How to get a job in Digital Marketing

Love social media and all things digital? A role in Digital Marketing might be the perfect way to turn your passion into a career. Lately, people have been asking me how I got my job so I thought I’d share all of my tips in a blog post to help anyone interested.

Digital Marketing Managers earn an average of £38,000 a year and Managing Directors can earn in excess of £70,000 (according to this career site). Perhaps more importantly for people looking for a work day worth waking up for: working in Digital Marketing is a career choice that will guarantee that no two days are ever the same, it’s creative and means constantly being on your toes! Add to this the fact that having digital marketing skills allows you to become a ‘Digital Nomad’ and work location independently, and you can see why it’s such a sought after career path.

How I got a Digital Marketing job

I kind of fell in to the wonderful world of Digital Marketing. After University, I interned at a PR agency in Edinburgh, where the Managing Director recognised my flair for writing and asked me to take over the agency’s expanding social media side – a week in to my internship. What I learned at the company was hugely valuable, and set me up perfectly for my future role as a Digital Marketing Assistant. I’ve since been approached for various communications positions and will soon be moving to Dubai to join the marketing team at an airline.

Aside from work experience, having this blog has played a huge role in helping me forward in my career. An unexpected benefit that I now identify as the main culprit for my success to date.

It’s a relatively new field, and so most people who go in to Digital Marketing have studied general subjects like English or Business. I did English Literature, which was helpful because it meant I learned how to write well. Don’t worry if you don’t have a ‘relevant’ degree – just make the letters after your name work for you!

My tips for getting a job in Digital Marketing

1. Start a blog!

Having your own blog works as an online portfolio of your talents.

Being able to prove that you understand the basics of creating and managing a website is a huge plus.  Having a place that showcases your written work makes it easy to show potential employers you can string a sentence together, which can really give you the edge over other job applicants. Companies appreciate being able to get a feel for you and your capabilities before they invite you to interview stage, and mentioning your blog in your applications can serve as a conversation starter later in the recruitment process. I’ve often referenced my blog in interviews, to show that I have real experience of many of the responsibilities and skills applicable to the role.

Choose something you’re passionate about and focus on quality content. Post regularly, use your own images, and promote your posts on social media. This all shows enthusiasm about the Digital Marketing industry as a whole.

Imagine being able to send a link to someone like, “LOOK HOW GOOD I AM”. Yeah, that’s what a blog will do.

 

2. Think about getting a CIM qualification.

I haven’t actually done this yet, but it’s in my five year plan. If you can’t afford the training because you’re still in school or whatever, have a look for free online courses and webinars. Being able to reference them in interviews shows initiative and will endear you to potential employers.

 

3. Tidy up your social media profiles.

This one should be obvious. Trust me, PR and marketing people will look at your social media existence when your CV lands in their inbox. It’s not fair, but it’s a reality. I’ve seen people’s CVs dismissed after a quick insta-stalk because, “She looks a bit rough”. Don’t be that girl.

If you’re going to look after a brand’s online presence, your own should be sparkling clean. That three year old snap of you peeing in the kitchen sink in university halls has to go. Facebook is more about keeping in touch with relatives and maintaining existing relationships rather than establishing new ones, so keep it private. Twitter on the other hand, is a networking tool – so use it properly. Your future boss wants to see that you won’t ruin the company’s reputation with an ill-advised tweet.

Be sure your Linkedin profile is stuffed with keywords related to Digital Marketing and try to be ‘responsibly active’ on twitter.

Take a look at my LinkedIn profile for an example.

 

4. Read the leading industry blogs.

The ideal Digital Marketing strategy is constantly changing so it’s important to keep up with industry news. Subscribe to leading SEO, social media and content marketing blogs to learn from the experts. Even if you don’t understand all of the lingo yet, reading these articles on your lunch break will have you spouting the latest changes to Google’s algorithm (the holy grail of Digital Marketing) in no time.

Social Media Examiner, Content Marketing Institute and Moz blog are some of my favourites.

 

5. Learn from the best.

Brands like Starbucks are winners when it comes to their Digital Marketing and social media strategies. Follow their social media profiles and take note of how they’re promoting their brand. Pay attention to things like the colours the brand uses in its social profiles and images, the hashtags they create and the type of content they share.

It’s common to be asked about good and bad examples of brands using social media and other forms of digital marketing in an interview, so keeping your finger on the pulse will be useful.

 

6. Get relevant experience.

PR and Journalism are all linked to Digital Marketing, and it’s a real benefit to understand how different industries rely on each other. More and more PR agencies are moving their business model away from relying solely on traditional public relations services and are starting to offer social media management, website optimisation and other Digital Marketing packages.

Bagging yourself an internship at an online publication or PR agency will help you make contacts and give you a chance to shine. Employers appreciate candidates who have experience in journalism, because they know you’ll understand how the business works. If nothing else, an internship will give you exposure to the industry and help you decide if it’s right for you.

 

7. Take control.

Already have a job? Why not ask your boss if you can take charge of the company’s social media presence? If this isn’t an option, perhaps you know someone with a small business, for example a coffee shop, who would appreciate you setting up an Instagram account to raise awareness of their beautiful cakes!

It can be difficult to convince a business owner to let you loose on their brand’s online reputation, but once you’ve got that twitter password, you can go wild. You may find that business owners are too busy or too flummoxed by hashtags and retweets to pay much attention to getting their brand out there online, so they’ll welcome the help.

Use the information you gain from industry blogs and competitors’ social media presence, and take that twitter account from fledgling to fabulous. Be sure to keep track of how many followers you gained for the company, as this will give you something to shout about in interviews.

 

8. Circulate, oozing intelligence.

Because if you can’t market yourself, how are you going to promote a brand? Girllll, get yourself out there!

Compile a list of all the companies you’d like to work for, and the key people within the company. Follow and engage with them on Twitter (if they’re using it professionally, which they should be), connect with them on LinkedIn or send them an email introducing yourself. Tell them your career goals, what you’ve done so far to achieve them, and ask for some pointers on what else you could do.

Obviously, you have to be careful here because you don’t want to look like a massive creep; but let me tell you a secret: people are hugely flattered when you reach out to them and cite them as an inspiration.

You may be able to gain valuable advice from people who are in the role you eventually want, or even get your foot in the door of that office. Emailing someone you don’t know feels weird at first and many of your efforts will be ignored (these people are busy, after all), but every now and then it will pay off.

Never underestimate the power of flattery. It’s all about networking, dahhhling.

 

This post is a little different to my normal stuff, so I’d love to know what you think! Please leave a comment if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help you. 

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