Digital Marketer Requirements

If you want to land a job as a Digital Marketer, you must set up an online portfolio with a resume, a list of your skills, and examples of your marketing work. While Digital Marketer skills and tools will vary between different jobs, many requirements are the same across industries.

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.

Education

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.

Experience

Some companies care more about how much experience you have in digital marketing and what you can do than a college degree. A common way to get started in digital marketing is through internships and volunteer work. Internships are available through colleges and universities or training schools and are open to students or recent graduates. Internships can be paid or unpaid opportunities to work as a Digital Marketer.

Another way to get into digital marketing is volunteering for non-profit groups or friends. While you won’t get paid, you will gain examples for your portfolio, which will help you get jobs. 

Many entry-level job advertisements require 0-2 years of experience, while higher-level jobs like Digital Marketing Manager require more knowledge.

Skills

Digital marketing jobs require both hard and soft skills. Digital Marketers need strong writing and editing skills to create and manage content. Understanding how keywords, websites, and data analysis tools work is also important. Digital Marketers also need to know their way around social media sites and which ones will work best for a particular audience. They also need to know the difference between paid and unpaid ads and which works best for their company. Finally, Digital Marketers need to understand how to create persuasive emails that will bring customers to the website and get them to order.

Digital Marketers also need soft skills like patience because it takes time to see results. Plus, they need to be adaptable and able to change direction quickly to keep up with changes in search engines and social media platforms. Multitasking, or successfully paying attention to several tasks simultaneously, also allows Digital Marketers to stay on top of changes. Storytelling is another foundational skill for Digital Marketers to connect with customers. Finally, empathy, or the ability to put yourself in the customer’s position to understand what they want or need, also helps build and maintain that connection.

Read more about what skills you need to become a Digital Marketer.

Portfolio

Before you start looking for a job as a Digital Marketer, you will need to create a portfolio website. Many people choose a CMS platform like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix. These platforms have free or low-cost hosting options, and you don’t need to know how to code to create a website. There are many templates to choose from to make your site personal. 

The next step is to create the content for your portfolio website. You want to tell visitors who you are, what you have done, and how to get in touch with you. Each of these will be on a separate page. Many prefer a home page that reflects their personal style and an about page with personal information. Another page should have links to at least three examples of digital marketing campaigns you have done. Describe your experience in detail with images and results. You can also have a page with your resume and others with your different services, testimonials from past clients, and a blog. Don’t forget a contact page so visitors know how to get in touch.

Resume & LinkedIn Profile

Your resume is your introduction to prospective employers focusing on your work experience and skills. It should include an Introduction; your work history or experience; digital marketing skills, education, certifications or licenses; awards; references; and writing samples if appropriate. Use a clear, easily understood font and keep your resume at one or two pages.

Start your resume with your name and contact information. Your title should be in a larger font than anything else on the page. The introduction can be in the form of a summary if you have digital marketing experience or an objective if you are looking for one of your first jobs. Organize the work history section starting with your current or most recent job and move down from there. Next, describe the hard and soft digital marketing skills you have. Hard skills are tools you know how to use, like Google Analytics or Hootsuite content scheduler. Soft skills would be creativity, time management, and communication skills.

The following section is about education and training. This is where you list any degrees or certifications you have earned. Give the name of the program, the date you graduated or finished, and the degree or certificate. In another section, list any awards, publications, and volunteer work. Some people list hobbies and interests for a personal touch. The next section is references. These can be past employers, supervisors, colleagues or professors. Finally, if you are applying for jobs that involve writing, it is a good idea to add links to some samples of your work.

It’s also a good idea to create a profile on LinkedIn. This doesn’t cost anything and many employers request it when you apply for a job. Many people post a profile picture and a cover photo at the top. These are followed by a brief description of what you do and how to contact you. You can choose to add sections for past employment, education, skills, certifications, and more. LinkedIn also lets you link to blog posts and writing samples.

References

Sometimes you will be asked for a list of references. Choose people who can speak to your work ethic positively and at length. It doesn’t have to be glowing praise, but you want people who will be honest and focus on your good points. Be sure to ask for permission before putting someone down as a reference and get current contact information. If you don’t have much work experience in digital marketing, it is acceptable to ask teachers or supervisors from past jobs. Don’t ask friends and family.

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.

Key Takeaways

• Digital Marketers use the internet to promote goods and services.
• Some companies prefer to hire Digital Marketers with college degrees, while others are more interested in performance.
• To get a job as a Digital Marketer you need good communication skills, knowledge of SEO and web optimization, familiarity with data analytics tools, and an understanding of social media platforms.
• When you are looking for a job as a Digital Marketer, you need to create a portfolio website with examples of your work, plus a resume with experience and references.
• Create a LinkedIn profile to make connections with people who are looking for Digital Marketers.
• You can receive comprehensive training to become a Digital Marketer through an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.