With a 10% growth rate and an estimated industry value of $185.4 billion by the end of 2017, the Digital marketing industry is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative job markets for young professionals to enter.

Like any industry, developing a career in Digital Marketing requires a mix of skills, from hands-on digital knowledge to social and networking abilities, promotional savvy, technical skills and much more.

1. Learn digital marketing! Simple?

The most effective way to build a successful digital career is to arm yourself with a skill set that’s in demand among digital employers. Skills and knowledge in fields like web development, social media and performance marketing are highly valued by employers. Possessing them — or better, specializing in a certain skill – is often all it takes to set you apart as a great candidate for a digital career. If you’re looking for an effective way to start your career as a digital professional, you can get started with one of our certification programs taught by industry experts and thought leaders.

2. Network with digital marketing peers

No matter how strong your digital skill set might be, your chances of building a digital career are fairly slim if you aren’t willing to get out and network with other people. By networking with other digital professionals, you’ll make friends and contacts in the industry and turn yourself into a potential candidate for new positions and jobs that need to be filled.

3. Always remember, you are a brand for people to remember

One of the best ways to set yourself apart and stand out from the crowd while applying for digital marketing jobs is to think of yourself as a brand. This way you view yourself as a brand, you begin to think more strategically about developing your career. Events become opportunities to strengthen your network, and opportunities to contribute to websites and publications become valuable sources of personal publicity.

4. Create a blog. Show what you’re capable of

An easy way to put the above tip into action is to start your own blog. Having your own digital marketing blog can help you set yourself apart from others in the industry and stand out when you need to contact an influencer or potential employer. Blogging is a great way to strengthen your personal brand and create a much more compelling, engaging value proposition for yourself as a professional.

5. Acquire a versatile range of digital marketing skills

In our first point, we recommended acquiring a very specialized skill set built around one or two digital marketing skills that most people don’t possess, such as Google Adwords expertise or PPC advertising. Many startups and small businesses don’t have the resources to hire specialists, and instead want to hire digital marketing professionals with a broad range of skills – people that can take care of everything from email marketing to lead generation, social media and more.

6. Develop your basic coding skills

While there’s no need to be a master web developer, having some coding skills can help make your life significantly easier as a marketer. With basic HTML, you’ll be able to make edits to landing pages without having to depend on software, install and configure WordPress themes without any issues and gain a new level of understanding over the websites and applications you use on a daily basis.

7. Analysis, optimization and producing results

One of the best ways to strengthen your digital career is to establish yourself as someone who can produce real, measurable results. Digital employers that use pay-per-click advertising and platforms like Facebook Ads are always on the lookout for people that can dig into data and discover opportunities for generating higher returns, reducing costs and increasing lead quality.

Like what you just read? Want to learn more about how you can build a successful career in digital marketing? Our blog is packed with information on digital careers.

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