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Is Digital Marketing A Good Career 2019

    WHY CHOOSE A CAREER IN DIGITAL MARKETING?

    There’s no getting around the fact that almost all businesses, sooner or later, must include digital in their marketing activities. And with the demand for digital marketers outweighing the supply, there are plenty of opportunities out there for those looking to get into the field.

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    So, what’s all the hype about? Read on to learn more about this fascinating, versatile field.

    What is digital marketing?

    In some ways, digital marketing is not that different from traditional marketing: you’ve got a product that you need to sell, and you’re looking to ways to engage with customers to build brand awareness and eventually “close” a sale.

    Digital marketing encompasses, even more, roles and skills than marketing ever before, and it’s this flexible, versatile nature of the business that makes it so fascinating. Here are some general areas that a digital marketing professional will likely touch on during their training or career:

    • Video/audio production
    • Interactive technology (such as AI)
    • Mobile marketing
    • Search engine optimization (SEO)
    • Search engine marketing (SEM)
    • Social media
    • E-commerce
    • Email marketing
    • Marketing automation
    • Content management and curation
    • Web development
    • Web design
    • Copywriting and editing
    • Analytics
    • Business/marketing strategy

    It’s a good idea to think about getting training in at least one or two specialty areas, unless you’re in management, in which case you’ll probably need to know quite a bit about them all.

    What skills are in demand?

    The digital economy is embedded in every corner of our lives, and it’s definitely not going anywhere.

    There’s a solid budget going into digital marketing now as opposed to the traditional marketing. 93% of online activity starts with a search engine, and ensures the continued effectiveness of SEO as a superior marketing strategy while about 80% of Americans make an online purchase at least once a month. Anyone thinking about starting or leading a business needs to have a basic understanding of digital marketing in order to convert customers.

    There is plenty of room for people looking to enter the world of digital marketing and related careers. According to Smart Insights, some of the most in-demand skills for 2017 were digital advertising, content creation, content strategy, and social media, which is great news for those who veer towards the creative, social and business end of the spectrum.

    For those who are more technically minded, there’s still plenty of demand and quite a high earning potential for those who specialize in technology like SEO and SEM since this is what can be at the base of what drives profits in any business.

    Content marketing relies on traffic and anyone with the technical expertise to analyze these patterns is going to be a valuable asset, especially as these types of jobs become more complex with the advent of AI.

    Why choose a career in digital marketing?

    Digital marketing is a career that has plenty of room for techs, creatives, and business people. There are so many avenues that you can follow; it’s best to focus on one or two things that you do best, then you can always learn more from there. If you have a business or communications background, you may want to consider going into management.

    This is a field that’s ever-changing and engaging; there’s always something new to learn. And if you work in an agency, you’ll always be working with different clients, which means you’ll probably never get bored.

    Beyond this, here are a few more reasons to consider this career.

    There’s a Digital Skills Gap: There’s a growing demand for people with digital skills, particularly for those in the middle-income bracket, specifically soft skills, and according to this study, it’s most pronounced in the US. So, sticking with ongoing training in this area, even if you’re not a complete tech geek, is a good thing to bank on into the foreseeable future.

    Versatility: If you choose a career path or specialization in this field and you decide to pivot later, you’ll likely only need a little training in order to make the switch. In this sense, you can build on existing skills while still learning new ones, but still stay in the same field. There’s plenty of choices, here, and ongoing learning opportunities, where different skills fit together in different ways.

    The Industry is Always Evolving: As the industry grows and changes, there’s always something new and interesting to learn, and you can follow along and learn, whether you’re taking the lead on these initiatives or not. Since there will be a variety of specialists working in a given agency, you’ll likely be working alongside professionals with a variety of backgrounds, with everyone having to come together to build marketing strategies.

    Earnings: When a job is in demand, that means there’s more opportunity to negotiate remuneration whether you are working in-house or as a freelancer. So long as you “show” your work through the job search process, you’ll be able to bid higher and higher the more experience you get. According to the Creative Group, content writers early in their career will likely start at a salary of at least $45, 000 and a new SEO specialist will probably be earning about $50,000 to start.

