How to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer in 2024

Some people choose digital marketing because it is easy to start a freelance career. Freelance Digital Marketers are independent contractors who are responsible for finding work, completing projects, and handling the financial end of the business, including invoicing and taxes. While freelancers have a lot of responsibility, they also have a lot of freedom, and many freelancers enjoy setting their own schedules and making their own decisions.

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 is Digital Marketing Freelancing Like?

Many people choose to work as freelance Digital Marketers. Some do this to gain more experience before applying for jobs with companies, and others prefer to work as independent contractors. Freelancers are responsible for themselves. That means they must find work, negotiate contracts, send invoices, and pay taxes as a self-employed person. To be a successful freelance Digital Marketer, you must be organized, motivated, and not easily discouraged.

Freelancers spend a lot of time looking for work. 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. After you have checked for work and answered emails from prospective clients, you will get to work on projects you have on your schedule. It isn’t unusual to have multiple projects for different clients to work on each day. You might also spend time video conferencing with clients or talking on the phone. 

You also need to pay attention to the business end of freelancing. People will hire you as an independent contractor, so you need to keep track of your own hours and costs and make arrangements to pay taxes. You will also need to send invoices to clients and reminders if they don’t pay you. You are responsible for all of the details.

Is Digital Marketing Freelancing Right for Me?

Freelancing isn’t for everyone. It takes persistence to find regular work as a freelancer and sometimes you will have periods of less or no work. You can also find yourself with too much to do. If you stick with it long enough, you will find balance, but freelancers also need to be comfortable with a bit of uncertainty in life. If this makes you uneasy, freelancing might not be for you.

Organization is another important trait for freelancers. If you can set your own schedule and accomplish tasks without outside reminders or motivation, you may be a good fit for freelancing. You also need to be able to sit yourself down and get to work on your own. Some people are more comfortable with the structure of a traditional job. Most freelancers work remotely by themselves these days and that can be difficult for some people, while others prefer it.

One of the appealing aspects of freelancing is the freedom to decide when you will work, what you will do, and where you will do it. You don’t have to conform to a traditional office schedule. If you are a night owl, you can work through the night and sleep during the day. If you want to work in your pajamas, there is no one to stop you. If you want to spend the winter in Key West, you don’t have to worry about asking for vacation time as long as you can find reliable wifi.

Steps to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer

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.

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 jobs as a freelance 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. Join groups for digital marketing and share blog posts and articles to attract clients. Sign up for some of the many employment websites, like Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com, where companies also advertise remote jobs for freelancers. You can get email notifications of relevant jobs and easily apply if you have your resume and portfolio added to the websites. 

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 to understand what kind of outsourcing they need to support their freelance work.

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.