This post is provided by Jason Dirkham.
If you’re thinking about which career path to take or perhaps you are looking to switch career completely, you should consider one in digital marketing. Most businesses now include digital as part of their marketing strategy and it’s easy to see why. With more and more people online these days, companies need to find new ways to target their consumers which is where digital comes into the picture.
Traditional marketing and digital are not all that different. If you have a product or service you need to sell, then you need to build your brand awareness to engage with customers which will hopefully lead to sales. The difference between traditional and digital marketing is that the latter is done online through websites and social media, whereas traditional marketing focuses on things like newspapers and TV adverts.
Why choose digital marketing?
Now is a great time to get into this field as there is a demand for digital marketers with plenty of avenues to take, whether you’re a creative, tech, or business person. If you’re thinking about social media, video production, web design, or analytics marketing careers, these are all paths you can take that can progress further and are always evolving so you will always be learning something new.
A career in digital marketing allows you to be versatile, so if you want to change direction and switch to a different aspect of digital later on, you can build on the skills you have acquired and with a little bit of training, you will be able to move onto a new opportunity. If you work in a digital agency, you’ll get to work on different clients each day and this can be varied, which means you will get to learn new things about other industries too.
When starting your digital marketing career, its best to focus on one or two areas. However, you will be able to develop your skills and learn other areas along the way. In this industry, you will come across many different people with all different backgrounds and you will pick up new things from them too.
How to get into digital marketing
There are many ways you can start your digital marketing career, either by taking an online course, creating a blog, utilizing your own social media channels, or even taking on some freelance work. These are ways that you can build your portfolio and each one can be done from your home.
You may have already acquired some transferrable skills in a career like web development, copywriting, design, or marketing management that can be used to branch off into a new career in digital marketing.
Try to stay up-to-date with the latest digital trends as they are always evolving. You can do this by following leading digital blogs that detail current changes, reading industry magazines that have contributions from people in the know, and of course, by following Google who has a huge impact on search engine optimization (SEO) strategies and the latest digital marketing trends.
