If you’re looking for a potentially high paying job, or you’re not sure what to do with your seemingly useless college degree – a career in digital marketing might be something to consider.
The fact is, digital marketing is trending and the industry is growing at a fast rate. Businesses are putting themselves on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. They are marketing through email campaigns. They are trying to get their website seen in search engines both organically (SEO) and through paid search channels.
Many are realizing they need more and more people for these positions, so much so that (some) companies are willing to hire those without any experience whatsoever, just who are familiar and know basic concepts and tools.
Now is a really great time to jump into a career in this industry.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing basically just means you work with companies marketing campaigns in the online space. This could be managing their PPC campaigns (paid per click ads in search) or running their social media pages, Facebook and/or Instagram ads. You could also be in charge of email marketing campaigns, or be creating website content for SEO.
There are a lot of different areas of digital marketing. If you were searching for a position you would see terms such as:
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- Marketing Coordinator
- SEO Specialist
- Social Media Manager
- Digital Marketing Analyst
- Content Strategist
- Paid Search Specialist
Why Digital Marketing is such a gem within the current career landscape
There’s a cumulation of factors that make this field unique:
- Because it’s all digital-based, there are many courses you can follow online so you can learn this and gain experience on your own, without going to college.
- There are tons of jobs available
- Many companies only ask you to have basic knowledge and “willingness to learn” instead of 5+ years experience like most other “entry-level” jobs
- There aren’t a ton of qualified applicants for many of these positions
- It’s a new field, you’re not competing against people with 20 -30 years experience
- There are tons of higher-paying opportunities without requiring a degree
- If you have a college degree and don’t know what to do with it, this could be a great opportunity for you as you can still learn the field without going back to school and getting into even more debt. Your college degree will just open you up for more opportunities and higher-paying positions once you gain experience.
Currently, digital marketing is in high demand and there are companies that are desperately seeking qualified applicants.
Every company needs to put themselves online in today’s world. Even older brick and mortar businesses who have never really used digital advertising before are realizing they need to.
But here’s the thing – it’s a new field that changes fast. Universities charging insane prices for “internet marketing” degrees don’t even teach the type of skills that companies are actually looking for.
So there’s really a lack of people applying for these positions that have the necessary skills.
And another component of this that lowers the competition dramatically is you’re not competing with older people that have lots of experience. There’s nobody within the digital marketing field that’s been doing this same stuff for 20-30 years because it hasn’t been around that long.
And believe it or not, a chunk of these jobs don’t even require a college degree, just experience or a willingness to learn.
In addition to that, it’s a well-paying field. If you can get your foot in the door through an entry-level position and gain work experience, it wouldn’t be uncommon to make $60 – $80K+/year.
And I’m not just making this up. Go to a job board and type “digital marketing” in the search field and see for yourself.
Here are some examples I pulled today from Indeed:
Keep in mind these are ENTRY-LEVEL positions…note how many of them add a degree as “bonus” or “preferred”. Ultimately when it comes to this field, your experience and knowledge are what will make you shine.
This job is entry-level, requires almost no experience other than a basic level of understanding and having a digital marketing degree and website knowledge is just a bonus. Yeah, $30K per year isn’t a high paying job by any means, but for getting your foot in the door and gaining experience it’s not bad at all. Especially considering you can easily work your way up to a $60 -$80K/year job once you have experience.
A Bachelor’s is a plus, but they want you to have basic familiarity with elements of digital marketing and tools, there’s no real experience actually required.
Now this one actually does specify you need a Bachelor’s degree, but even if you do have a degree and it’s not technically in a “related” area of study, your experience and knowledge of digital marketing is much more important than what your degree is in.
This job requires no relevant experience!
Now, look at the salaries of these jobs that require only minimal experience (and no degree)…
Entry-level jobs in the industry don’t typically pay high, however, once you do gain experience it’s totally possible to land a higher paying job. Here are a few examples of what is typical.
Getting a $50 – $70K per year job is not unrealistic once you get actual experience in this field.
And there is even plenty of opportunity to work your way up to earning upwards of $100,000 yearly.
Being able to land a career that pays that well with minimal experience and no degree isn’t standard so this is what makes the field of digital marketing so interesting.
And these were just what I found with some basic searching. I did not have to search extensively for these jobs at all – THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!
You need to be willing to learn and take action
Now obviously you can’t just apply for jobs like this and say, “Hey, I’ve heard of PPC and Google Analytics! Hire me!”
It’s not that easy.
But you definitely don’t have to get a specific degree in digital marketing to get a job in this field, or even have on the job experience to get in, and for many, that makes it an extremely attractive option.
You do have to be a self-starter and be willing to learn the material on your own, as well as preferably gain some experience within the field (even just on your own) before you apply for positions.
But where can you learn digital marketing without getting a degree?
There are plenty of places you can start teaching yourself the field of digital marketing. There’s a lot of free resources available on the internet these days.
However, if you need step-by-step guidance and support, as well as want to gain hands-on experience you might want to consider a paid class.
If you’re looking for more guidance with breaking into the field, I recommend checking out this course at IndemandCareer. Not only does it teach you the basics but it also provides step by step course videos and complete mentoring through private forums. He even guides you through how to properly write your resume and apply for jobs, and he will actually review your resume and make sure you’re taking all the proper steps to secure employment.
I also highly suggest you check out my full list of the best digital marketing courses that’ll actually help you land your first job.
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