How To Build A Freelance Digital Marketing Career | A 5-Step Plan

A great marketing strategy is what differentiates a good product from a successful product.

With the speed and the reach of the internet, no business can afford to ignore the online platforms, and hence digital marketing is the marketing strategy in today’s digital age.

Owing to the nature of work, it is also one of the best fields to start or enhance your freelancing career in.

Becoming a freelancer is not just a career choice, but also a huge lifestyle shift.

Along with the independence that freelancing jobs offer, it also presents a variety of opportunities that a regular job or career cannot offer.

While the advantages are numerous, there are a few challenges like lack of a steady inflow of work and, subsequently, income and the other benefits that bigger corporates typically offer.

This is where you really need a structured approach to establish yourself as a go-to freelance digital marketer.

In this article, we’re going to give you a foolproof 5-step plan to further your freelancing career in digital marketing.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Introspect. Research. Plan. Execute

Before you start freelancing, a must-do step is to introspect.

Think about why you want to start freelancing. Dig deep and understand what your strengths are and where your passion lies. Identify the specific niches that you’d like to focus on in digital marketing.

While you can be a jack-of-all-trades and focus on all aspects of digital marketing, you could also choose to offer services in a specific subfield.

Some of the most sought-after fields in digital marketing include search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, content marketing, web design, and web development.

Freelancing can be tough, especially if you’re coming out of a day job full of perks and benefits.

Therefore, it’s important to understand what makes you tick and what will help you succeed in being your own boss.

Once you have figured your out fields of interest, research them and understand the opportunities that are available to you. Once you do this and create a plan, you’re ready to get started with the implementation.

Network and build a brand

Once you have clarity on what you would like to focus on in digital marketing, start building a network.

Your first target should be your own circle of friends and colleagues, who can help you gain other relevant contacts. 

Simultaneously, you should also start building your personal brand; build a strong portfolio showcasing your skills and your experience.

Make sure you highlight what you’re good at and showcase some of your best projects. Also, find a mentor who can not only champion your cause, but also act as your sounding board. 

A powerful tool to build your portfolio is the concept of social proofing. Social proofing tells you the way the market is headed and gives you the direction to chart out your path.

Most people look for reviews of products or services before they invest in them, so ensure that you also have a base of testimonials to speak for your work.

Make the online platforms work for you!

Consider this:

97% of marketers use social media platforms.

This demonstrates just how powerful the online world is. You should be using every relevant online platform effectively in order to grow your freelancing career. 

One of the simplest ways to further your digital marketing business is to first build a powerful website. 

Use the necessary strategies to build a great website, then attract traffic to it. By taking a focussed approach to SEO, you can rank up the SERP and increase the website traffic.

You can also increase your conversions by investing in the optimization and performance of the website itself. 

Another important medium is YouTube. YouTube enjoys a huge viewership and a video always conveys the message faster than a big chunk of text!

Understand how to capitalize on this platform to ensure that you gain more freelancing opportunities through it. 

Also:

Establish your presence on all the other major social media platforms to increase your brand awareness through online campaigns and promotions. Having a strong presence on social media is also a great SEO strategy!

Don’t just market, influence!

While influencer marketing is not a new concept, it’s fast becoming a much bigger player in the digital world.

Social media influencers play a big part in building product visibility, increasing awareness, increasing web traffic and increasing revenue. 

Build your career in freelancing by focussing not only on marketing, but also on influencing. Influencers build build up huge followings, meaning that the products and services they endorse stand to benefit phenomenally.

Ensure you use the right platforms (like Instagram) to establish your authority over the niche that you want to create for yourself.

Measure, analyse and improve

As you take specific steps to build and enhance your career as a freelancing digital marketer, be sure to measure your progress against important metrics like website traffic, brand awareness, conversion vs bounce rate, and return on investment. 

When doing this, make sure you take into account any costs you incur in generating leads or running any marketing campaigns. 

Once you start measuring and analyzing your KPIs, you’ll be able to take corrective actions. Continue focussing on what’s working well and rethink what’s not generating the desired results. 

Piece it all together and complete your puzzle!

That is the key – it is important to understand that this is your puzzle to solve and there is no ‘right’ way of doing it.

Freelancing is a challenging, yet very satisfying career option. Being self-employed is a great opportunity to invest time in building your dreams and pursuing your passion. #

Also, with the digital age that we are living in, digital marketing is an undeniable aspect of any business.

Therein lies the big opportunity for freelancers to make a successful career in digital marketing. By analyzing your strengths and interests, understand your niche, and pursue it in a planned manner. 

And there you have it – the steps you can take to enhance your freelancing career – especially in digital marketing.

The key is to know your forte and offer value-based propositions to the clients.

Go on and soar high!