Becoming a digital marketer is undoubtedly a rewarding career choice in 2024. It is lucrative, has a versatile job nature, and is high in demand. If you are a student or a creative marketing professional who loves working in a fast-paced work environment, a digital marketing career might be the right choice for you. Learn how to become a digital marketer in the most sustainable manner.
The current marketing landscape is increasingly becoming digital, making people feel more inclined towards setting up their business online. Also, with over 1.6 billion people projected to use the Internet in India by 2025, the demand for digital marketers will continue to skyrocket in the future as well. Moreover, with the apparent digital skill gap, now is the best time to start a career in the digital marketing field.
The digital marketing industry offers benefits like competitive salaries, flexibility, continuous learning, remote work opportunities and more. Professionals in this field are highly creative and result-oriented, leading to high job satisfaction. However, whether it is the right choice for you depends on various factors such as your interests, career goals, skills and more. This article will discuss why one should become a digital marketer, how to become a digital marketer and more.
Why Become a Digital Marketer in 2024?
Apart from the bright future of digital marketing, here are some reasons to become a digital marketer in 2024:
Demand For Professionals: Businesses today need a robust online presence to reach, connect, and engage with their audiences. The marketing style is moving from traditional to digital, and this change in the nature of marketing has increased the demand for digital marketing professionals. Organizations and brands are looking for digital marketing experts who can establish their online presence, build brand loyalty, increase ROI and more.
Branches of Digital Marketing: A digital marketer has various choices of disciplines to choose from. The range of digital marketing branches includes SEO, content marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, email marketing, marketing analytics, website design and development and more. You can learn digital marketing and pick a branch of interest to pursue your career in.
Boosts Creativity and Analytical Skills: If you have an edge for creativity and data analysis, digital marketing can be an excellent career option for you. Designing marketing campaigns, writing engaging content, and tracking campaign performance will require both skills. In fact, each project will boost your creativity and analytical skills, which can be intellectually stimulating and fulfilling.
Freelance and Remote Opportunities: One of the most interesting things about being a digital marketer is that you can be your own boss. You can start your online digital marketing business or take up freelance work and offer services; the choice is yours. Moreover, digital marketing roles can be performed remotely, so even if you choose to work with any digital marketing agencies in India, you can still have the flexibility needed for work-life balance.
Highly Paid and Steady Growth: With the global digital advertising and marketing market projected to reach $786.2 billion by 2026, we know digital marketing is here to stay and will keep expanding. Because of the demand, digital marketing professionals are paid well compared to other industries. Moreover, the growth structure of digital marketing is steady. You can start as a specialist, and with experience, you can apply for managerial and leadership roles.
Open For All: Digital marketing is one such rare industry which is open to all. Anyone with the passion to learn digital marketing can enter this field. The market is accessible to people with various backgrounds and skill sets. The best part is you can start learning digital marketing without extensive formal education or certification. Whether you are a student, a homemaker, or a startup founder, learning digital marketing can make you successful in this dynamic field.
How to Become a Digital Marketer: 7 Proven Ways
Digital marketing roles will become more critical for businesses as the world continues to rely on the Internet for engaging, purchasing, communicating and advertising. It will generate more demand for professionals in the field. While the skills needed to become a digital marketer can be developed, a basic understanding of the concept is necessary before starting.
Marketing products, services or brands using various digital mediums is called digital marketing. Digital marketing professionals help organizations create brand awareness and promote products or services through websites, social channels, mobile devices, or emails. They create and launch digital marketing campaigns, track their performance and make changes if needed. These professionals get involved in many other activities pertaining to the company’s digital marketing plan.
If you want to become a digital marketer and are wondering how to get started, here are 7 proven ways to become a digital marketer:
1. Tick off the Basics
Bachelor’s Degree:
Digital marketing often emphasizes gaining practical experience over formal education qualifications. Hence, getting a degree is not strictly needed to pursue a career in digital marketing. However, today, it is preferred by most employers. So, get your bachelor’s degree before entering digital marketing. While you can get a bachelor’s degree in any discipline, a degree in marketing, advertising, journalism, business communications or a related field can be more beneficial when aiming for a career in digital marketing.
Communication Skills:
Good communication skills are almost mandatory for digital marketers. It’s a core component that will significantly impact various aspects of digital marketing. A digital marketer will be involved in creating engaging content such as blogs, social media posts, emails, etc. They also need to communicate ideas, collaborate with teams, meet with clients, manage PR crises, manage social media handles, and more; all of this will require good communication skills.
Computer Literacy:
Having a basic knowledge of computers is necessary to pursue a career in digital marketing. You don’t have to be a tech expert, but basic computer skills are essential due to the nature of the job. Understanding how to navigate the Internet, use emails, manage files and folders, and basic typing knowledge is crucial. Familiarity with CMS, Google Workspace, graphic design principles, HTML/CSS basics and social media platforms can be advantageous.