    Be Creative: Not only is there plenty of opportunities for creatives to do their thing in writing, design and even video and audio production, there’s also plenty of room for day-to-day creativity in a general sense. You’ll always be having to think of new ways to market products, solve problems, and engage audiences.

    Train at Your Own Pace: You can start working on building this specific career now, from the comfort of your own home, and do it your way. Take online courses, build a blog or a website, work on your own social media, get some volunteer or freelance work, and you’re on your way to building a solid portfolio from the comfort of your own home. For most specialties, there’s no need to spend thousands of hours and dollars sitting around in a classroom—you can really build your skills and get training in a way that suits your lifestyle.

    Work with Different People Every Day: You’re always going to find something new to do in this field – and have someone new to talk to. Whether it’s a new client, a colleague with an interesting specialty, or finding fun ways to engage and expand your audience, anyone with an interest in working with people will do well in the social and business end of this career. And if you’re a little more on the introverted side, you can stay behind the scenes doing writing or web work.

    What types of people excel in this field?

    All sorts of people can follow a career that touches on marketing; it depends on what your interests are. Having an extremely technical background isn’t usually necessary, though if you do know a thing or two about web design or coding, you’re probably going to be ahead of the competition.

    Because this is such a dynamic field that requires ongoing learning, you pretty much need to be a self-starter—that is, willing to teach yourself new skills and technology on an ongoing basis. To this end, you’ll need to be a creative problem-solver. If you are curious, innovative, proactive, a natural leader, adaptable, creative, and have a good business sense; you’ll probably do well in most areas in this field.

    How do you get trained as a digital marketing professional?

    If you already have a background in marketing management, copywriting, web development or even design, you’ve already got plenty of transferable skills to go into digital marketing. You’ll probably want to get started on your own personal branding and build a portfolio in order to build your own unique digital presence.

    It’s tough to stay on top of all of the latest trends, but getting a solid understanding of the basics of up and coming trends like AI and virtual reality in the context of how they’re being used for marketing is an excellent place to put your focus as well.

    You should certainly make sure that your social media streams are consistent with your skills and aptitude–in other words, talk about what you are interested in and learning about publicly and as often as you can. Start a blog over at Medium and join some Facebook groups in your field of interest.

    You’ll want to also look for a comprehensive, reputable training program to get official certification in one or more core areas. Once you’re officially certified, you’ll then have a leg-up amongst your peers when it comes to searching for fulfilling opportunities.

    STARTING A CAREER IN DIGITAL MARKETING: NEARLY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

    There’s a stereotype out there that tech companies only hire developers and programmers. Are they essential? Absolutely. But as someone who who assumed she’d never work for a tech company because frankly, I haven’t been able to connect my printer to my computer since 2003, I can say with absolute certainty: you can build a career in tech without learning jQuery (or Ruby on Rails or WordPress themes).

    If you’re looking for a creative role in tech that lets you make big picture plans, write clever copy, and even spend some days chatting with fans on Instagram, digital marketing could well be the ideal career for you. That’s why we’ve written an all-encompassing guide to building a career in digital marketing, one step at a time. Read it, bookmark it, live it.

    What Is Digital Marketing?

    Before we go deeper, let’s cover the basics.

    Digital marketing is an umbrella term that includes any and all of the online strategies that companies use to identify, build, and target an audience in the hopes of turning them into customers.

    Like traditional marketing, digital marketing focuses on promoting and (hopefully!) selling a product or service. Thanks to the rise of smartphones, though, marketing no longer means, “Let’s just throw a billboard up.” Marketing strategies have evolved because consumers have evolved. That’s why digital marketing focuses on how to reach potential customers where they spend their time online and in highly targeted and relatable ways—an approach that’s often referred to as “conversational” marketing. That includes anything from social media marketing to paid ads to search engine optimization (SEO), among other techniques.

     

    Common Digital Marketing Jobs + Salaries

    Yes, the job title “digital marketer” exists, but the beauty of digital marketing is that there are many other roles you can explore if you’ve learned the basics of digital marketing. Most digital marketers evolve into niche categories depending on their interests and skill set. That means it doesn’t matter whether you identify as a Type A techie or as a big-picture creative—you can still find an ideal digital marketing job for you. Here are just a few digital marketing job titles you can land, along with their average salaries as of writing:

    A diverse set of job titles, yes, but for the most part they all require the same digital marketing skills. Once you’ve got those down, you can “specialize” in whatever area interests you most. So, let’s go over those next.

