How to Start a Career in Digital Marketing with no Experience

If you are to measure the difficulty in starting a career in digital marketing or judge from tons of discussions on the subject, you might say becoming a pro digital marketer with no experience is the hardest thing to achieve.

Many people would ask me how to start a career in digital marketing and after discovering all that is involved, only a few would return.

Most people are discouraged to choose digital marketing as a career because of no major experience in the profession or because others failed.

Digital marketing isn’t rocket science.

This could probably be the reason why people fail in digital marketing.

You can’t because of that say becoming a digital marketer is unattainable.

Every successful digital marketer you know started as a novice. They didn’t give up despite all the challenges they faced.

So the question is how can you start a career in digital marketing with no experience and succeed?

It’s good to know that starting a career in digital marketing is not going to be as easy as “buying and selling” or getting a job and receiving a monthly salary.

A lot of creativity and strong determination are required to start a digital marketing career and succeed.

There are a lot of resources to walk you through this career path if you mean business.

Most information and guides on digital marketing are put together here to simplify the career path.

This article is, therefore, a necessity to groom, alter, re-orientate, and provide a helping hand for you.

With it, you are going to earn or make a living from digital marketing as a full-time or part-time job.

Is digital marketing a career or job?

There is quite a difference between a career and a job.

Different people try to differentiate these two terms using divergent ideas and explanations.

And all explanations point out a specific difference which is “time”.

On the one hand, a career is seen to be a long-term process requiring a lot of effort and training to create lasting happiness in the life of the careerist.

On the other hand, a job requires less training and can be taken for just a short period.

In digital marketing, it is possible to take up a job if you are the type that needs something to keep you busy and get some pennies into your pocket.

However, jobs in digital marketing usually require some skills or knowledge about technology as a result of fierce competition in the field.

This makes it extremely difficult for the unskilled to go far in the industry.

But that doesn’t mean the skilled will always be employed; not at all.

A digital marketer may have an upper hand over the other, because of several relative factors such as attitude and resource availability.

So, answering the question of “how to become a digital marketer” should probably save us from the stress of analyzing language.

If all you want is “How do I maximize my chances of getting a job in digital marketing?” Then the difference between both terms is insignificant in this discussion.

Why choose a career in digital marketing?

 

Here are some of the reasons why you should also look into digital marketing while choosing a career.

Financial stability

The money is always on the internet for you to take as people who are already comfortable with their online business will say.

Digital marketing has proven to be a reliable source of passive income for anyone.

According to PayScale, the average salary of a digital marketer in Nigeria is ₦1,410,000 per annum.

In other parts of the world, you can get up to $68,970 when you work in digital marketing for brands.

Some are of the opinion that “you do not go for a career because of money”.

So, I wonder why everyone wants a good profit from the businesses they do.

If your career can’t give you a good life then you need to consider becoming a digital marketer now.

Diversified business ideas

One of the most robust ways of starting a career in digital marketing is through the Internet.

Ranging from starting dropshipping to affiliate marketing, you will never get short of ideas to set your career underway.

Another interesting thing is the connection between these business ideas as you can combine two or more of them into an ultimate establishment that allows you to have the life you desire.

Liberty

The most tiring feature of any career is the restriction of your freedom.

Unlike other bondage-calling jobs, digital marketing provides one with total freedom to work virtually anywhere and at any time you wish.

“Become your own boss!”

Have you come across that phrase before?

That is simply the motto of this amazing business enterprise.

To further make it relieving, most digital marketing strategies can be implemented through the use of software or bots.

For this reason, you need not stress yourself a bit to work if you could become a digital marketer.

There are AI machines that will do the work for you perfectly while you sleep.

Fun

The capacity to work and have fun at the same time has never been made so easy and possible until the advent of digital marketing.

Personally, I pinpointed this as a reason to go into digital marketing as a career.

This is the only career you do that you will have the privilege to meet people of different cultures, and lifestyles, and appreciate the significance of human relationships in income generation.

Most of my friends in the industry are foreigners.

The funniest part of it is how we have done a lot of good things together without physically meeting before.

Several contests such as surveys are organized to further make marketing easier and more specific, unlike the boring 5-9 daily jobs.

