And then jump straight into our 10 reasons why you should be considering digital marketing as your next move professionally.
TABLE OF CONTENT
2. Why digital marketing is the career for you?
3. The soft skills a digital marketer should have
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing refers to businesses leveraging different online marketing channels to connect with existing and prospective customers.
We delve into the finer details in our Digital Marketing Ultimate Guide, which you can find here.
Unlike traditional marketing which refers to the offline methods of marketing, for example, billboards, radio, print media, and direct mail.
Digital marketing is solely about using online marketing methods to engage and convert customers.
Examples of this would be:
Why digital marketing is the career for you
1. It’s seriously in demand right now
LinkedIn reported that their internal data showed that half of the top 10 jobs posted in 2022 were in the digital or media space!
That’s a massive percentage when you consider LinkedIn provides B2B job opportunities for hundreds of industries across the globe.
As we mentioned before, the term itself, digital marketing, encompasses many sub professions but there’s a huge demand for many of these as you can see in this graphic.
Digital marketing’s scope of opportunity and evolving genre means that organisations are always on the lookout for people that can contribute to their marketing strategies and fill talent gaps.
2. Variety is the spice of marketing
It’s fair to say that almost every business today has some kind of online presence.
This offers a wide range of specialisations.
Whether that’s a website (the most common digital shopfront) or a social media profile, customers nowadays expect to be able to research companies online and will seek them out in these places.
Digital marketers are then tasked with utilising the many channels at their disposal to reach customers in these places, each one warranting its own specialisation.
This includes but is not limited to:
- SEO (search engine optimisation)
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Management
- Email Marketing
- SEM (search engine marketing)
- Online PR
These are just a few of the areas that marketers will learn about and can choose to specialise in.
For organisations with a sensible marketing budget (most spend 7-10% of their overall revenue on digital marketing campaigns), you’ll often find teams are made up of several marketers each with their own niche skillset.
This makes a career as a digital marketer varied and with plenty of choices for lateral or upward progression.
3. Competitive salary
This, of course, varies depending on experience and what aspect of digital marketing you choose to specialise in but each path has a healthy salary with plenty of room for progression to earn the big bucks!
4. No prior education needed BUT…
One of the big allures of being a digital marketing professional is that you don’t need a formal degree or abundance of education behind you to get started.
Companies are instead interested in your desire to learn, grow and think creatively to solve problems.
This low barrier for entry means anyone with a bit of passion and a will to get stuck in can successfully pivot into a new career.
BUT It goes without saying that you should have some prior knowledge or at least a baseline understanding of the roles and terminologies.
You’re more likely to be accepted or chosen over someone who is starting from scratch, depending on the advertised position.
This leads us to our next reason for choosing digital marketing as a career.
5. You can learn anytime, anywhere
The great thing about professions centred around digital businesses is it’s all online. This means you can train online too!
There are plenty of courses available online that will teach the fundamentals of digital marketing (including our very own!) to help facilitate a smooth career transition.
As well as online courses, you can try your hand at other aspects from the comfort of your own home.
- Set up an online shop
- Start a blog
- Invest in a social media channel
- Volunteer for experience
- Become a freelancer
The supreme flexibility of this industry means you can forget the learning fees or the need to be present in a classroom.
6. A creative and versatile career
As a digital marketer, you’ll naturally meander between many different brands, products and company objectives.
This allows you to be creative in how you approach challenges and find workable solutions as you collaborate and coordinate with teams.
As with any field, there are tried and tested approaches but because the digital space is always welcoming emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and leveraging software to drive campaigns and analyse data, you’ll find yourself breaking new ground often and working with diverse tools.
ChatGPT is one of the greatest examples of how AI has turbocharged digital marketing.
As you develop expertise in one area you might find that another attracts you and start building knowledge there too.
This is referred to as a “T-Shaped marketer” which you can read more about here.
7. Challenging and meaningful work
Let’s say you work for a digital marketing agency that has a decent roster of clients, you’ll get to interact and work on varied projects that require different outcomes.
One client might want to drive brand awareness so you’ll help to create thoughtful strategies to market online while another could be looking to increase traffic to their website which requires another approach.
Each objective has you reaching into a different toolkit.
This keeps things fresh and exciting.
Companies rely on a digital marketing specialist to effectively understand, reach and engage their audiences and there’s a great sense of reward in contributing to that success.
8. Working with diverse teams and career growth
Digital marketing jobs often involve several people collaborating on a common goal.
As a digital marketer, you’ll rub shoulders with animators, web developers, writers, videographers and project managers to name a few!
This puts you in a great position to absorb useful information from everyone around you, helping you to grow and develop knowledge areas around the industry.
As this knowledge builds and the practice of communicating with teams there are also opportunities to pursue management or leadership roles.
9. Remote work opportunities
If you’re worried about commuting or maintaining a healthier work-life balance, perhaps around your family or personal goals, the good news is that many companies are more than happy to offer remote working for digital marketers.
All you need is a laptop and a steady internet connection to get online and use the various platforms, allowing you to work from anywhere in the world.
Messaging apps keep teams connected via chats and video conferences bringing meetings to your MacBook while apps like Asana let managers assign tasks and track workflows.
10. Great for analytical minds
Part of becoming a fully-fledged digital marketer is learning how to translate customer and campaign data into actionable insights that drive company strategies.
Data analysts and market researchers are essential to formulating accurate and informed campaigns and while these exist as separate careers in their own right, a keen analytical mind can pick up the basics to help propel their success.
The soft skills a digital marketer should have
The technical know-how can be developed through online courses and by practice but if you’re wondering what traits a digital marketer should possess, we’ve got you covered:
Empathetic – marketing is all about getting into the minds of your target audience to determine their needs, desires and challenges.
A strong empathetic sense allows you to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and deliver solution-based strategies.
Adaptable – because digital marketing industry is ever-evolving you’ll need to keep up with and stay ahead of emerging trends and industry changes.
Growth-minded – staying curious and looking to educate and develop your skills continually puts you in great stead as a marketer.
Creative – you enjoy finding new and innovative ways to solve problems and aren’t afraid to think outside the box.
Can take feedback – you’re happy collaborating with diverse teams and are open to receiving feedback from peers or managers.
Communicate well – between interacting with other departments and co-workers to writing marketing plans and planning email marketing campaigns, strong verbal and written communication is a huge asset.
Think you have what it takes?
A career path in digital marketing is challenging, exciting and constantly progressing, making for a rewarding profession with diverse opportunities for growth and success.
As one of the most in-demand jobs today that you can start learning from home, there’s never been a better time to consider it!