Become A Digital Marketing Professional Within Weeks in 2024 [Updated]

Imagine a world in which everything is so closely knit and yet conveniently separated. Any information you need is available just at the tip of your fingers and so is the opportunity to shop at odd hours. Window shopping is not so embarrassing, as no one gets to judge you as you leisurely scroll through the plethora of options available at your disposal. Filling carts and holding on to them for hours is not as tiresome as one would have imagined. Long queues at the cash counter are a thing of the past and not a necessity anymore to make a purchase. Helpful advice and fun content from our favorite brands keep us entertained and informed, in a manner that doesn’t feel like we are being nagged into making a purchase. However, guidance is available at every step of the way. It may have sounded like a fairy-tale a few years back, but this is not a dream anymore. You are currently living in this world. A world that someone must have carefully envisioned at some point. It is now known as the world of digital marketing. The person who is an expert at navigating this world is whom we call a digital marketing professional. Now, before we attempt to step into the shoes of a digital marketing professional, let us dig a little deeper into the relevance of digital marketing. If you are not yet a part of the digital world or are still struggling to fit in, this blog can be your guide to become an expert within weeks.

As you will begin to look more closely into the efforts of a digital marketing professional, you will realize the amount of expertise and finesse it requires. This is, however, a skill that can be acquired by anyone, who is inclined to learn and benefit from it. A successful digital marketing professional is someone who has championed the art of optimizing the online networking sites; wherein one can effectively pursue subtle and consistent marketing efforts through channels of social communication, known as social media.

What is Digital Marketing?

Marketing has evolved in every era, based on consumer patterns and demand. There was a time when print ads were a norm, and then radio advertising emerged. Next, was the boom of television which led to advertisements on TV. Television ads remain one of the most commonly used marketing strategies but are unfortunately not so easily affordable by all. The boom of the internet eventually led to an increase in online interactions. Thus, began a new era of marketing, now known as digital marketing.

Digital marketing may modestly be also referred to as online marketing. The term digital marketing is used as an umbrella term that encompasses all the marketing endeavors pursued online. In other words, it is a form of marketing that utilizes online platforms to sell products and services. An online presence of a brand is mandatory to pursue this activity.

The primary motive is to be found and be able to connect with potential customers in a casual yet structured manner. These interactions may further transform into potential leads. The leads generated through digital marketing tactics are optimistically considered to be a loyal customer base of the near future. In hope of a decent conversion rate, a digital marketing professional needs to consistently engage its audience in a subtle yet assertive manner. The aim is to neither be too pushy nor refrain from using every tactic available in the book to bring in the desired results.

A digital marketer’s role in enhancing a brand’s online presence cannot be underestimated.

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Why is there a need to indulge in Digital Marketing?

Ever since the world witnessed the advent of technology and increasing internet access, our existing and potential customers are now connected round the clock via the internet. Smartphones have made it possible for every person to search anything on google within seconds, and be on social media 24/7 if they wish to.

The availability of a wide variety of content on various products along with relevant updates has made consumers the king. Reviews of products and services along with quality and price comparisons between competition are easily accessible across the globe. Hence, any marketer needs to ensure that adequate information about products and services they aim to sell, is available for everyone’s perusal at their leisure. Not only that, but it is also the job of a digital marketing professional to track down and address any feedback, negative or positive, that is openly available for anyone to see on the world wide web.

Life as we know today has become super easy if we have allowed it to be.  Most consumers have embraced the emerging trend of online purchasing and have by now managed to navigate the gap that was briefly created by a sudden advancement in technology. When laptops and tablets came into the market, it was no doubt pathbreaking. But the creation of smartphones was probably one of the most revolutionary innovation of our times, which not only changed the entire landscape of communication but took over every possible lifestyle choice. We had no alternative but to succumb to the need to adapt. The changes that have taken place over the last decade have not only changed the entire business model and its strategies, but also given birth to a new career choice – the role of a digital marketing professional.

