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How can I pursue a career in digital marketing?

I’ve recently become interested in social media/digital marketing. #marketing #career-path #career-choice

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Astyr’s Answer

Hi Sadie,

This is a great question and I'm glad that you're interested in learning more about various career opportunities! I highly recommend doing the following to gain a better understanding of social and digital marketing.

Astyr recommends the following next steps:

Get certified! Google offers FREE courses and certifications on topics such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, etc. This will help you understand relevant terminology and become familiar with the platform! This is also a great resume builder if you currently have no experience within the field.
Absorb information. Hubspot is a great source of all things marketing. There are many marketing podcasts to listen to and professionals you can follow on LinkedIn.
Apply to internships! Particularly within social media, there are many internship opportunities available. Turn on job alerts on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Alternatively, you can even DM a small company you admire and offer to help their social media to gain experience.
Understand the data. You can even turn your personal Instagram into a business account to gain access to free metrics such as account growth, awareness, likes, and more! Use your own social media to gain a stronger understanding of how it works.
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Erin’s Answer

Look for internships so that you can learn from other digital marketers and see if you truly enjoy the job, warts and all. Try to learn as much as you can and grow your personal brand on social media as practice. Make real and lasting connections with other digital marketers: jobs come through networking.

Erin recommends the following next steps:

Check companies you like for open internships in digital marketing. Apply even if you're missing a few qualifications - those are usually "nice-to-haves."
Look at companies whose digital presence inspires you. Find them on LinkedIn and see who runs their marketing department. Check out work that they''ve done and what experiences they have - that tells you what those companies are looking for.
Join digital marketing groups on LinkedIn, and beware of "multi-level marketing" or "direct digital marketing" groups - those are pyramid schemes with fancy curtains.
Thank you comment icon Thanks for the advice. navila
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Thank you comment icon Great answer! Erin Black
Thank you comment icon This reply covers all I was going to, very solid advice. Terence Cheung
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Simmy’s Answer

Some tips to be successful in digital marketing:
Be curious and proactive - the field is constantly changing.
Expand your skillset - the digital ecosystem is extremely broad and there are many overlapping areas. Don't get stuck! After you've been doing something for a while, and if possible, try to pursue other opportunities. Sometimes that might mean taking a radically different role in a new company, sometimes it means staying at the same role but just redefining your scope. Embrace change!
Build relationships - both internal and external to your company, look for experienced thinkers who like to share the knowledge. They'll be an invaluable resource as you look to drive high value transformational change.
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Anny’s Answer

Hi, Sadie
As a student, you have many options to pursue a career in digital marketing.
1. Enroll in a business, marketing, or design degree.
2. Get involved in college marketing clubs so that you learn directly from guest speakers in the field. Also, get involved in other college clubs so that you have a role in developing digital marketing campaigns. This is a low-risk way of developing skills.
3. If you are also working part-time, say as a server at a local restaurant, offer to help them develop/improve their website, social media presence, or search rank.
4. Get an internship, preferably with a digital agency but any marketing agency or company with a marketing department will help. In that role, be the person to investigate the latest trends in digital so that you are seen as the expert.
5. Continue to learn to grow your knowledge and skills. Do this continuously throughout your career so that you remain relevant as a marketer.

Hope this helps!
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Nicholas’s Answer

As a student, there are a few ways to get started on your career path (& lots of good feedback outlined above). On the career hunt path, I would start by seeing what programs / internships your school offers. They usually have connections with a variety of business options for you to consider.

For a recently interested person in digital marketing, I find it helpful to keep a journal of the ads/content/design/brands that you like that you engage with in the world. It allows you to start seeing the types of marketing that you're drawn to and allows for you to compare the many various techniques and strategies used.

Finally, a digital portfolio is an enormous aide for both pursuing a career and for honing your skills. Showcasing your versatility and attention to detail is a winning combo, whether you're interviewing for a local small business or a New York firm.
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Riley’s Answer

Hi Sadie! There are some really great recommendations in these answers. To add, here is something that I found helpful when I was launching into my career in social media and digital marketing... start your own community social media page! I wanted a safe place to test ideas, learn from my findings, and iterate.

For example, in your city in North Carolina are there coffee shops that you love? Create an account that reposts content that people tag from these coffee shops, giving them credit and building a referral network. How do people interact with the posts? What hashtags work? When do you gain the most followers?

I did this for an account that I still run in my spare time (@occoffeeculture on Instagram) and it's the best thing I've ever done! So fun, and I learned SO much.
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John’s Answer

Many good ways to engage with Digital marketing already mentioned .... ensure you create your own Digital footprint in a professional manner (will require you to think about screen names, handles, etc...) across platforms (linkedin, Snap, Twitter, Insta, etc..). This will ensure you understand how the platforms work and sue race content and ads. Additionally, open a advertiser account (as if you were a small business) to ensure you understand their marketing offerings / levers.

