As for February of 2020, there has been a 13% increase in the digital marketing budget compared to August 2019 (11.8%), according to a study by Statista. With an ever-increasing scope of digital marketing, the demand for digital marketing professionals continues its rapid rise. This is a great time to be a digital marketing professional. In 2020, there are ways of learning digital marketing right from the comfort of your home. There are several online resources that can help in acquiring the skills required to become a digital marketing manager. 

In this article, we will be discussing how you can learn digital marketing, the self-starter way.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing involves marketing on the internet through all available digital and online channels. To become a digital marketing consultant, it is important to develop the skills needed for working with different online marketing technologies. Moreover, you should also have the required knowledge to achieve the best results.

In order to develop your digital marketing skills, you must have a thorough understanding of the following areas:

• Search Engine Marketing (PPC and SEO)
• Social Media Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Email marketing
• Inbound Marketing
• Digital Marketing Analytics Tools

If you plan to make a career in the field of digital marketing, now is the right time to start. With more and more businesses using the internet to market themselves and create their brands, digital marketing managers are in high demand. Not only will you be paid well, but you will also have a lot of opportunities for growth. In this article, we have created a list of top tips that aspiring digital marketers can use for kick-starting their careers in the digital marketing field.

• Willing to learn

It is important to note that the digital marketing industry is incredibly competitive and fast-growing. Businesses can easily differentiate between candidates who are willing to learn and the ones who are not. To succeed in this field, you must have a desire and passion to succeed.

• Stay Updated

It is important to follow digital marketing sites to stay at the top of the industry news. Key players like Google, Twitter, and Facebook tweak their algorithms and paid advertising platforms regularly. So, if you don’t stay updated with the latest changes, you won’t be able to provide value to your clients. 

• Networking

When you are working in an ever-evolving field like Digital marketing, you need to surround yourself with people who are more knowledgeable and talented than yourself. These people can be your support network, especially when you run into a problem. Moreover, they can help in opening doors to opportunities that you would not have otherwise found. To create such a network, you can attend industry conferences and meetups. Through presentations and workshops, you can get an in-depth understanding of digital marketing concepts and an enhanced skill set. Also, simply meeting with people is not enough. You need to nurture your relationship with other professionals. 

• Personal Projects

The best to learn is through practical experience. You need to try your own ideas and not just follow the opinions and ideas of industry leaders. Note that in the world of digital marketing, nothing is black and white. When it comes to best practices, there are a lot of grey areas in regards to what can get results for the business. As a digital marketer, you need to test out theories using your personal projects. You can try working in different disciplines such as SEO, Social Media, Content Marketing, PPC, etc. You also have to learn how to take accountability for a project’s success or failure.

• Learn the terminology

As a Digital Marketer, you need to have an understanding of commonly-used acronyms like SEO, SEM, and PPC. These are very different terms and if you misunderstand any of them, it shows that you are still at the beginner’s level and need more training. How well you understand the industry jargon will determine your ability to understand what elements work and what don’t and analyze digital marketing campaigns.

• Create your personal brand

Having a visible online presence is very important to be successful in the field of digital marketing. In order to show to the employers that you can help them in building their visibility on the internet, you need to first show them that you can build your personal brand. If two candidates have applied for the same role, the deciding factor between them can be a strong online presence.

• T-shaped Marketer

This term is used for referring to digital marketers who specialize in one or two skills but have a basic understanding of several marketing disciplines. Companies want candidates who have a broad marketing skill set. As a T-shaped marketer, you will become a valuable asset to the company who is capable of crossing over different channels. Also, having some knowledge of the different disciplines will help you in selecting a specific path that you want to specialize in.

• Get technical

Usually, Digital Marketing is seen as a glamorous field. However, the truth is that it is quite data-driven and technical. Even though you won’t be creating websites from scratch, your job will include communicating the marketing strategy to developers and designers who are responsible for incorporating the recommendations. Having a basic knowledge of graphic design and HTML can help you stand apart from candidates with no technical aptitude.

• Focus on Metrics

If you want to stand apart in an interview, you need to talk about how much return you had on a campaign that you run by yourself. Even though it can be exciting to discuss creative concepts you have developed, the end game is money. You must know how every marketing channel is performing and what are the key learnings from the campaign.

• Enroll in a course

If you are struggling with learning about Digital Marketing, the safest route is getting a digital marketing certification. It is common in the digital marketing industry for people with loose knowledge of the industry to get a position in the company. However, as the industry is maturing, recruiters have become savvier and know which candidate is just talking and which one actually knows about the field.

Digital Marketing is hard work and requires a lot of perseverance and patience. However, the good part is that you don’t need to attend a classroom course or college to become a skilled Digital Marketing professional. You can learn digital marketing online and study at your own pace. So, enroll in a certification course now to get started in the field of Digital Marketing.