     

    The Skills You Need to Get Hired as a Digital Marketer

    We break down all the digital marketing skills in a high-level overview to give you a clear picture:

    THE BUYER’S JOURNEY AND SALES FUNNEL

    On the most basic level, digital marketers need to understand how to “attract, engage, and delight” (this is how the marketing platform, Hubspot, puts it) consumers to carry them from the “I don’t know anything about this brand or product” stage to “I’m all in.” This process includes using techniques to better understand your customer (personas, user research etc.) and strategies for optimizing the sales process (via email marketing, retargeting, etc.).

    DATA ANALYSIS / ANALYTICS

    Digital marketers need numbers to understand whether their various campaigns are working. But more importantly, they need the skills to interpret those numbers in order to adjust their strategies and launch new campaigns. And, most importantly, they need to be able to explain that data to other members of their team who may not fully understand the purpose of digital marketing.

    CONTENT MARKETING / CONTENT STRATEGY

    Content marketers and content strategists specialize in using compelling storytelling to reach new audiences. They do that through blog posts, email campaigns, guide and ebooks, and even other types of media like video and podcasts.

    SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

    Most of us use some form of social media every day. Social media marketing involves strategically using a brand’s social channels to promote and sell its products. Those strategies might include anything from product promotion to channel-specific giveaways to paid ads (you’ve probably seen those on Facebook and even in your Instagram stories).

    SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

    Brands rely on traffic from search engines like Google (and, fine, Bing) to increase brand awareness and drive new leads. SEO is the process by which brands finesse the content they write to make it as appealing to Google as possible. The better the content, the better the search result for the most part—but there are plenty of nuances, which explains why “SEO specialist” is a full-time job. Here’s a starter course on SEO from Moz. Our digital marketing course includes a segment on SEO as well.

    PAID ADS

    “Paid ads” is another umbrella term for buying media placements on various channels to promote your products. This includes social media ads (like the sponsored posts you see in your Instagram feed) but also display ads (like the ones you see at the top of search results in Google).

    GENERAL TECH SKILLS

    It also helps for digital marketers to acquire some tech skills as well, especially since many digital marketing campaigns require working with a web development team. Some great supplemental skills to consider: HTML & CSS (you can learn those from our free coding camp), basic design principles and UX/UI, and photo editing basics. Here’s a full list of seven tech skills every digital marketer needs.

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    The Marketing Tools You Should Know How to Use

    ANALYTICS

    Some companies use Hubspot, others Google Analytics, and there are plenty of other lesser-known platforms to track site traffic as well. Still, learning your way around Google Analytics is a great place to start if you’re new to digital marketing. GA offers free classes, plus it’s easy to install it on your own portfolio website and learn by doing.

    EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORMS

    Mailchimp, Converkit, Constant Contact…multiple tools that offer similar features. If you’re working in digital marketing, chances are you’ll wind up using one of them, so learn the ins and outs of at least one of these platforms ASAP. (There’s a free version of Mailchimp for you to play around with—see all our favorite free marketing tools here).

    SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

    Different companies use different social media scheduling tools. There’s MeetEdgar, Hootsuite, Later, Buffer. Most offer free trials, so you can see how they work by scheduling some mock campaigns.

    SEO RESEARCH

    Many sites recommend using Google keyword planner for SEO research, and it’s a great (free) tool to get familiar with. That said, the giants of SEO include: Moz, ahrefs, and SEMRush. All of these platforms are pretty expensive, but they do offer free trials if you’re feeling particularly driven to explore what they offer.

    URL BUILDERS

    Chances are that if you land any digital marketing job, you’ll need to know how to build trackable URLs, so you can monitor your campaigns. Here’s a free tool for that.

     

    Where to Learn Digital Marketing Skills

    You can start learning all these digital marketing skills via free online courses, including the Moz SEO guide we suggested earlier. Hubspot also provides great digital marketing tutorials. And Many digital marketers will tell you that a good part of your work will involve reading up on marketing trends as they develop (it’s an evolving field!).