From a internship perspective (how I started my career in advertising), focus on digital advertising agencies so you can get a full view of the digital marketing echo system (which agencies cut across)

You can then narrow in from there on what interests you most.
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Scott’s Answer

I would say that one of the best ways to get involved in digital marketing, and to stand out when you apply for a job later, is to dive in and just begin doing it.

1. Learn everything you can in school, from books, videos, courses, and podcasts.
2. Then apply what you learn for yourself and/or for others.
3. Create your own website, do your own digital marketing for it, create your own content and/or social media posts for it, or start your own podcast, etc.
3. Once you get some experience doing it for yourself, see if there are friends, family, non-profits, etc. who would love for you to volunteer and help them for free. (You can use the work you've done for yourself to show prove you can help them.)
4. When you apply for a job later, you will be able to include your own work and work for others (hopefully along with testimonials from happy friends and non-profits). Like I mentioned, this can help you to stand out from others who are just starting out and have no experience.
5. BONUS BENEFIT - The best part about this strategy is that you might end up succeeding on your own and create your own job/business. Or, you might end up getting hired by one of the people or orgs that you started out helping for free,
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Ayesha’s Answer

Hi Sadie, that's exciting that you are interested in learning more about social media and digital marketing.

If you're currently still studying, whether or not you are a marketing major, I would suggest taking a Digital Marketing class to learn more and immerse yourself.

You could also reach out to a Digital Marketing professor and see if she can connect you with any local businesses that may be looking for a Digital Marketing Intern or an opportunity for you to shadow a Digital Marketing leader.

Additionally, you can look at available free resources to obtain digital marketing and social media certifications. For example, Hubspot offers free certifications around both topics, and these are great to mention on your resume when applying for jobs in this space.

Hope that helps and I wish you luck!
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Christina’s Answer

Digital Marketing is a great field to enter because it is always evolving and will challenge you in different ways while also presenting opportunities for career growth. Getting started in digital marketing is not particularly difficult because there's many avenues you can take. You can see if your school offers basic marketing or ecommerce courses. If there is no option for you to take formal education in this space, you can always try searching on YouTube to find videos that break down the basic frameworks for digital marketing. This should give you enough information to decide if this career path may be for you. Digital as a space is always evolving and you should feel passionate about finding new ways of leveraging technology to grow businesses. Stay curious and don't be discouraged if you can't find readily available information at school. There's plenty of information on this field of study online, you just have to put in the effort to find it!
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Simeon’s Answer

Some great answers have been given here. I would add that you should build up a digital portfolio of work that you can demonstrate to schools and companies that you want to apply to, perhaps even setting up a website with your name on it. Use the free courses and certify yourself. SkillShare is also an excellent website for a picking up a neverending diversity of new skills. Also, reach out to smaller companies and ask if you could design some digital marketing for them for free. This work might be able to be added to your portfolio, and is important experience as it will give you work for a specific audience who will give you feedback and a deadline.
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Jill’s Answer

To add to the great answers here - another approach is to build an App and/or a Website/blog. I built an App and a companion website for it and learned a lot in the process. Even though the App never made any money, it was a great story tell during interviews.
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RJ’s Answer

Ideally, you would want to start in a career of Advertisement in an accredited art school and take community college courses in the business/marketing
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Lalia’s Answer

Hi Sadie,
There are different paths you can take in college. You can pursue degrees in Marketing, Business, or Communications, among others. You can also look into online courses in digital marketing fundamentals, such as SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and analytics (e.g. Google Analytics) to get a sense of the type of work you would do later on. That will also give you a better idea if it's something you'd enjoy.

There are also programs through Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook that can lead you to simple certification programs that can boost your resume.

Look for internships, freelance work, and consider creating your own projects to showcase your talent and stand out. Ever consider starting a blog?

Above all, stay current. Digital marketing is always evolving with new technologies, new tools and strategies.

Good luck!
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Danielle’s Answer

There are lots of different ways to get into digital marketing & many avenues to explore. What I would recommend is to always be curious & keep continually learning as it helps you find a path that you may not of heard of before. Try out new digital platforms when ever you can, don't be worried if you are not an expert straightaway you will be surprised that learning different platforms can be quite fun & interesting.
Pursuing an internship or volunteering to help with a digital project in an organisation in your spare time can also help you learn & grow.
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Quantise’s Answer

You can definitely start by doing a little research on schools that offer a great program. Fairfield university in Connecticut is a great option. Also, you may want to take some online courses (coursera). You can also some access some free resources (YouTube video tutorials) that can help you out. You can also see if there are some available internships/volunteer opportunities that can help you in your career.

You seem smart and articulate so you will do well.

Best of luck.
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