Relevancy

The relevance of digital marketing to business individuals should undoubtedly be my first reason for embarking on it as a career.

I chose to place this point as the last to leave a resounding effect in your mind.

You should know some facts, and these include questions such as:

• When will people start to consider a career as being obsolete?
• Is the career subjected to constant changes or will remain static forever?
• If your career constantly changes, do you have the ability to follow the trends?

These are some of the questions you should consider when contrasting your career with time.

Your findings will help you validate the relevance of your career and plan before dabbling into it.

As for digital marketing, considering the relevance of the industry to the general public is the ultimate.

This will give you the guarantee that starting a digital marketing career is viable and profitable.

Choosing a career in digital marketing, however, has gone beyond the stage where you ask whether there would be a steady demand for your services.

People would continue to use digital marketing across all industries and explore new sales and marketing opportunities.

For that reason, you need to know how to start a career in digital marketing and prepare yourself for the opportunities as they unfold.

Skills you need to start a career in digital marketing

Digital marketing is not different from other professions when it comes to having the technical know-how to sustain a career.

The same reasons for going to school to learn about a profession and become certified are required when you finally decide to become a digital marketer.

The difference is just that all the skills you need to start a digital marketing career can be acquired without going to school and obtaining a professional certification.

Apart from the comfort of practicing a digital marketing career online, the intense competition among digital marketers makes it difficult for amateurs to hit the limelight.

For that reason, it is compulsory you acquire the following basic skills to spike your chances of becoming a successful digital marketer.

The first part of this section will discuss the hard skills and the second part, soft skills, for becoming a digital marketer.

Hard skills

These are the technical skills you need to get started with digital marketing as a career.

SEO & SEM

 

You must know the basic principles of SEO and probably request the assistance of tech-savvies on other complex aspects before choosing a career in digital marketing.

That are two options there.

To me, learning search engine optimization (SEO) or search engine marketing (SEM) is your surest way of becoming successful in your new career as a digital marketer.

The SEO or SEM skill will help you move up the ranks of your website on search engines, especially Google, and attract more customers organically.

If your website hardly ranks, there is no way you can convince a client who needs a similar service that you can do it.

Your proficiency as a digital marketer isn’t hidden.

Even if you don’t promote yourself as an SEO, those who know that your website performs well on search engines will know and approach you for your service.

Some may offer to pay you for mentioning or listing them or submitting a guest post on your site and generating a backlink for them.

The truth is if your site is not well-optimized for search engines, you might really struggle to record a great breakthrough in your career as a digital marketer.

Your level of effective SEO will determine the quality of your services.

So, with good SEO skills, you can start a digital marketing career such as an SEO agency, and be successful.

Fortunately, there are some free SEO tools you can use to make the job easier for you.

Some of these free tools include; Google Analytics, Ubersuggest, Mozbar, WooRank Website, and so on.

With any of these tools, you can analyze a website and get insights into how to boost its performance on search engines.

Content management

Content is an integral part of SEO and will in the actual sense, determine your success on a large scale.

Your content is your selling point and this is what attracts your audiences and potential customers.

Once you fail to provide value that will convince your visitors and persuade them to transact with you then, you might be risking your success as a digital marketer.

Before you pen down anything, be certain the content meets the demands of your audience.

You may find it difficult to discover this, but it is quite simple to detect.

The following questions will help you in creating the right content:

• Why am I writing?
• What problem will my content tackle?
• Who are my audiences?
• What values do I derive from my content?

If you don’t find your content amazing, probably because of these mistakes, then how do you expect others to like it?

Let your content speak for you while you get the benefits.

You should be able to differentiate between ordinary content and what people direly want to read.

Social media marketing 

Just like SEO, social media marketing is another great skill you need to start a career in digital marketing and flourish.

There is barely a person without a social media account.

Hence, this is a skill to showcase your proficiency in handling a marketing job in terms of communication and persuasive power.

With social media marketing skills, you can get a well-paid job.

In this age, most brands or clients need someone with social media marketing skills to help boost their brand awareness and get prospects and organic traffic to their websites.

