Since the pandemic, the high street has become a ghost town seeing many physical stores’ demise. Conversely, businesses with a strong online presence are thriving, and those with ambitions for growth grow are realising the value of marketing skills. As a result, Digital Marketers are a hot commodity, and demand for their skills is only likely to rise. This is fantastic news for experienced Digital Marketers but leaves many young hopefuls wondering how to get into Digital Marketing?

Read on for our top tips on getting into this exciting profession and reasons to pursue a career in Digital Marketing. As a bonus, we highlight the personality traits of successful Digital Marketers. After reading this article, you should know whether or not this is a suitable career for you.

Young lady researching how to get into digital marketing on her laptop — There are many exciting jobs available within Digital Marketing and their skills are in high demand!

What Do Digital Marketers Do?

It is a Digital Marketers job to generate awareness in a brand and drive customers to its website. This is achievable through a variety of methods either organically; through various social media channels, blogging, SEO or email. Alternatively, businesses generate awareness through pay per click advertising, for example, Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

When people think of Digital Marketing jobs, they instantly call to mind visual and written content marketing jobs. However, there are many Digital Marketing roles which are more analytical than creative. An excellent example of this is using Google Analytics to measure the success of an online marketing campaign.

There are many job roles which all work together throughout this process, including:

Data Analysis
Copywriting
Visual Design
SEO
Email Marketing
Customer Relationship Management
Organic Social Media
Paid Media

Why Get Into Digital Marketing?

There are many benefits to choosing a career in this field, below are just a few reasons why Digital Marketing makes a great choice of job:

Well Paid, Interesting Work

For starters, Digital Marketing jobs come with attractive salaries; even entry-level marketer salaries are around £20,000 to £25,000. For those who show talent, there are endless opportunities for progression with senior marketing professionals earning up to £100,000.

Employers trust Digital Marketers with a great deal of autonomy and freedom regarding how they do their jobs. What’s more, there is a great deal of experimentation involved in a marketers creative process. Through the aid of analytics, it’s easy to see what works well and what doesn’t. Success is, therefore, easy to spot and replicate. Marketers, often find seeing the results of their creative decision making highly motivational.

Analytics data — There is a mind boggling amount of data available indicating to Digital Marketers the success of their campaign.

Variety of Career Choices on Offer

There are many different career paths to follow within Digital Marketing, and the skills you acquire throughout can open many doors to other opportunities. For example, some marketing roles require learning to code, which could lead to Web Design opportunities.

Whichever career path you choose, the ever-growing demand for marketing skills makes it unlikely you’ll ever have difficulty finding a new job. Not only that but once after a few years’ experience, it’s more likely the jobs will come looking for you. Of course, it’s doubtful you’ll be able to skip the entire application process; you will still probably need to attend the occasional interview. Although, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself trawling job boards or writing cover letters a lot less.

Say Goodbye to the Traditional 9-5!

If you struggle to imagine yourself stuck at a desk doing a repetitive job, Digital Marketing might appeal to you. Creative agencies and internal marketing departments alike, tend to be fun environments to work in. Digital creatives often work collaboratively to solve problems creatively.

Digital Marketing presents endless opportunities to earn extra cash while trying out a side gig. Or if you’re not money motivated, how about going freelance to reduce the number of hours you work? If you have the desire to travel the world, you could even become a digital nomad! At very least, if you enjoy the security of being in permanent employment, there are more opportunities to work remotely in Digital Marketing.

So, How to Get Into Digital Marketing?

If you’re still in education, the most obvious starting point for your career might be via a marketing degree or an apprenticeship. Alternatively, if you already have some work experience, CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) Qualifications are the ones employers look for.

If you’re already working and thinking of a career change, Digital Marketing is probably the most straightforward profession to gain experience in.

Anyone can set up a social media account or start a blog on WordPress. Either will serve as the starting point of an online portfolio. However, that alone, won’t be enough for you to get your foot in the door.

Potential employers will want to see that you can do more than amass a large following of Instafans by posting pretty pictures. You will need to delve deeper into the analytics to work out what works for your target audience and why. This knowledge will enable you to develop a strategy, build a personal brand and stand out from the crowd.

What Skills are Needed for Digital Marketing?

There are many different career paths to follow within the Digital Marketing sector. The technical skillset you will be required to have will vary depending on whether you desire a more creative or analytical role.

That said, there are particular soft skills that are extremely advantageous for a career in Digital Marketing, such as:

Quick decision-making ability
Inquisitiveness
Ability to work with others
Communication skills
Analytical skills
Tech-savvy
Adaptability
Time management
Creativity
Research skills

A Few Final Thoughts on Careers in Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is not a linear career path; That is, where you start at an entry point, gain a few year’s experience, seek promotion then rinse and repeat until you reach the peak of your potential. For this reason, there is a great deal of scope to switch careers, acquiring new skills or enjoying a period of digital nomaddery.

Due to the analytics available, it’s easy to see the consequences of your actions and experiments. This alone makes for an exciting and rewarding career. However, there are so many career options available, knowing where to start can be overwhelming!

If you would like to speak to a recruitment expert before embarking on a Digital Marketing career, our team would be happy to chat with you. Or for more information about entry-level Digital Marketing roles and how to get into them, check out our previous article on the subject.

We hope you found this article informative, and you now know whether or not a Digital Marketing career is for you. If you found it useful, please share it on social media where others can benefit from it too!