    If you’re ready for a career change N-O-W and want to learn all these techniques at once (in a highly digestible way), we’ve got a digital marketing course that covers everything you need to start working as a digital marketer ASAP.

     

    How to Build a Digital Marketing Portfolio

    1. PLAN SOME MOCK PROJECTS

    One of the best way to gain experience when you’re starting out as a digital marketer is to practice your digital marketing skills by completing some mock projects. (This piece on building a web design portfolio through mock projects can apply to digital marketing as well.) Often, the best marketing project to work on first is your own brand. Consider some ways you can use your personal social media accounts to strategically grow a following (no joke, I hired a social media coordinator when she demonstrated she’d done this once) or optimize your own site for search and present your SEO results.

    2. OFFER TO HELP FRIENDS / ACQUAINTANCES

    Almost everyone needs help with their digital marketing, so think about people who could benefit from your new skills. While working for free isn’t ideal, it’s a good way to build experience while learning. Who do you know that’s trying to build a small business?

    3. WHEN ADDING PROJECTS TO YOUR PORTFOLIO SITE, FOCUS ON RESULTS

    As a marketer, it’s your results that count the most. So, as you write up both those mock projects and “family and friends” projects and add them to your portfolio site, make sure to focus on how much growth you affected and any other data or stats that prove your work had positive results.

    4. ASK FOR TESTIMONIALS

    A large part of working as a digital marketer is being able to communicate effectively with teams and clients. Make sure to ask anyone you work with (especially the ones you help for free) if they’d be willing to give you a testimonial for your portfolio.

     

    How to Find a Digital Marketing Job

    1. SEARCH DIGITAL MARKETING JOB BOARDS

    Most job boards include digital marketing positions, but there are a few that are targeted specifically at digital marketers. Here are some that we included in our article on the best job titles for entry-level digital marketers:

    If you’re looking for remote digital marketing jobs, justremote.co is a great option as well. Actually, while we’re at it, here’s a roundup of the best remote job sites out there.

     

    2. HAVE AN ELEVATOR PITCH READY

    If you can’t sell yourself, how can you convince people you can sell their products? Before you step foot in a job interview, prepare and practice your personal pitch. Here’s a step-by-step guide for giving a perfect personal pitch every time.

     

    3. SEND YOUR PORTFOLIO EVERY TIME

    Don’t just send a cover letter and resume when you apply, send a portfolio of your work, too. Digital marketing is all about “show, don’t tell,” so you should treat your job applications the same way. If you haven’t set yours up yet, here are some beautiful portfolio site examples for every tech job title.

     

    4. BUT RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS ARE IMPORTANT, TOO

    Yes, even for tech jobs. Our best advice? Make sure that you’re writing customized cover letters for each job and mentioning the skills you have that perfectly align with the open position. And don’t just mass apply everywhere—do some research on the companies that interest you most, then fold some tailored marketing ideas just for them into your cover letter and/or resume.

     

    5. PRACTICE SOME OF THESE COMMON DIGITAL MARKETING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

    • What brands do you like to follow on social media, and why?
    • How do you keep up-to-date with marketing trends?
    • How would you describe our audience?
    • What could we be doing better?
    • We’re considering a redesign of our site. Where should we start?
    • Where do you think our biggest opportunity for growth is?

    10 Tips to Start a Career in Digital Marketing

    As more and more companies turn to the Internet to generate sales, the need for experts in digital marketing has never been greater. It’s a fast-paced, evolving industry that has a lot of challenges, but also plenty of rewards, including a potentially lucrative income.

    If you’ve thought about switching gears and getting into digital marketing, now is the time to do it. And lucky for you, it’s not necessary to have a traditional degree marketing degree to get started, although some training will help to get your foot in the door.

    Here are 10 things you can do right now to start a digital marketing career:

    1. Create an Online Presence

    These days, when it comes to landing a job in almost any field, you might as well not exist without an online presence. For obvious reasons, this is especially true of digital marketing: a prospective employer is going to look online first to learn about applicants, and if they can’t find you, they are going to move on to the next person who has a curated image.