You don’t need to master the usage of all social media although knowing how to use multiple platforms will help you in the development of your career as a digital marketer.

Different social media platforms do well with specific business goals.

You need to understand how different social media platforms work and the kind of businesses that their frameworks rapidly impart

You can learn more about this in our full-blown guide on social media marketing strategy.

Check it out to learn the diversity of social media marketing and how to use it to your advantage.

Email marketing

 

It is a pity that this must-have skill is quite becoming outdated but not dead as some digital marketers claim.

Many modern digital marketers are ignorant of the practices involved in this skill which is why they fail to be on top of the game.

Having an email marketing skill involves the ability to:

• Segment email lists for A/B testing
• Track performance metrics of email campaigns
• Understand GDPR standards to prevent marketing emails from entering spam boxes
• Identify your email goals and how different emails can be sent to realize your goals

Without wasting much of your time, you can find everything you need to know about email marketing in our previous post on this website.

It is shown that for every $1 spent on email marketing; the average return is $42.

Therefore, which company will not run after a digital marketer with excellent email marketing skills?

You can even use the same skill to reach out to more clients and sustain your digital marketing career for a long time.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) and data analytics

In anything we do in life, we should set aside time to check and evaluate ourselves.

The same principle applies to digital marketing. It is known as data analytics skill.

Every business using digital marketing needs someone who can help them evaluate their performance.

A good data analytics skill can be used to improve the conversion rate optimization (CRO) and click-through-rate (CTR) of a website and hence, spike the conversion of leads.

If you have analytics skills, you can establish yourself on it and make a lot of money.

To get a steady job as an expert in this field, you must be able to evaluate the productivity of all the strategies your clients use.

The major reason a digital marketer is required for this job is to influence a product or service on the internet.

The only way to show your clients that you are up to the task is by providing real results regardless of what strategy they have used.

The inability to show this simply means you aren’t fit for the job.

So, you need to get the skill.

You can use some online tools to perform your data analytics and get the data you need to work with.

For example, Google Analytics will give you reasonable insights into your development as a professional digital marketer.

There are other soft skills that can set you on track. Once you have the right skills, you are good to go.

Soft skills

The following are the soft skills you need to flourish in any career, not just digital marketing.

Consistency

Do you think that in the next 1 – 5 years (s) you will be able to give your audiences what they want?

Or after some months, will you just vanish like you were never online?

Considering the way some people have succeeded in their digital marketing venture might make you think it is so easy.

Their achievements only come from sheer determination and focus.

When we speak of consistency, it entails your ability to change with time without losing your value.

You must be dynamic and ready to adapt to new developments in your career and concurrently maintain your initial selling point.

Perseverance

There are two types of income – passive and active income.

While the former changes your status in life, the latter will sustain you but might not give you the life you delight.

Yet, you can get both working as a digital marketer.

Mind you, your perseverance is highly needed if you want to start a career in digital marketing and succeed.

Sometimes, perseverance doesn’t bring success if you are on the wrong track.

So, before putting your blood, sweat, and tears into something, be certain you are doing the right thing.

Risk-bearing

Good and bad define life, they say.

A man without a bad day has never done anything.

You should be aware that there will be moments when things will not work as you wish. Therefore, be prepared for such occurrences.

Any competent entrepreneur must be a good risk-bearer as this gives an insight into how far such a person can go.

Your watchword as a digital marketer should be “when I fall, I must rise” because certainly, you will fall at some point.

Continuous learning

We never stop learning as an average person talkless of becoming a successful digital marketer.

You should always be on the lookout for new developments and updates that are relevant to your progress.

Try to adapt to what is in vogue but in your unique ways and avoid plagiarism or being a copycat.

You will be surprised at how far you will go if you are willing to learn from others.

Time conscience

Even though you have to bear risks and persevere.

You will also have to be conscious of how long you have started your digital marketing venture and what you have achieved so far.

Draft a plan on where you should be at a certain point in your career and find out factors that might hinder you or are hindering your progress.

You should not waste valuable time in the name of persevering otherwise you will end up making a fool of yourself.

How to start a career in digital marketing and succeed

It is now time we explore the possibilities of becoming a successful digital marketer starting from scratch.