2. Excel Essential Skills
Technical Skills:
To become a professional digital marketer, you must excel in specific skills, including technical skills. These skills include web development skills like knowing how to work around HTML, CSS, WordPress and Technical SEO. Also, learn to create compelling social media/email marketing campaigns, including segmenting, personalizing, and automating content. Getting familiar with tools like MailChimp, HootSuite, Ahrefs, and more is also necessary. Technical skills also help a person with critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving.
Analytical Skills:
Strong analytical skills are crucial to becoming a digital marketing pro. Analytical skills let you interpret data, understand the market, derive insights and track the performance of campaigns. While you don’t need to be a data scientist, basic analytical skills are becoming a prerequisite in the digital market industry. Analytical skills are also necessary to create social media campaigns, forecast future trends, allocate budget effectively, enhance SEO strategies and more.
Soft and Creative Skills:
While technical and analytical skills help execute strategies, soft and creative skills enable you to connect with audiences and handle teams better. Communication, adaptability, problem-solving, teamwork, collaboration, and time management are some soft skills you must develop when entering digital marketing. Content development, graphic design, innovative thinking, visual communication and storytelling are creative skills that help you excel in digital marketing.
3. Take Up a Digital Marketing Course
Offline Course:
By far, the most proven way to learn and become a digital marketer is by taking up an offline digital marketing course. Offline courses have a disciplined and structured approach to learning, helping you follow a routine learning process. Moreover, offline training offers hands-on experience in real-world scenarios that help understand how the market works. You can enrol for the best offline digital marketing course in India at DigitalScholar. Industry experts teach the course, cover 14+ modules, and provide 20+ industry-recognized certificates after completion.
Online Course:
Taking up an online digital marketing course can be an excellent option for people wanting to learn at their own pace. It makes managing their work, studies or any other commitment easier. However, it can be effective only when dealing with a reliable digital marketing institute in India that offers a holistic learning experience. The course must have live and interactive sessions covering all modules of digital marketing. Ensure certifications, hands-on experience and tailored learning are offered by the chosen course.
Certification:
If you do not have time to take a comprehensive offline or online course, the best way to slowly build up your digital marketing knowledge is to take certification courses. Some crucial certificates that can display your foundational knowledge and demonstrate your expertise in digital marketing include Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook’s Blueprint and HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing. Moreover, workshops, seminars, and live sessions from experts can also help build knowledge on various aspects of digital marketing.
4. Choose a Specialization
Content Writing/Marketing:
No matter which branch of digital marketing you choose to follow, you must know how to develop compelling, valuable content for your targeted audience. So, it makes sense to learn the basics of content writing. On the other hand, if you want to specialize in content writing, learn how to develop content for websites, social media, blogs, infographics, video scripts, articles, newsletters, emails and more. It is also essential to know how to market your content using content marketing strategies that help to attract, engage and retain audiences.
Search Engine Optimization:
SEO is considered the backbone of digital marketing. It is one of the most effective ways to let a web page rank higher in the SERPs. Whether you want to pursue a career in content writing or data analysis, learning SEO will always be beneficial. Learn about keyword research, on-page and off-page SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising basics, link building, and other SEO strategies. For specializing in SEO, learn technical aspects of the concept such as website crawling, indexing, rendering and more.
Social Media Marketing:
SMM is a significant part of digital marketing. Every digital marketer must learn how to write posts for social media platforms, develop effective social media campaigns and track performance. Gain proficiency in SMM using various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. While every digital marketer must learn SMM, if you prefer to specialize in this branch, understanding social media algorithms, community management, social media advertising, and content creation is necessary.
5. Gain Practical Experience
Internship:
Start your career in digital marketing by applying for an internship program with one of the best digital marketing agencies in India. Most digital marketing institutes also offer internships after completing a digital marketing course with them. It is a critical step in building a career in digital marketing. You can gain practical learning experience, networking opportunities, industry insights, career clarification and more. Moreover, some organizations consider their pool of interns as their first choice for recruitment. Hence, performing well during an internship increases your chances of employment.
Freelancing:
Taking up freelance digital marketing projects is an excellent way to kick-start your digital marketing career and gain practical experience. It offers flexibility, independence, opportunities, and growth potential. As a freelancer, you can set your working schedule and choose your working conditions, making it an excellent choice for people wanting work-life balance. Freelancing also helps you build your brand and portfolio. Your projects, client feedback, and online presence can all contribute to building your professional reputation.
Full-Time Employment:
The best thing about becoming a digital marketer is that many job roles are available. You can start by applying for a basic position such as SEO trainee, social media coordinator, digital marketing assistant or junior content writer. However, it would be best if you were realistic about the role. Sometimes, you must start at the bottom and work your way by learning skills and getting practical experience. So, keep at it and slowly build on the career.