    Create your own digital marketing blog, social media accounts that are linked to websites you have built, portfolios, etc. Show them what you are really capable of.

    2. Know the Latest Trends

    Digital marketing is a career that is always on the move and always changing. If you are choosing it as a career, you need to keep up with the latest trends. The needs of this industry vary over time, and if you fall behind, someone else will be waiting to take your place.

    Attend virtual seminars, take online classes, and do your best to stay ahead of the game rather than simply keeping up with it.

    3. Use Your Creativity

    Digital marketing really allows you to use creative gifts in a variety of ways. Yes, there are methods and systems that are standardized for certain applications, but you can always add your personal flair to projects, making them creative and unique.

    Digital marketing is built on creativity, so if you have an idea that you think will work, give it a try. The more creative you are, the more likely it is that you will be noticed and land that dream job.

    4. Create a Winning Resume

    Before you start applying for jobs, make sure to create a dynamic resume that shows just how valuable your skills are. There are many different types of resumes, and you shouldn’t limit yourself to just one, especially when you are working in a creative industry such as digital marketing.

    Go online and check out various resume examples for digital marketing professionals, and tailor yours around them.

    5. Get Out there and Network

    It is important to get your name out there, and the best way to do that is by networking. Not only is this going to make people remember you, it is also going to give you great connections that can help you in many areas throughout your career. One person may know where you can get specific training. Another may have a lead on a great job. You will also be able to learn from their experience, and gain a list of experts you can use to put together a great team.

    6. Learn about Analytics

    In order to know how successful your marketing campaigns are, you need to understand analytics. This is the data that shows how well or how poorly a campaign is doing, and helps you to figure out how to make things better the next time around. You don’t have to go to college for a degree, but there are many online classes you can take on your own time that will help you to learn about and understand how analytics work, and how to use them.

    7. Get Some Experience

    The only way you will get your career going is by gaining experience. You may have to do some unpaid jobs, but this is a worthwhile time investment with long term benefits. Using any skills you acquire, help friends or community organizations with projects, and take on all kinds of side jobs that will give you plenty of experience that you can draw on when you to start applying for long-term digital marketing jobs.

    8. Say “Yes” to Anything

    We touched on doing free jobs in the last tip, and we can’t stress enough how important it is to do anything that will give you the experience you need to land your first digital marketing job. Take on free jobs, or jobs that other digital marketers don’t want to do. Demonstrate that you can take on and make the best of any project, and be successful in your endeavors.

    Not only will you gain experience, but you are also showing that you are willing to work hard.

    9. Get Trusted Certification

    Anyone can get into digital marketing without a university degree, but the candidates who are getting the best positions are those who have a certification in digital marketing. There are classes you can take that will help you to prepare for the certification exams, and if you are really serious about digital marketing as a career, you should  get certified as soon as possible.

    This is going to make you stand out in a crowd of digital marketers who may be experienced, but definitely not certified.

    10. Be Prepared for Entry-Level Jobs

    No one is going to start at the top in any career, no matter how much training, skills, and experience they may have. You may not get the job you want right away, but you will get there if you work for it. You will likely start out as an assistant, or a junior digital marketer, until you are able to prove that you are able to take on more responsibilities and that you are willing to work hard in order to succeed in your chosen career path.

     

    10 TIPS ON HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING CAREER

    If you’re looking to break into the digital marketing industry, there’s no better time than now. According to research, the digital economy is growing at triple the pace of U.S. GDP with employees working in the digital economy earning on average $114,275 a year, more than 72% of workers in the country.

    We’ve compiled our top tips for aspiring digital marketers who wish to kick-start their digital marketing career today.

    ​1) Eagerness to learn

    The digital marketing industry is both fast growing and incredibly competitive. It’s easy for businesses to differentiate between candidates who have the willingness to learn, and who are along for the ride. This industry requires passion and a desire to succeed.

    2) Stay Updated

    You need to keep on top of industry news by following major digital marketing sites and influential people on social media. As the major players such as Google, Facebook and Twitter regularly tweak their paid advertising platforms and algorithms, you’re in for a wild ride if you don’t keep on top of the latest changes.

