As more companies understand the power of digital marketing strategy, there’s never been a better time to become a digital freelancer and work with your dream clients. Freelance digital marketing might sound hard at first, but with these tips you should be off to a great start.
What’s the right role for me?
Digital marketing is a creative endeavor, so think about what kind of creativity you enjoy the most. You’ll be working directly with customers to design the elements of their brand that interact directly with their paying audience, so you’ve got an important job.
Do you love writing? Drawing? Designing experiences? Below are a few skillsets that can set you apart.
1. Building Your Content Creator Portfolio
If you are a strong writer or visual artist, creating content is probably going to be your first step into digital marketing. Not only is it where the most freelance work is, but building content is the best way to learn to understand the brands you are representing and how to connect to their targeted audience. Most importantly, this will help you to understand the clients that you most enjoy working with, with an eye on where your marketing niche may be.
Your niche should be the area of work where the skill sets can be a superpower for the things that you care about in the world. Maybe you like working with exclusively social impact organizations, or maybe you like working with exclusively 80’s cover bands. There’s an audience for almost every niche, but it's best to find it through paid work. Early in your freelancing career, you will need to build trust with potential clients as you build out your digital portfolio. You can find the top 5 ways to find freelancing work here.
2. Getting Your First Clients
The common digital marketplaces for this type of work can be a great way to get started, but early in your freelance career be sure to look for opportunities in your geographic region, too. Digital marketing is just as important for the restaurant at the end of the street, and often smaller businesses are looking for someone who can do both combined content creation + marketing, an invaluable skillset to gain.
Your digital portfolio can take the shape of a personal website where you focus on two things: 1) making it easy for new clients to purchase your services and goods, and 2) proudly display the work you’ve done. Use this as your online business card for your digital marketing career.
3. Think Out-of-the-Box to Add Value
Think outside of the box with your content creation, as digital media marketing extends far beyond blogs and ads. Think about podcasts, infographics, videos and online books. All of those can become valuable elements of your digital marketing work experience.
Your job is to help potential customers develop an awareness of a brand that stays in their mind. Social media marketing can be an especially powerful tool to help understand who is looking at your content, and how you can market to those who are enthusiastic about buying. Part of that is to make your content easy to find: make sure that you use targeted search engine keywords that ensure anyone looking for that product or service.
4. Spend time on what matters
Learn to automate as much as you can, so you can focus on the relationships and products that build your brand. Nobody likes paperwork, and in the digital age you can automate a lot of the headaches for you and your clients. Setting up automation early in your business can go along way to establish confidence in your own business venture, as well as trust from clients. Spend as much time as you can both building and mastering your craft in the beginning of your freelance career. No one becomes their own boss just to become an accountant!
Digital marketing can offer some of the most flexible and rewarding opportunities in the modern job market. Build your marketing portfolio today!
