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So what is digital marketing anyway? In short, it involves using digital media to communicate with a customer base in order to raise brand awareness, promote products or services, and increase sales and activities. You’ll be interacting with social media, websites, mobile applications and search engines, as well as communicating with clients and customers using a wide variety of messaging tools and visual media. If you’re excited by the buzz of new technology and the latest online trends, then a career in digital marketing allows you to get creative and make a big impact on anything from sales and awareness, to strategy and public policy.

What does a digital marketer do?

Digital marketing is now a well-established profession which has evolved to include many different roles. Depending on where you're working, you could be building a brand identity, running information campaigns, increasing customer engagement with a service or product, boosting sales, or reaching out to new users. Remember, that almost every kind of organisation needs to do these things, whether they are selling toothbrushes, organising a music festival, or even running a government, so you can apply your digital skills widely and choose which type of company to work for based on your personal interests.

Wherever you work, or whoever your clients are, the day-to-day work of a digital marketer typically involves designing marketing content and deciding how to deliver it to a target audience though the use of social media, search engines, websites, mobile apps, messaging services and much more.

Some of the task which you will be engaging with on a weekly basis include:

• Creating different types of content such as text, images, video
• Uploading content through various media channels
• Writing and co-ordinating marketing campaigns via email
• Researching new technologies and online opportunities
• Communicating between clients, partner organisations and media outlets
• Managing company social media accounts
• Organising database of company contacts
• Negotiating with digital advertising agencies to get the best price for your client
• Using web analytics software to assess website performance and suggest new strategies
• Staying up to date with emerging digital trends
• Finding new project leads

What’s it like to work as a digital marketer?

If this sounds good so far, then keep reading. We’ll explain what to expect from the job, and how far you can take it.

These days, nearly every company has a digital marketing department, which means that in terms of where you work, the sky really is the limit. You might be working as part of a multi-level team in an international organisation with tens of thousands of employees, or you could also be working for a small independent startup with three friends and an office cat.

This means that there's an endless variety of working environments, so think carefully about what type of situation suits you best. Do you thrive in a team environment? Or are you more of a solo worker? Would you prefer to work in a company office, at home or on the move? Similarly, there are many types of digital marketing which you may have to perform, including social media work, mobile marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), affiliate marketing or pay-per-click campaigns (PPC). You might decide that you want to specialise into one of these areas, or take a generalist approach and cover all these bases.

You’ll need to manage your workflow effectively and will likely be using a digital planner and calendar every day to schedule meetings and deadlines. Digital marketers are known for being highly organised and always have their finger on the pulse of what’s new and exciting.

What skills do you need to be a digital marketer?

To build a successful career in digital marketing, you'll need:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Aptitude with many forms of social media and technology
• Creative thinking and ideas development
• Ability to multi-task and organise across several projects
• Strong analytical skills, and critical thinking
• IT skills, and the ability to pick up new softwares quickly
• Good time management
• Networking and inter-personal skills
• The ability to work in a team or independently

How much does a digital marketer earn?

Digital marketing salaries vary considerably based on the size of company you work for, your role within the company and the type of clients which you are working with. However, a typical entry-level salary for a digital marketing assistant sit within the £22,000 - £25,000 bracket, although with time and experience you can expect this to rise. 

A supervisory or executive role within digital marketing can net you a salary even higher than this, and as a digital marketing manager you can earn up to around £48,000 annually.

Since digital marketers are in such high demand, many companies offer additional perks such as healthcare, performance bonuses and lifestyle benefits.

How to become a digital marketer

The area of digital marketing requires a versatile set of skills, and is open to all types of graduates. However, since it’s a fast-paced and highly competitive workplace it helps to stand out from the crowd to get the best jobs. Holding a degree or qualification in the following subject areas is a great place to start:

• Digital marketing
• Advertising
• Business studies
• Media and communications
• Management
• Information technology
• Creative writing and journalism

To get an entry-level position at a digital marketing company with a good graduate training scheme, it helps to have a 2:1 degree qualification. Due to the many opportunities and advantages within the career pathway, it’s a highly sought after job within a competitive industry and graduates are usually prioritised since they require less training and are already familiar with many aspects of the job, though their studies.

Completing a degree in a relevant or parallel field also puts you at an advantage because you’ll likely have well developed skills in a certain area such as data analysis, creative writing, visual design or business strategy. This will allow you to take on a more specialised role within the company and carve out a niche which makes you highly valuable.

However, there are many alternative routes to becoming a digital marketer, and you can still succeed within the profession without going to university. Here’s what you need to do.

Fundamentals

Get to know the basics of digital marketing, such as advertising concepts, marketing strategies, human psychology theories and business practises. There's a huge collection of free resources online, so search for relevant educational content on YouTube, Google, and other online platforms. You might be surprised to learnt that many universities make their course content freely available online, which is a great options to find structured learning material.

Tools

Similarly, there's a whole world of free or inexpensive digital tools available for you to develop your skills. Get to know the basics of imaging, web design, writing, analytics and publishing, and build your abilities with creative tasks and personal projects.

Portfolio

Remember those personal projects? Well, just because you’re not being paid doesn’t mean they can’t form part of an impressive portfolio. The main difference between university work and your own creative briefs is that the university work is assessed and graded, but this doesn't mean that your own ideas can’t be used to show off your skills and abilities. Put together a selection of your best work and make it publicly available. Think of it as your first digital marketing project.

Networking

This is an important one, no matter what type of job you’re aiming for. Reach out, make connections, talk to friends and family and begin to establish a network of advisors, collaborators and potential employers. There are many online platforms such as LinkedIn where you can browse companies and job listings to see what’s available and who you can talk to.

Top universities for marketing

Want to find out which universities offer brilliant marketing courses? Check out the top five unis for marketing according to Complete University Guide's Subject League Tables...

• University of Bath
• Durham University
• University of Leeds
• University of Exeter
• University of Liverpool

Next: See our Marketing Professional Career Guide