If you ask anyone at our digital marketing agency, there’s no better place to work. The environment is exciting, challenging, and never boring. There are always opportunities to learn something new, develop different skills, and – best of all – the digital marketing industry is always changing between trends, innovations, and new marketing techniques, so no two days are ever alike.
From the experts at Zero Gravity Marketing, we believe there are always plenty of digital marketing opportunities to explore. If you’re interested in a career in digital marketing, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some insider tips from an agency to help you break into our industry.
There are several ways to start a career in digital marketing. Of course, the most obvious is with some sort of experience, certification, or degree in marketing. While many people earn a bachelor’s or graduate degree in marketing or a related study, others take an online course, and then some learn basic marketing skills from an internship.
These are all obvious and very traditional ways to gain experience and get introduced to digital marketing. However, a degree or certification isn’t always necessary or required to work in our industry. According to Marketing Week’s 2019 Career and Salary Survey, 53.8% of marketers say they did not study marketing and did not earn a marketing-qualificaton before working in this field.
Believe it or not, you can get sufficient and relevant experience without being employed by an agency or studying marketing at the college level. From free online courses and training to the knowledge and skills you develop as a student or from a part-time summer job, many of the things we naturally learn can be applied to a career in digital marketing. For example, organizational skills and time management can be learned and perfected in undergrad. Students who have to balance their coursework on top of a part-time job on-campus are experts in managing their time and staying organized.
So even if you don’t have a degree in marketing, you may already have skills that apply to this field from other experiences. Do a little self-assessment and reflection to figure out what you’re good at. More often than not, there will already be a few skills you’ve mastered that would be useful in a digital marketing career (and make for a great selling point in an interview!).
Determine If Digital Marketing is Right For You
Before you begin applying to positions with an agency, it’s wise to first determine if digital marketing is right for you. To do this, research the basics of what being a digital marketer involves. You’ll want to understand what working with a marketing agency looks like before you decide if this career is right for you.
While every agency and position is different, agencies will look for some general traits and professional skills in new hires. Some of these may include an outgoing personality, positive attitude, strong people skills, a team player, organization, multitasking ability, analytical and statistical skills, experience with social media, time management, attention to detail, and strong written skills and verbal communication. While not necessarily required, these could help you be successful in a digital marketing position.
If you have some of these skills or personality traits, an agency may see potential in you compared to candidates who don’t.
If you think this industry is right for you, then you have a variety of digital marketing opportunities to choose from. Between social media and email marketing to search engine optimization and paid advertising, the possibilities are endless!
If you have no prior marketing experience and this is your first time applying for a position at a digital agency, or you aren’t exactly sure where your skills would be a good fit, do some research about different marketing jobs. This will help you better understand the different departments and their qualifications.
You should also read about open positions within an agency to get a feel for where your skills would be most useful. While doing this, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
These self-evaluation questions will help you determine if you are a good fit for any given position within a digital marketing agency.
Specific requirements for digital marketing jobs vary by position. So first, you’ll need to understand what kind of experience or requirements the role is asking for. Look for things like desired skills, education background, years of experience, etc. These will help you determine if you are a good fit for the position and what relevant skills you can highlight on your resume or application.
You may be wondering, “What are the signs you’re ready for a career in digital marketing?” If you’re already looking at open positions with an agency, carefully go through the job descriptions. If you meet all or most of the requirements, this is a tell-tale sign you’d be a competitive candidate for the role. However, there are some other traits and skills agencies will look for in an applicant that is not department or position-specific. These may not be clearly outlined in a job description. Here are a few key things a digital marketing agency will look for in a new hire:
The best way to decide if digital marketing is right for you is to do your due diligence researching agencies of interest. So, before applying, get to know the agency! Establishing if you are a good fit for an agency is just as important as if they are a good fit for you. You’ll also want to determine if you’d rather work for a small agency or a larger one.
Every digital marketing agency has its own culture, so you’ll want to be sure this environment is one you’ll feel comfortable and happy working in. Read about an agency’s company culture, work and clients, and familiarize yourself with their identity and values. This will be useful information to reference in an interview, as well.
Many times, digital marketers will ask potential new hires, “Why do you want to work here?” You can use the information you learned from your research to explain to an interviewer exactly what attracts you to their agency. For example, “I would love to work at Zero Gravity Marketing because of how much you value your team members and company culture from what I saw on your site,” then site-specific examples. This is a great way to show you’ve really gone the extra mile.
You’ve found the perfect position, done all the research necessary, and now you’re ready to apply! So, what now? When it comes to the application, we at Zero Gravity Marketing say stand out and brand yourself.
Digital marketing agencies are all about branded content, unique value propositions (UVPs), attention-grabbers, and selling points. Just like every brand has its own unique culture, personality, goals, and click-baity selling points, so should every application.
Think of it this way: The average user only spends 10-12 seconds on a site. So, a brand only has a few seconds to grab and engage the attention of a potential customer to make a sale. Think of your application in the same way. You only have a small window of time to get an agency interested enough in you to stick around, so make yourself stand out. You’ll want to leverage what makes you unique to successfully market yourself to an agency. Put your marketing skills to practice, and sell yourself.
To do this, first establish some of your own UVPs. What makes you different from all the other applications? Why should this agency hire you over everyone else? What can you contribute compared to another potential new hire? Whatever your unique skills may be, use them to highlight your individuality. The last thing you want is to blend in with and get lost in a sea of near-identical applications.
At ZGM, the sky’s the limit. If you’re interested in a career in digital marketing and looking for an upbeat agency with a lively company culture and excitement every day, we might be the one for you. We are always looking to hire promising new digital marketers at every experience level. Looking to become an expert? Learn more about our careers and what we do.