All it involves is to put together the a-z of this discussion and begin taking action.

Given this, the following steps will get you started.

Learn digital marketing skills

No single skill makes up a successful digital marketing career.

To get started, you have to learn as many digital marketing skills as possible and brighten your chances of getting your first job.

If all you know is content marketing, and your clients need SEO, you might not get the job except you are multifaceted.

The number of skills you have won’t only qualify you for several jobs but also places you above the less-skilled personalities whom the client might come across.

However, you must know that as you consider some people to be less skillful so also you are rated less than some.

For that reason, you should always develop your skills and ensure you meet up with the criteria for the latest jobs.

Brand yourself

Branding these days takes a person or business as a brand to have an online presence.

As the clients can easily be targeted online, branding through an online presence is to ensure all relevant information about your business, culture, values, and goals are visible online.

The best approach to this is to have a blog and integrate all your social media handles with it.

Most prospects search Google for solutions. And with most of your high-ranking posts, they will find you.

In view of this, branding yourself is key to the success of your career in digital marketing.

It involves creating the identity with which you want your audience to identify you and this can happen on all your digital marketing channels.

Make good use of your website, blog, and social media accounts to show your prospects who you are and let them decide whether you are worth the available job or not.

Get some experience

Starting a career in digital marketing with not much experience could be challenging.

That is why learning the necessary skills appears as the first step to getting started as a digital marketer.

Once you are sure of your skills, you can start gathering some experiences.

You may not get this if all you want is a big pay.

As a digital marketer with not much experience, take any offer that comes your way and try to get a testimonial from your clients.

You can start a digital marketing career on Fiverr.

Fiverr is a platform for freelancers to sell their gigs. Learn how to get started with Fiverr, it will help.

As a digital marketer, you will get a lot of cheap offers from the beginning.

Don’t reject any job given to you.

Since you have the skills to carry out the job, take it and ensure the client says a good thing about you at the end of the project.

Good communication skills can make your first-time clients return and give you a bigger offer.

That is how you grow in the industry, with one step at a time.

Create an attractive resume

The use of resumes is very important in landing a well-paid digital marketing job.

Because this career path takes place online doesn’t mean all prospects will have to visit your site to read about you.

An attractive resume will be a great alternative.

You can submit your resume to your recruiter if you need to directly apply for the role of a digital marketer in an organization.

And part of what the hiring managers want to see in your resume includes:

• Your working objectives as a digital marketer
• Relevant experience with notable achievements
• Level of education and necessary certification
• Your digital marketing skills
• Certification in digital marketing from a reputable academy

You might need more than one resume.

Just to make sure you have the right resume for the right job, create different ones based on the various job positions you are interested in.

Find some examples of digital marketing resumes online and be guided.

Your resume will speak for you, so make sure it is well constructed so it can speak well of you.

Send outreach

Another important step to become a digital marketer is calling attention to yourself by sending outreach to your prospects.

You can do this through your Facebook friend list, WhatsApp contacts, or email list of relevant audiences.

This will make people who know about your brand to possibly consider your services.

Although sending outreach to people has to come after you must have gotten some quality experience in the industry.

Otherwise, if people get to know that you are not experienced, you will be considered as an unserious type.

Consequently, it will be as if your strategy isn’t working.

Many digital marketers who make this kind of mistake might quit as none of their strategies was working.

Join a network or group of digital marketers

When you’re in a network of people who do what you do, your chances of becoming a better digital marketer are high.

In most groups that I’m in, members throw it to the floor when they have an offer. Some would share their experiences on relevant issues or the latest information.

By doing so, we learn and get jobs and many of us have achieved a lot.

These are just some of the core things you need to build a successful working life in the digital marketing industry.

Be SMART in your career pursuit.

Digital marketing has proven to be a free marketplace for everyone regardless of race, age, level of education, or digital knowledge.

So, it is not about having the money to get numerous software, take courses on digital marketing, and have all the technical know-how that you will become a successful digital marketer, but really being committed to the career.

Conclusion on Starting a Career in Digital Marketing

Is there anything you need to know about how to start a career in digital marketing that I have not discussed?

Make use of the comment box to drop your message about digital marketing.

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