If you’re looking for the perfect remote job opportunity, you’ve landed in the right place. Today, we’re going to teach you exactly what you need to know to become a successful digital marketer. Before we start, it’s important to note that this isn’t your typical blog post. We’re going to explore everything from the underlying psychology to the nuts and bolts of online marketing.
The Difference Between Affiliate Marketing And Online Marketing
Before we start, it’s important to know the difference between affiliate marketing and online marketing. With affiliate marketing, you’ll be promoting products that you’ve either been paid to advertise or are affiliated with somehow — be it through a partnership, affiliate program, or just through direct contact with the company.
In contrast, online marketing is any kind of marketing done solely through digital channels (i.e. SEO, PPC, email marketing, etc.). While affiliate marketing focuses on marketing a product or service, online marketing can take a variety of forms such as blogging, social media strategy, and email marketing.
If you’re still confused, think of affiliate marketing as buying a ticket to a concert, while online marketing is more like showing up to the concert and buying a T-shirt. With affiliate marketing, you’re essentially just getting something for free (the product or service), while with online marketing, you’re investing your own money to get the same results (i.e. a T-shirt that says ‘I love Taylor Swift’ or ‘I’m a proud member of the Illuminati’).
Why Do You Want to Become a Digital Marketer?
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what makes a successful digital marketer. The short answer: a steady paycheck, flexibility, and the ability to work remotely.
As a digital marketer, you’ll be responsible for bringing in the revenue for your company by either generating sales for a company’s product or getting consumers to take some kind of action (i.e. subscribe, purchase a product, fill out a form, etc.).
You’ll typically be asked to work independently with very little supervision, so don’t be afraid to showcase your own skills and take on responsibility.
Depending on your expertise, you’ll be able to work remotely for a few different companies in the digital marketing space, creating content, email campaigns, and more.
How to Work as a Digital Marketer
Now that you have a better understanding of what a digital marketer does and the basic differences between affiliate marketing and online marketing, let’s get into how to work as a digital marketer. There are five steps you need to take to ensure you’re successful in this role:
1. Find A Niche
As a digital marketer, you’re in the business of marketing products or services. To do this, you’ll need to identify a specific niche within the digital marketing realm. For example, if you’re passionate about travel, you may decide to explore the world of online marketing specializing in travel blogging. Once you’ve established yourself in this niche, you can begin to explore additional specializations such as SEO, content marketing, or email marketing.
2. Build A Portfolio
To show employers you’re worth hiring, you’ll need to have a portfolio. This should consist of content that you’ve created that is relevant to your niche. Since you’ll be working remotely, gathering content will be fairly easy. Just search for relevant topics and take note of the ones that produce the best results. Once you’ve established a small portfolio, take the time to expand it.
You can also consider creating content for other platforms such as YouTube or LinkedIn, as these can also help you showcase your skills and demonstrate your versatility as a professional. In addition to building a portfolio, you’ll also need to consider creating a blog. Not only will this help establish your expertise, but it can also function as a lead generator, a guide to helping consumers make the right decision, and a hub for sharing knowledge.
3. Establish Yourself As An Authority
Now, let’s talk about the most important part of becoming a successful digital marketer: establishing yourself as an authority within your niche. To do this, you’ll need to take the time to listen to, read, and watch people in your niche. In addition to establishing yourself as an authority, your blog can also function as a place for prospective clients to come for information. In a nutshell, you want to create a knowledge-based community around your niche.
The quickest way to establish yourself as an authority is by publishing high-quality content on a regular basis. To generate leads, you can consider creating free educational material in the form of a blog or an ebook. Publishing content frequently shows that you’re a busy person and someone who is committed to sharing quality information.
4. Distribute Your Content
There’s a difference between marketing and promoting a product. To market a product, you’ll typically use one of the following channels: TV commercials, paid media placements, product reviews, or display ads.
To promote a product, you’ll use the internet to connect with consumers who may be interested in your product. You’ll distribute content through social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — as well as websites like Medium and LinkedIn.
To be most effective, your distribution strategies should be tailored to fit the medium. For example, if you’re promoting a fashion app, you may want to consider using Pinterest to attract fashion-related followers, or Instagram to attract lifestyle-related followers.
5. Track The Results
To determine the success of your marketing initiatives, you’ll need to track metrics. The best way to track results is through analytics. There are a few free tools you can use to track the performance of your content:
a. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the standard tool in the digital marketing world. It allows you to track the results of your marketing efforts in real time and provides you with a clear snapshot of your performance across different platforms.
b. Conversions / Leads
Conversions are the results of your marketing efforts — i.e. the actions taken by a visitor following your lead. Leads are the individuals you’ll need to follow-up with to develop into paying customers. Simply put, a lead is someone who shows interest in your product or service and provides you with their email address or other contact information so you can follow-up.
You can also set up automated email campaigns to generate more leads and conversions. For example, you can use HubSpot to create an email campaign to send out on a regular basis. Every time a subscriber opens your email, you’ll see a notification in your HubSpot dashboard.
Now that you have an idea of what it takes to work as a successful digital marketer, the next step is for you to explore the role in more detail and see if this is something you may be interested in pursuing.