    Here’s some recommendations on websites to get started –

    SEO – Moz, Distilled, SEOGadget, Search Engine Land

    PPC – PPC Hero, Search Engine Land

    Social Media – Social Media Examiner, Social Media Today

    Content – Hubspot

    3) Networking

    Surround yourself with people more talented than yourself. The people you meet will be your ongoing support network when you run into problems, as well as help to open doors to opportunities you might not have otherwise found.

    Attend industry meetups and conferences in your area to nurture relationships with other digital marketers and enhance your skill set through in-depth workshops and presentations.

    4) Personal Projects

    Try out your own ideas and don’t just treat industry leaders’ opinions as gospel. Everything isn’t always black and white in the digital marketing industry with many grey areasbetween best practice and what can actually get results for a business.

    Every digital marketer should have personal projects to test out theories, try their hand at multiple disciplines (SEO, PPC, Social Media, Content Marketing etc.) and be able to take accountability for the success or failure of a project.

    5) Learn the terminology

    Digital marketers needs to be comfortable with acronyms such as PPC, SEM and SEO. They are all very different terms with a misunderstanding of them being a clear sign that you have a beginner’s skill set and need further training. The ability to analyse digital marketing campaigns and understand what elements worked ornot is dependent on your ability to understand industry jargon.

    6) Build your personal brand

    Fancy yourself as a digital marketing hotshot but you have no visible online presence? If you want to show to an employer that you can build their company’s visibility then you need to show that you can firstly build your own personal brand.

    A strong online presence could potentially be the deciding factor between two candidates who have applied for the same position.

    7) T-Shaped Marketer

    As a term commonly used by Rand Fishkin of Moz, it refers to having a basic understanding of multiple marketing disciplines but specializing in one or two particular skills.

    It’s not uncommon for companies to find candidates with a broad digital marketing skill set to be a valuable asset as there’s considerable cross over between the different channels. It will also make you better equipped for choosing a more specific path of focus that you can specialize in.

    T-Shaped Marketer | 10 Tips on How To Kick-Start Your Digital Marketing Career

    8) Get Nerdy

    Digital marketing can often be perceived to be quite glamorous, but truth be told it’s often more technical and data driven than we would care to admit. You won’t be developing websites from scratch but you will be communicating your marketing strategy to a team of developers or designers who have a responsibility for incorporating your recommendations.

    A basic knowledge of HTML and graphic design would help to make you stand out among the less technically minded candidates.

    9) Metrics are King

    Do you know your CPC from your CPA? If you want to set yourself apart in an interview, talk about the return on ad spend for a campaign you’ve run yourself. It’s easy to talk about an exciting creative concept you’ve helped to develop but the fact remains…money talks.

    You really need to understand how each marketing channel has performed and what the key learnings have been.

    10) Certification

    If you really want to stand out from your peers in the industry, completing a certified digital marketing course will help. One of the issues facing the digital marketing industry is that there are no barriers to entry, meaning that anyone with a loose grasp of industry terminology can potentially get a position in a company.

    As this industry matures, recruiters are becoming more savvy about what differentiates a candidate that can talk the talk, but maybe will be a costly mistake for the company.

    THE 7 BIG BENEFITS OF A DIGITAL MARKETING CAREER

    By now you’ve probably heard the hype – digital marketing skills are in serious demand and the digital skills gap is set to widen, the job market is booming (and quite frankly bursting at the seams) and brands are putting more of a focus on digital marketing than ever before.

    Bigger budgets, increased pay and more career choice are just some of the benefits digital marketing professionals can look forward to this year and beyond.

    Debating over whether to change career direction or what to study next? You might want to discover the 7 big digital marketing benefits first. They’re good, we promise.

    But first, let’s look at what digital marketing is and what skills are in demand!

    What is digital marketing?

    Digital experiences

    In some ways, digital marketing is not that different from traditional marketing: you’ve got a product that you need to sell, and looking to ways to engage with customers to build brand awareness and eventually ‘close’ a sale.

    Digital marketing encompasses more roles and skills than ever before, and it’s this flexible, versatile nature of the business that makes it so fascinating and exciting.

    What types of digital marketing jobs are there and what topic areas would they cover?

