How to Become a Digital Marketer

I remember when I was leaving school, just gone 16, wondering what my A-levels were going to lead to. When leaving school and then college two years later, I still had no idea what I wanted to do as a career - how to become a digital marketer wasn’t even a thought in my mind. At that point in time I don’t think the phrase digital marketing had even been coined!

Although I didn’t know it, my English degree would eventually lead me on the marketing path. I knew I didn’t want to become a teacher, which was the only career path that seemed logical after my degree. I left uni, unsure what the hell I was going to do and set about getting a job which was easier said than done in the 00’s recession. I was lucky to get my first job which was as a minimum wage copywriter in 2009. Here I am, 16 years later with the past 10 years spent in a digital marketing role. A career I stumbled into yet enjoy (most of the time!).

Today digital marketing is an overarching term that encompasses an array of different jobs and roles, from social media marketing through to UX design. All day every day many of us are immersed in digital marketing, making it a much more obvious and desirable career choice than it was for me back in the early 2000s. So how do you become a digital marketer?

Is digital marketing right for you

Firstly, is digital marketing right for you? Will a career in digital marketing or a digital marketing specialism that you’re interested in allow you to meet your other life goals. These could be wanting to travel, hit a certain salary point, live a particular lifestyle or your capacity to continue learning. Some marketing career paths won’t have the opportunity to make as much money as others and as an ever-changing subject, even once you have your qualifications and start your career there is an expectation and need to continuously learn.

That said, with continuous improvement expected and necessary to many digital marketing roles, going for the big bucks isn’t guaranteed to make people happy. It would be very difficult to keep learning about something you have no interest in just to make a bigger salary than something you are - find the balance, research typical salaries for the roles you already have an interest in and go from there.

What skills do digital marketers need

As a whole, digital marketers possess many shared skills although a person who is typically more analytical than creative may naturally go down the SEO path for example, whereas someone who enjoys being creative would excel at content marketing or being a visual designer. Some of the skills that I notice across all digital marketers include:

Creative - in the form of writing, design or the ability to problem solve

Analytical - whether analysing data or evaluating why something needs to be a certain way on a website, we all analyse constantly

Curious - we want to know the how and why of everything and we aren’t afraid to ask questions

Learners - we thrive on new information and love to pick up a new skill, we aren’t afraid to pick up a book on our day off or get stuck into some video tutorials

How to get into digital marketing

So you’ve decided you’d like to pursue a career in digital marketing, but how do you go about it? There are several routes into a digital marketing career:

Digital marketing apprenticeships

I’ve had several marketing assistants who have completed apprenticeships in my team, who have all gone on to successful digital marketing careers.

Pros - no student debt whilst gaining qualifications, learn skills required in the workplace, get on the career ladder before many of your peers, get paid whilst learning.

Cons - Usually undertaken after school or college (no more summer holidays!), can be intimidating joining a business with most colleagues much older than you, much longer hours than university.

Digital marketing degrees

If university is your desired route, many universities offer courses on digital marketing, often with a sandwich year enabling you a taste of working in a marketing role.

Pros - In depth learning about many marketing principles, enjoying the university lifestyle, a chance to grow before joining the workplace.

Cons - very expensive, sitting formal exams may be too stressful, hard to find the motivation to study if not naturally inclined.

Personal learning

Of course the university or apprenticeship route won’t suit everyone. Perhaps you are looking for a career change and can’t afford time to go to university and have to earn a certain amount to cover living expenses. Thankfully there are plenty of free resources online so that you can self learn at a pace that suits you, you can also sign up to many paid courses through learning providers such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) which offer both distance learning and evening courses at local colleges and universities.

Pros - you can learn a lot for free, study alongside an existing job or commitments, study at your own pace.

Cons - requires self discipline to stay motivated, takes a lot of free time, can be costly to self-fund some courses.

That concludes our short introduction in how to become a digital marketer. Let us know any other ways you embarked on your digital marketing career, we’d love to hear it!