6. Build A Strong Online Presence
Personal Branding:
Building an online presence is essential to be visible and authentic. Start by building a personal brand highlighting your skills, experience and specialization. It is an excellent and strategic way of presenting yourself to the industry and potential clients. Developing a personal brand may include having a website, showcasing your portfolio and maintaining active profiles on social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Ensure you regularly update your website blog and social profiles with valuable content.
Networking:
Networking strategy is crucial in digital marketing for building connections, enhancing knowledge and advancing the career ladder. Effective networking also leads to new opportunities and increased brand visibility. Start with connecting with your fellow professionals, industry leaders and potential clients. Further, you can excel in networking by participating in digital marketing conferences/meet-ups, workshops and seminars. Ensure you engage in communities and share your valuable knowledge on digital marketing.
Collaborating:
A solid online presence is often built by collaborating with other professionals. Approach well-known digital marketing blog owners and offer to write guest posts. It will expose you to a new audience and let you establish your expertise. Further, collaborating on projects and joint ventures with fellow professionals can build credibility and strengthen your online presence. Remember, collaboration is a two-way street, so think about how you can provide value to your connections. It can be sharing an informative article, referral, or expertise.
7. Focus on Professional Development
Continuous Learning:
The field of digital marketing continuously evolves. Right from search engine algorithms to consumer trends, digital marketers need to learn and adapt to changes continuously. Staying updated with changes is crucial for effective SEO and social media campaign plans. Moreover, new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and AR/VR are influencing digital marketing, making it essential for digital marketers to leverage these concepts to provide competitive services to their clients.
Skill Sets:
The digital marketing landscape has a wide range of platforms, strategies and tools. You need to continuously expand your skill sets by learning about these tools and techniques to enhance your versatility and value as a digital marketer. Moreover, new tools and software are introduced often and learning about them will increase the effectiveness of your work. Ensure you also learn about the latest trends in the market to create more innovative and engaging content for your audience.
Master’s Degree:
Having a master’s degree in digital marketing is not necessary, but it can set you apart from other candidates opting for the same position as you are. Though digital marketing is more about practical knowledge, having a robust academic background is helpful when seeking higher positions. Aim for an MS in digital marketing and design, communication, or global digital marketing strategy. Simultaneously, keep yourself updated with the latest technologies in the field.
To Sum Up
The demand for digital marketers is growing with new technologies. AI, AR/VR and content marketing are some areas driving growth for digital marketers. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, by 2032, employment of advertising, promotion and marketing managers will increase by 6%, equivalent to 34,000 new jobs yearly.
With so much scope in the field, becoming a digital marketer can be a great career choice. However, it doesn’t happen overnight. You need to gain practical experience and gradually grow with time in the digital marketing field. Stay agile in learning and adapting to new developments in the field, which is the key to success in digital marketing.
To get started with digital marketing, you can begin your journey with Sorav Jain’s Free Advanced Digital Marketing Course. The course covers everything from how to start your career in digital marketing in India to learning various concepts of digital marketing and how to become a successful digital marketer in India. Learn from India’s best digital coaches and kick-start your career now.
Are you a digital marketer? Share your journey of becoming a successful digital marketer with us in the comments. How did you start, and what technologies/skills helped you stay relevant? It will inspire more individuals to take a career in digital marketing.
How to Become a Digital Marketer FAQs
Do I need a bachelor’s degree to become a digital marketer?
While it is not mandatory, having a bachelor’s degree can be beneficial. Moreover, most hiring organizations today want candidates with bachelor’s degrees in marketing, business communication, or related fields. However, the digital marketing field weighs practical knowledge and experience over having a degree.
What kind of certifications help in becoming a digital marketer?
Some crucial certificates that can display your foundational knowledge and demonstrate your expertise in digital marketing include Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook’s Blueprint and HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing.
Are soft skills necessary for digital marketers?
Soft skills like good communication, analytical and strategic thinking, creativity, networking and adaptability are vital for digital marketers. These skills complement technical skills and are also needed for strategy development, team collaboration, content creation, client dealing and more.
What is the basic salary of a digital marketer?
The basic salary will vary based on the digital marketer’s location, education, experience and expertise. However, in India, the starting salary for a digital marketer may range from 2 Lakhs to 4 Lakhs and can go up to 15 Lakhs to 30 Lakhs for higher positions.
How can I gain practical experience in digital marketing?
Start by learning digital marketing concepts through a reputable course. To pursue practical knowledge, seek internships at a digital marketing agency, which can load you with valuable practical experience. Moreover, taking up freelance projects, developing your site, and managing your social profiles can offer a handsome experience.
How effective is it to be a freelance digital marketer?
Freelancing is a preferred option for digital markers who prefer to work independently or are looking to supplement their income. It offers flexibility in terms of choosing your work schedule and working conditions. Freelancing can also be an effective option for digital marketers looking to build a personal brand and want work-life balance.
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