    There are a wide range of digital marketing jobs out there meaning there are a huge variety of career options.

    • Video/audio production
    • Interactive technology (such as AI)
    • Mobile marketing
    • Search engine optimization (SEO)
    • Search engine marketing (SEM)
    • Social media
    • E-commerce
    • Email marketing
    • Marketing automation
    • Content management and curation
    • Web development
    • Web design
    • Copywriting and editing
    • Analytics
    • Business/marketing strategy

    To kickstart or advance your career it’s a good idea to think about getting training in at least one or two specialty areas unless you’re in or gunning for management, in which case you’ll probably need to know quite a bit about them all.

    What digital skills are in demand?

    Demand for digital skills 2020

    The digital economy is embedded in every corner of our lives, and it’s not going anywhere. There’s a solid budget going into digital marketing now as opposed to traditional marketing.

    93% of online activity starts with a search engine and ensures the continued effectiveness of SEO as a superior marketing strategy while about 80% of Americans make an online purchase at least once a month. Anyone thinking about starting or leading a business needs to have a basic understanding of digital marketing in order to convert customers.

    There is plenty of room for people looking to enter the world of digital marketing and related careers. In 2019, some of the most in-demand skills are content creation and curation, social media strategy, martech and analytics, which is great news for those who veer towards the creative, social and business end of the spectrum.

    For those who are more technically minded, there’s still plenty of demand and quite a high earning potential for those who specialize in technologies like SEO and SEM since this is what can be at the base of what drives profits in any business.

    Content marketing relies on traffic and anyone with the technical expertise to analyze these patterns is going to be a valuable asset, especially as these types of jobs become more complex with the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

    So, now you know what digital marketing is and what the demand is, what are the benefits?

    1. Become an In-Demand Professional

    Demand for Marketing Talent in 2018

    You’ve heard of the digital skills gap, right?By 2020, 2 million new digital jobs are expected in the U.K. alone and not enough digital professionals to fill them.

    This provides those studying digital marketing with a unique competitive advantage – you’re gearing yourself up for a career where demand exceeds supply. Always a good move.

    During the global recession, recent graduates were plunged into a world of uncertainty, job scarcity and all around terribleness. Wouldn’t it be nice to gain a fresh set of skills that could future-proof your career, increase your job security and even enhance career progression?

    The most important thing for you is that you need to take back control of your career and reestablish the confidence you lost during the recession. Remember this: companies still want valuable skills – you might just need to turn them digital.

    According to Marketing Hiring Trends demand for digital marketing professionals outstrips supply with 44% of companies wanting to hire more marketers. It’s time you took advantage.

    Top Tip: Before you embark on your digital marketing career, find out what the most in-demand digital marketing skills are.

    2. Benefit from More Career Choice

    As digitization continues across industries, companies across the world from start-ups to established corporates are seeking digital professionals with relevant experience.

    Digital titans such as Google and Airbnb are always on the lookout for new talent particularly in the area of emerging technologies as artificial intelligence becomes more mainstream and offers scalability. In terms of customer value using AI can help drive personalization and response times to queries using technology such as chatbots.

    With such a wide array of new opportunities available, digital marketers can afford to be picky about the type of company they’d like to work for. We’d encourage you to take advantage of this choice and think of what kind of business best suits your career needs.

    Top Tip – Research potential sectors:According to the 2018 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey, the top five areas to work in as a marketer are automotive, travel, education and gaming and gambling.

    3.Get Paid More Than Your Peers

    Creative and Marketing Salaries

    We’ve already talked about how demand for digital marketing professionals is exceeding supply. In traditional economics we all know what happens next – the value of the product increases along with the price. When you’re working in a fruitful industry with a large skills shortage you can think of yourself like a commodity – and negotiate your salary accordingly.

    A recent survey by The Creative Group projects a substantial increase for marketing professionals. For example, the median salary for a CMO in a corporate setting in the U.S. is expected to be $164,000.

    What’s interesting and beneficial about the job market for digital professionals is that there is huge competition for skilled talent regardless of industry.

    This means that individuals with the right skills can negotiate for great salaries but also land great benefits and perhaps even bonuses depending on their role.

