We are living in the digital information age. Where most people conduct their various affairs digitally. From doing their shopping, attending classes, reading newspapers, watching their favorite sports games, doing business, and so forth. That is all now happening digitally.
Thanks to this digital revolution, 95% of new businesses are establishing with a business model that, in one way or another, heavily relies on digital technology. The efficiency derived from leveraging on digital technology has also made the traditional businesses also migrate in masses to the digital platform.
With that in mind, it would be safe to conclude that digital marketing presents a lucrative career. The seismic shift in the corporate world, the education sector, government operations, and just about any other sector towards the digital platform informs us that there is plenty of job opportunities in this sector.
How Do You Secure a Dream Job in Digital Marketing?
So we have established that digital marketing is a promising career path and that there is a growing demand for professionals in this industry. Does that mean it is easy to get a job? Well, the answer is yes and no!
It is easier if you know your stuff and can deliver results. You only need to look at the numbers of teenage kids and kids barely into puberty who are making $2 million annually playing video games. There are also the so-called influencers and socialites who rake in millions of dollars out of product endorsements.
The trick with digital marketing, just like traditional marketing, is to get your information in front of a large crowd of the relevant audience. While being an influencer, socialite, and a gamer might not be the ideal professional digital marketer pursuing a career. Those examples nonetheless serve to drive in the point that digital marketing is all about being able to get your message in front as a massive crowd of people as possible.
For the more conventional digital marketing roles such as SEO Expert, Social Media Marketer, Graphics Designer, Web Developer, UX Expert, Content Marketer, Copywriter, SEM Marketer, and Email Marketer, among others. You are going to need to demonstrate skills, adaptability, reliability, expertise, and passion.
There are many employers out there looking for an expert to handle their various digital marketing tasks. However, you must put yourself out there and be visible to them. Do not forget that you are not the only one looking to get to those jobs. There are tens of thousands of you, if not millions.
It is, therefore, imperative that you put your best foot forward. You are, after all, in a competition for the attention of the best employers in the industry. So below, we are going to share with you some of the tricks used to get the best digital marketing jobs.
Tricks to Getting the Best Digital Marketing Jobs
- Having Market-Relevant Skills
This point is a no-brainer; to be employed for something, you must have the necessary skills to execute the job. However, in digital marketing, having the required skills on its own will not cut it. The skills must be relevant to the current market.
We have stated several times that in digital marketing, what worked yesterday, may not work today and will not work tomorrow. So you need to ensure that you have the most current skillsets required in the market.
The good thing with digital marketing is acquiring the skills does not need to cost you an arm and a leg. It might not even cost you a dime if you decide to take the online courses route. Even more impressive is the speed at which you can complete the courses; less than a year or just six months.
2. Take up Free Internship and Trainee Positions
Learning about digital marketing skills in a class or online course is one thing. In the market, the actual day-to-day work may demand a totally different skillset, meaning the education sector has to catch up.
For obvious reasons, no employer is going to risk having you on their payroll; in their judgment, you are unskilled. Therefore, it is advisable that you offer yourself up as a trainee, an intern, or work for free.
You are better off taking a few months with little to no pay, during which you acquire the market-relevant skills and gain some experience. Than going month after month applying for high-salary and high-level positions but never getting any replies.
During your internship, at the very least, you can get a recommendation letter if not hired by the company you were doing the internship or volunteering. That letter can go a long way in your next application, as it will give the potential employer more confidence in your skills.
3. Gain Advertising Skills and Experience
No digital marketer worth their salt does not have some skills in Google Ad Words and Facebook Advertising. These two advertisement platforms are critical in making it in this line of work. Though admittedly, mastering either or both platforms will take some bit of time and money.
Even if you are not employed, or doing it for a contract client, you can get started by perhaps volunteering to advertise your family member’s or friend’s business on Facebook or Google Ad Words. They need not pay you, but you will want to gain the experience.
Just don’t go full throttle on spending your money learning Ad Words or Facebook Advertising without some practical experience.
If anything, you are better off taking up as much of the free available tutorials online and then putting them into practice trying to promote a friend’s business than starting by paying hefty fees to learn them, without any practical exercise.
4. Get Started on Your Blog, Vlog, Social Media Postings
The beauty with digital marketing, you can start showcasing your skills right from where you are now. You do not need to get employed or secure a contract to begin. You can set up your own website if you have either the time or the money.
