Digital marketing is a rapidly growing career field. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 6 percent growth in marketing careers from 2019-2029. As more businesses expand their digital presence, more digital marketers will need to understand social media, analytics, ads, sales funnels, and more.
What is Digital Marketing?
Marketing is the act of selling or promoting a product or service in the business. Digital Marketing is done via digital devices such as a computer or smartphone.
Digital marketers draw in traffic by using emails, blog posts, text messages, Internet ads instead of relying on subway ads or billboards.
An entry-level digital marketer is typically a digital marketing generalist. This is a minor role that requires the ability to quickly switch gears and make daily decisions about the best way to spend your time. Depending on where you work, you could be asked to do everything from writing email newsletters to proposing partnerships with sponsors or managing paid ads.
Many job titles can be found in digital marketing, such as:
Content Strategist or Content Marketer
Content writers or freelance writers are generally drawn to these positions. They usually focus on inbound marketing, intending to draw in new leads and prospects. Content marketers tend to focus on written content like blogs, whitepapers, or digital media like videos and infographics.
SEO Specialist
SEO specialists help optimize a company’s website to make content easier to be located on web searches. They must understand how to conduct keyword research and turn what they discover into an SEO strategy. Typically they must be comfortable using tracking tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Social Media Manager
Work on promoting brand awareness and consumer engagement via social media.
Marketing Manager
Marketing managers tend to be more focused on sales. Specific jobs include:
- email marketers who manage email campaigns and other communications with customers
- campaign managers who work specifically on campaigns and often sales campaigns
Partnership Marketer
A few specific types of partnership marketers are:
- Affiliate managers who work with people who make a commission on a company’s products
- Influencer marketers who partner with social media influencers to feature a company’s product in their content
Partnership marketers use relationships to help grow sales.
How Much do Digital Marketing Jobs Pay?
Data from Glassdoor, a website with occupational data, has the average base pay of entry-level digital marketers at £37,500/yr.
Where to Find Digital Marketing Jobs
These websites often have up-to-date listings for digital marketing jobs:
- AngelList
- The Muse
- FlexJobs (paid subscription required)
- Tech Ladies (free subscription required)
- Dreamers // Doers: Jobs & Gigs (free Facebook group membership required)
- Graduate Coach
Top Tips for Getting a Digital Marketing Job as a Graduate
When looking for a digital marketer, businesses focus on proven experience. This is where the usual entry-level catch 22 comes into play, “You need experience for a job, but you also need a job to get experience.” There are ways to get around this situation and score your first marketing job.
1. Build Your Own Website
Building your own website is good for your personal growth as a digital marketer and helpful in your job search. The job of a digital marketer is to drive traffic to a company’s website.
This means you will need to understand a bit of how websites work. Building your own webpage allows you to test and fine-tune skills you will need to apply to others. When applying for a job, most potential employers will ask for examples.
If you have not had much work experience, a personal website URL gives you something published to showcase your skills.
2. Reach Out to Local Businesses
Local businesses may be more likely to hire a familiar face. As the coffee shop owner, you stop by every morning if you can do some work for a discount on your next few cups.
As the lady at the doughnut shop, if you can trade a social media post for a glazed box. The key to getting a permanent gig is gaining experience. A friendly neighbour can help you gain experience and may even grow into a permanent position.
3. Get a Little Help from Your Friends and Family
Friends and family can be helpful when looking for your first position. Networking is always important in business. Ask your social circle if they know any places that are hiring. A strong recommendation from a friend can help make your resume more attractive.
As a new grad, it can feel intimidating to venture out into the job market. Digital marketing is a competitive field; however, as businesses expand their digital presence, job opportunities will continue to grow. Utilize connections to local businesses and contacts made from friends and family to raise your potential options.
4. Get a Graduate Coach
Here at Graduate Coach, we have helped hundreds of graduates to get Digital Marketing jobs. We offer a Digital Marketing pathway programme that gives you both practical and theoretical knowledge and experience.
Find out how we helped an Economics graduate to get a job in PPC.
Author Bio: Joe Ephgrave is the Director of Award-Winning Digital Marketing Agency WHR Marketing. He is renowned for his Digital Marketing Blog and skills including his SEO Strategy consisting of On-Page SEO (high-quality content, structure for SEO), and Off-Page SEO (effective link building and content promotion through social media).
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Featured image by: Lukas from Pexels
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