    Your digital skills are in demand further afield too. This inspiring video highlights the key skills American businesses are seeking and the salaries you can expect to earn.

    Top tip: Guarantee pay increases on a yearly basis by u[skilling on a continuous basis on the skills that matter to your sector or business.

    4. Kickstart Your Career Easily

    In more traditional careers like advertising you’d have to wait for a coveted internship or graduate placement to open up so you can gain experience and create your own portfolio. The digital marketing world, however, provides a host of opportunities for you to kickstart your own career before you even set foot in a workplace.

    Want to stand out to potential employers? Invest in building a powerful social media presence, gain your own Twitter followers, start your own blog and contribute to relevant online conversations. There are a whole host of online exams you can take to boost your CV and showcase your digital marketing knowledge.

    There have been plenty of examples of people who have been hired after showcasing their talent and abilities through social media. For example, Dublin based fashion illustrator, Holly Shortall got noticed when she tweeted her illustrations to celebrities online. A number of glossy magazines and top fashion brands then approached her and commissioned her work.

    5. Become an Agile & Versatile Professional

    Due to high demand for digital marketing skills and the fact you can apply this knowledge to any sector or role makes this an agile career.

    So, if you choose a career path or specialization in this sector and decide to pivot later, you’ll probably only need a little training to upskill or hone in order to make the switch.

    In this sense, you can build on existing skills while still learning new ones, but still stay in the same field.

    That means that tere’s plenty of choices and ongoing learning opportunities, where different skills fit together in different ways.

    Top tip: Keep abreast of new developments and trends and embrace continuous learning as a way to leanr new skills that can become invaluable to a current or prospective employer.

    6. Work with Different People Every Day

    Digital marketing experts

    As it’s such a dynamic sector with a range of disciplines, you’re likely to meet and work with individuals from different backgrounds and different interests.

    Whether it’s a new client, a colleague with an interesting specialty, or finding fun ways to engage and expand your audience, anyone with an interest in working with people will do well in the social and business end of this career.

    And if you’re a little more on the introverted side, you can stay behind the scenes doing writing or web work. An added bonus to this is that you can manage and work with freelancers from any corner of the world who can ring a new dimension and perspective to your work.

    Whatever your role, the sector guarantees a lack of boredom in your professional life!

    Top tip: Embrace new opportunities such as training events or breakfast networking meetings to gain new knowledge and meet influential peers.

    7. Get to Be Creative (and Experiment)!

    Not only is there plenty of opportunities for creatives to do their thing in writing, design and even video and audio production, there’s also plenty of room for day-to-day creativity in a general sense.

    After all, in such a dynamic environment there will always be new a need for new ways to think of marketing products, solving problems, conducting A/B tests, improving customer experience and engaging audiences.

    In addition, the speed or digital marketing lends itself to experimentation as companies want creative ways to captalize on things that are working in the business as long as those that could perform better.

    For example, imagine your blog gets a huge amount of traffic but the conversion rate is low? Or some markets are underperforming in Google Ads? Perhaps A/B testing would help to see what customers are doing on the blog. Or adding a U.S flag to the introduction to a video would drive engagement with an Amnerican audience.

    Top tip: Embrace creativity and experimentation as they can hugely benefit your role and give you the opportuity to approach issues or roadblocks in a different way.

    How Do You Become a Digital Marketing Professional?

    If you have a background in marketing management, copywriting, web development or even design, you already possess plenty of transferable skills to go into digital marketing.

    You’ll probably want to get started on your own personal branding and build a portfolio in order to build your own unique digital presence.It’s tough to stay on top of all of the latest trends, but getting a solid understanding of the basics of up and coming trends like AI and virtual reality in the context of how they’re being used for marketing is an excellent place to put your focus as well.

    You should certainly make sure that your social media streams are consistent with your skills and aptitude–in other words, talk about what you are interested in and learning about publicly and as often as you can.

    Start a blog over at Medium and join some Facebook groups in your field of interest. You’ll want to also look for a comprehensive, reputable training program to get official certification in one or more core areas.

    Once you’re officially certified, you’ll then have a leg-up amongst your peers when it comes to searching for fulfilling opportunities.

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