Without a doubt, digital marketing is a rapidly-growing and expanding field. It goes hand in hand with successful business management, as more and more business is being conducted online, whether it’s retail, education, trading, or just about anything else you can think of.
That inevitably creates a demand for companies to adapt their offer to the digital world requirements – a lot of them try to do it inhouse but a lot of professionals decide to hire an outside firm to run all of their digital marketing campaigns. This might include things like Google Ads, social media calendars, outreach campaigns and more. The growing industry attracts the interest of young entrepreneurs pursuing a career in digital marketing.
Getting a Job in Digital Marketing
Work in the field of digital marketing is an attractive option, especially to young people. First of all, it requires the skills that are owned by the young generation, such as using social media. Second of all, it can be done remotely, which works in favor of people who, due to multiple reasons, need to stay home.
Digital marketing opens up possibilities of opening a business with almost no investment, and it makes expansion into areas like affiliate marketing possible. Companies like Drip Digital are a good example of how just one talented self-starter can do very well in this business.
With the growing popularity of the industry, more and more people want to know how to get a digital marketing job. Continually, one of the most commonly asked questions is whether an actual degree from a university is needed to get a job in digital marketing. After all, what can be hard about scrolling on Facebook the whole day, right?
Let’s break it down.
Do I Need a Degree to Have a Job in Digital Marketing?
No, you don’t. But it can be useful.
The truth is that the knowledge about digital marketing taught at universities can be a solid basis for the start. If you’ve just graduated from high school and want to get inspired, develop necessary digital marketing skills, network with people from the field or find out if this career really works for you, the university can help you with that.
And your studies don’t need to be necessarily connected to the marketing itself. You can get similar knowledge of the industry even if you pursue a career in Business, Communications, Management, or multiple other fields. Just keep in mind to make sure your studies’ program aligns with what you want to learn.
However, you can’t treat your university work as a practical course, which you would usually have in any actual job or internship in the field of digital marketing. If you decide to pursue a degree, know that you are doing it mostly for your personal growth, which has very little to do with the employers’ expectations.
Let’s be brutally honest: you probably won’t become a digital marketer right when you obtain your college degree. Typically, employers opt for skill-based hiring, which means that they mostly look for people with proven experience and practical skills that cannot be obtained in university.
So, what can you actually do to get a job?
Digital Marketing Courses
Completing a digital marketing course, especially with certification, is a great way to advance your digital marketing skills.
First of all, online courses provide candidates with professional retargets to advance their skills in specific areas. Digital marketing is a broad term; it really makes a difference whether you want to learn about search engine optimization, SEO, email marketing, or content marketing. Thus, you can expect your training to be much more individual and specific than the one at the university.
Bear in mind that certification courses focus on practical skills that are needed on the market. Thus, you are prone to learn the theory about search content optimization or email marketing and how to use your knowledge in practice.
Moreover, digital marketing courses are typically conducted online, so they are easily accessible and cost much less time and money than obtaining a university degree. Plus, you see what you pay for, as they are created by the actual specialists from the field of marketing. There are multiple digital marketing courses that you can choose from, and most of them are widely recognized in the industry.
Experience
Let’s say you want to get into social media marketing. Besides obtaining some knowledge on the topic, a good idea would be to make some first steps in the world of digital marketing and get adequate experience.
It’s not easy to get a job in the field, especially if you’re starting. However, you don’t have to start big. Just look around. Most small businesses desperately need help from people with at least a basic understanding of how social media works. Even the smallest companies need to run their Facebook or Instagram profiles, and most of them have no idea how to do it.
For a start, look for local companies that might need your help. Even if they don’t pay much, they will let you gain valuable digital marketing experience, which you can include in your CV.
And remember, you learn from doing. Only once you have a practical task to complete, you become better and better at it.
Developing Skills
A digital marketing job doesn’t require having a degree as long as you continuously develop your skills and keep on learning. To start working in the marketing industry, you need to be passionate about working in social media and have a whole set of very different skills.
Those include already mentioned industry skills, such as SEO basics, web design knowledge, etc., but also a whole range of different abilities, such as:
- communication
- good writing skills
- interest in psychology and consumer behavior
- analytical skills
Luckily, all those can be developed in any other field of work that you’ve had before. That means that even if you’ve decided to create your digital marketing career path just now, a lot of experience acquired before can come in handy.
Summing Up
Although you don’t need a degree to develop a successful digital marketing career, working in the industry is not as easy as coming up with a post for social media platforms once in a while.To become really successful in the industry, you need to have a mindset of a go-getter.
The company you would like to work with doesn’t realize your potential? Prove it to them. Turn on Google Analytics and find the faults in how they run their sites. Come up with a perfect search engine optimization strategy or plan how to advance their online marketing. Show some effort and an open mind.
And, most importantly, don’t give up. You’re on the right path!