If not, get a free blog site; these days, you are spoilt for choice with the likes of Medium, WordPress, Blogger, etc. Once your blog site is up and running, you can put to the test your skills for SEO, content marketing, and design among other digital marketing skills.
With your blog site up and running, you can now test how you can promote it on social media; draw visitors from social media to your site. That will go a long way in putting into test your social media skills.
To be an authority in whatever you will be blogging about, you need to run extensive research; double-check all the facts and figures before posting. You don’t want to spew out lies and ‘fake news’ because that is how you lose credibility fast.
5. Networking
Yes, the saying ‘It’s not about what you know, it’s about whom you know,’ is very much true even when job hunting in the digital marketing sector. How fast you get a job and how high the ranking and pay will be will to a high degree, depend on whom you know and how influential they are in this sector.
If you are lucky enough to have a family or friend, working at higher ranks in the food chain, be sure to use them to pull you up the ladder. If you don’t have such friends or family, then be actively out to make such types of friends, and that can be achieved through networking.
Attend digital marketing events in and around your town or city. Introduce yourself to people and let them know what you do, your skills, and how you can help them achieve their goals. You are more likely to get a job from an employer you met at an event than from one who simply gets your resume on email or the mailbox.
The more people you know, the better your chances that one of them could open the right doors for you.
6. Do your Homework on the Company you are applying to
Nothing impresses an HR manager than receiving an application letter for an advertised vacancy from a candidate who already knows about the required roles, the company’s vision and ambitions. Possibly even how the company runs its affairs.
As it gives HR the confidence that there will be a minimal learning curve with such a candidate. Therefore, when applying for a given position at a company, be sure to do your homework on not just the position advertised, but the organization as a whole.
Thanks to the internet, there are various platforms such as Glassdoor, and other review sites, where you can get to learn about an organization’s internal affairs. You can also view the company’s social media accounts and get an overview of their culture.
It is critical that you understand the organization’s culture. Many times, companies like hiring people who will fit in with their culture; and fit in fast.
7. Mind your Email Address
They say first impressions go a long way in forming other people’s opinions about you. Well, guess what! In this digital age, your email address is one of those first things people use to form an opinion about you.
In other words, you may want to rethink your email address; the choice of words and numbers used therein. If you’re going to give the impression of a professional, use an email address formed around your official name (first, middle, and last name).
Try to avoid using numbers; many people when they find their mix of their first, middle, and last name already taken when opening up an email account. Try to include the year they are opening. So you find xxyyzz2019@gmail.com or something along that line.
That does not give the impression of a savvy internet user. Though some recruiters may overlook that, there is no doubt it will form a not-so-positive impression of you in their minds.
8. Spruce up your LinkedIn Account
LinkedIn remains the de facto social media account where to put forward your best professional foot. Try getting as many recommendations on LinkedIn as possible, get your profile completely filled, and up-to-date.
If you do not have a lot of working experience, don’t shy away from listing all your volunteer and internship positions. They might count just as much. Add all your relevant academic and professional connections and ensure your headline includes the keywords for the jobs you would be interested.
For instance, ‘Recent Graduate looking for a Digital Marketing position’ or ‘Want to make a Career Switch to Digital Marketing.’ You can let other people know your view by doing well-articulated postings on LinkedIn, and it goes without saying, do thorough research on what you will be posting.
9. Be Aggressive and Proactive in applying for Positions
When you see a position advertised that you are certain you can deliver. Don’t let the little fact that you don’t meet 100% of the requirements stop you from applying. Just apply away!
Especially if it is an entry-level position in digital marketing, often the recruiter knows there will be some on-the-job training for whoever will want to hold that position to its senior-most level. So don’t take yourself out of the race by letting the fact you might not hold 100% of the qualifications, prevent you from applying.
10. Don’t Let Your Cover Letter and Resume Read Like the Next One
While applying for a job, assume you are in a race with 1000 more applicants. The recruiter is probably bored out of their brains from reading all those cover letters and resumes. Be kind enough to make your cover letter and resume be a pleasant break from all they have been reading.
Sometimes that could mean subtle things like the format, fonts, and arrangement of your blocks of text. Whatever you do, make sure your cover letter and resume stand out, but professionally.
Article provided by, The Digital Marketing Recruiter – a recruiting firm focused exclusively on filling digital marketing positions throughout the USA
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