. If you are interested in eventually working as a Digital Marketing Manager, consider an MBA after your bachelor’s degree.

While some ads specifically state a degree requirement, others don’t mention it at all. These employers are more interested in what tools applicants can use and what experience they have. You can get a job as a Digital Marketer with a certificate from a training program. Digital marketing bootcamps and certification programs take two to six months to complete, which is much less than four years for a bachelor’s degree. These classes cover SEO and web optimization, data analytics, paid and unpaid advertising, social media marketing, as well as content and email marketing. You can choose to attend college to begin a career in digital marketing, but it is possible to get hired without one.

Read more about if you need a degree to become a Digital Marketer.

Steps to Become a Digital Marketer in Three Months

Decide to Start

This might seem simplistic, but before you can start something you have to make a decision to do it. 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. 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, and you can find information sessions or career fairs in some areas. As you gain answers to your questions, the way forward should become clearer. If Digital Marketer sounds like an interesting career, it’s time for the next step.

Learn Digital Marketing

After you make the decision 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, make a list of 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 are you going to do that? It can be tough to break into a new industry, but it is possible to get hired as a Digital Marketer without a lot of experience. Start out with volunteer work. There are many non-profit groups out there who want to publicize what they do but they 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 you are applying for jobs.

Another way to gain digital marketing experience is by starting a project of your own. 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, be sure to 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 instruction in 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.

Next Steps

After you have finished your introduction to digital marketing, you can begin to look for a job.

Make Industry Connections 

Networking can help you find a job in digital marketing, but where do you find other professionals? 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. Search for digital marketing groups on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. LinkedIn is a good 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 you have your resume and portfolio added to the websites. 

Give Freelancing a Try

After learning digital marketing, you might want to try working as a freelance Digital Marketer. Many people start their careers doing small projects as freelancers. You can advertise your services on websites like Upwork and Fiverr where you either bid for jobs or set a price for projects. You can also check for contract work on LinkedIn or any of the job boards for freelancers like Flexjobs.com or Remote.com. Keep in mind that freelancers are independent contractors and must pay attention to all aspects of working, such as invoicing and paying quarterly taxes.

Learn Business Skills

In addition to all the skills of a regular Digital Marketer, future freelance Digital Marketers will need to learn skills for running their own business (such as finance and contract law) and marketing their business (such as web design and social media marketing). Even freelance Digital Marketers who plan to contract consultants to help run their small business should have a basic understanding of these areas in order to understand what kind of outsourcing they need to support their freelance work.

Don’t Get Discouraged

Once you start looking for a Digital Marketing job, it is easy to become discouraged or frustrated if you don’t get a response right away. Remind yourself that there are thousands of applicants for these jobs, and it can take months to find the one that is right for you, but it will happen. If you have decided that digital marketing is the field for you, stay with it, and you will eventually find your dream job.

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.