How to Become a Digital Marketer At Home

Like many professionals, you might be interested in changing your career to something that can be done from home. If the field of marketing has ever appealed to you, a career in digital marketing might be worth exploring. These roles assist businesses in using various techniques to market their products and reach customers online.

Not only are many of these positions remote, but you can also learn many of the necessary skills from home as well. This means that you can set the pace of your learning and move towards your goal of changing careers without neglecting your equally important personal responsibilities.

What is Digital Marketing?

Many businesses are embracing the digital space as consumers are using the internet to make decisions about where to spend their money. Digital marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses multiple marketing strategies done exclusively online. The advantages of digital marketing include affordability, speed, and analytics. Print marketing campaigns are generally more costly than digital ones, plus they can be more quickly adjusted if they aren’t leading to the results you had initially hoped for. 

There are several different avenues of digital marketing, and most businesses use a combination of these tools to maximize their reach. A few examples are:

• Email marketing: This tool allows you to reach a large number of customers simultaneously. Some email marketing providers provide you with critical information about your clients so you can learn how best to reach them. You can use this data to determine things like what time of day to send your emails and what types of subject lines are most likely to generate a reaction.
  
  
• Social media marketing: With over four billion active social media users, advertising your business on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok is a great way to boost exposure and grow your customer base. Many of these sites provide their own analytical tools so you can learn which posts or hashtags get the most attention.
  
  
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This strategy helps your web page appear closer to the top of a search engine result page (SERP). This is likely to increase traffic to your site since few people will click through multiple pages of results. Websites at the top of these results also appear more trustworthy to customers.

Steps to Become a Digital Marketer at Home

Changing careers to become a Digital Marketer requires a lot of discipline, so it’s understandable that you might be unsure where to start. Seeing the concrete tasks that you need to complete can be a helpful way to keep yourself on track.

1. Understand your learning style. Since there is such a wide variety of tools available to learn digital marketing, you’ll want to consider how you learn best before getting started. Some people prefer to teach themselves a new skill so they can learn at their own pace, but others need the structure of a class to be successful.
2. Learn the required skills. Digital marketing requires knowledge in a variety of areas. Some of them include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Analytics, and both paid and unpaid marketing techniques. Different roles will require different skills, so you may want to browse job postings that appeal to you to see what you need to learn. You can learn these skills through books, online tutorials, and classes.
3. Complete freelance work to get additional practice.  When you feel confident enough in your skills, you can start to look for jobs on websites like Upwork. Some of these jobs may not pay much in the beginning, but you’ll gain invaluable experience and begin making crucial professional connections.
4. Build a portfolio. As you continue to practice, you’ll want to store your work in a portfolio that potential employers can easily access. While capturing an entire digital marketing strategy is undoubtedly a challenge, many professionals choose to highlight a handful of posts and then provide a short caption explaining why the project was successful and what they learned for the future.
5. Begin the job search. If you wish, you can choose to remain freelance or look for work at a specific agency. Some people prefer to be fully in command of their schedules, while others would rather work in a more stable and predictable environment. 

Digital Marketing Careers

Digital marketing is a competitive job market, but careers in this industry are likely to increase in demand since more businesses are investing in advertising on social media and other digital spaces. Digital Marketers can earn an annual salary of around $62,000, though this can vary widely depending on the city you’re working in; a digital marketer in a smaller city like Phoenix won’t be able to earn as much as someone working in New York City or Chicago. 

One of the great things about digital marketing is the numerous different opportunities that cater to a range of interests and skill sets. If you find yourself drawn to statistics and data analysis, becoming a Digital Analyst might be worth exploring. These professionals help gather data to understand how a specific marketing campaign performs. They use this information to make predictions and recommendations for future advertising efforts. 

If you really enjoy engaging with people on social media, a Content Strategist position might be your speed. In this role, you’ll combine creativity with analytics by both designing content to be shared across social media platforms and analyzing the reach and effectiveness of your posts. 

Books and Virtual Resources to Learn Digital Marketing

Even though digital marketing is a highly technical field, reading a few books on the subject can provide you with a thorough understanding of some of the basics. Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson discusses the science behind why some ideas are instantly popular, and others never gain traction. While it does not exclusively focus on social media, it is helpful for anyone who wants to understand what leads to an idea taking off. The Road to Recognition by Seth Price and Barry Feldman focuses on the importance of establishing a unique brand identity.

There are also plenty of online resources available for those wanting to learn digital marketing techniques. You can find high-quality lectures and tutorials on YouTube, and there are also several podcasts on the subject. One of the best ways to practice your skills and learn how multiple digital marketing techniques work together is to start a blog of your own. This practice can help you understand how to leverage tools like search engine optimization, WordPress, and social media. 

Books and online tutorials are both wonderful ways to learn digital marketing. However, many people choose to enroll in a course when they want to gain a new skill. These provide quality instruction, usually from someone with experience in the digital marketing field, and opportunities to complete hands-on projects with like-minded peers. 

Learn Digital Marketing with Noble Desktop

If you want to become a Digital Marketer from home, the digital marketing courses offered by Noble Desktop are a great place to start! The school does have an in-person campus in Manhattan, but all of the courses can be taken remotely from anywhere. They offer a handful of beginner-level courses discussing individual social media platforms like Blogs & Twitter, YouTube & TikTok, and LinkedIn.

If you’d prefer to learn about multiple social media platforms in one class, the Social Media Marketing Certificate program is worth looking into. This 30-hour course covers all of the material from the shorter courses at a reduced rate. Noble Desktop also has a Digital Marketing Certificate as part of its programming. In this class, students will receive a comprehensive education on creating a digital marketing strategy and the techniques to track, analyze, and understand the data these campaigns produce. 

The certification programs through Noble Desktop are a worthwhile investment for anyone who wants to learn and work from home. Instructors meet with students for individual career coaching sessions outside of the classroom. Here, students receive assistance with building their portfolios and updating their resumes. They can also discuss their goals of working from home and receive guidance on how to find lucrative remote employment opportunities.