Businesses have taken a huge brunt post the emerging usage of the internet, as smartphones proceeded to grace the majority of hands. Soon they realized that if you can’t beat them, you must join them. Now, more than a choice, it has become a necessity to have a digital presence.

Digital marketing thrives on the fact that if you can’t be found online, you don’t exist. It has now become a standard protocol for every person to search online before making a purchase decision, if not the purchase itself. The onus is now on the businesses to create and maintain an effective online presence.

Just like a retail store has several branches; in the world of digital marketing too, one has to branch out to various online portals. All major touchpoints need to be covered. A business must be visible where the public frequents. Hence, these crucial touchpoints are where digital marketing happens. The core idea has not changed. Be where the public is.

Find your customers before they find you

As a digital marketing professional, you must remember and stick to the core reason for partaking in any online activity – finding prospects! Acquiring new customers needs to be an ongoing mission for any business.

Just because your business has an online presence, doesn’t guarantee that you will be seen. You need to go out there and find potential clients. Even a successful business with an established client base, cannot afford to become lax in their efforts towards acquiring more customers.

So, it makes sense to establish a target audience and then proceed to work towards making sure that they see you. Once you have decided on an ideal audience that you aim to cater to, your focus tends to become clearer and your efforts eventually become more specific and result oriented.

Once you have established the demographics of your target customers, you proceed to observe and analyze their buying patterns.  Gradually you start following them and proceed to build a connection. You must ensure that your website and social media channels are user friendly and welcoming. The content needs to be relevant, useful and regularly updated. Then you try to entice your audience into sampling your services by creating introductory training material like vlogs or eBooks. You may offer free newsletters or coupons to get them started. Once they have experienced the quality of your products, it’s easier to make them an offer.  As you succeed in gently encouraging your online audience to use your product or services, a chain reaction starts, wherein benefits like repurchase and word of the mouth begin to pour in.

Engage your audience regularly

The work of a digital marketing professional is not limited to just creating an online presence. The ability to keep people engaged on social media platforms goes a long way in building and sustaining a loyal audience.  It’s not just about selling a product anymore; it’s also about building a meaningful connection. Your customers must feel that they know you and that you understand their requirements well.

This may involve sharing some valuable information from your end, that comes within the purview of your expertise. It should be adequate to educate your audience well enough, that they feel compelled to use your product or service. However, do not be so over-generous with what you share, that they end up getting everything they need without needing to make an actual purchase.

“By creating and publishing remarkable content in the form that educates, informs, inspires and entertains, marketers can begin to build relationships with prospects early on in the buying cycle.”  –  Jonathon Lister

Get Started

By now, it has become clear that Digital marketing is nothing but traditional marketing traveling in a new vehicle. While, a digital marketing professional, is the driver who ensures that information effectively reaches its destination.  Digital marketing benefits from the fact that the target audience is more predictable and easier to track since they leave more traces online than they ever left in person. It is expected from a digital marketing professional to navigate, understand, and champion this world wide web, and mark their territory. Only, this territory needs consistent views for it to reap benefits.  

Let us now talk about the most basic yet extremely crucial responsibility of a digital marketing professional.

Design a Website That Does Justice to The Product or Service Being Offered

To optimize your online presence, designing a website needs to be taken seriously. Gone are the days when a basic layout and key information sufficed. It is essential that a website is both attractive and welcoming. Along with the aesthetics, one should also focus on quality content that is both original and helpful. It is the job of a digital marketing professional to put in a suitable amount of time, money, and effort to ensure that the traffic being driven to their website is not driven away, simply due to neglect in keeping the website in top shape. As a digital marketing professional, you need to make sure that the website is mobile-friendly, as the majority of users are now accessing everything on their phones.

It is advisable to get your website designed by a professional. If you wish to be self-sufficient, there are simple portals like WordPress to get you started. It offers a majority of tools and features as per your requirement. As a beginner, however, you may want to leave it to professionals.

Social media marketing

If they can’t find you online you don’t exist. However, don’t over socialize. Engage regularly but don’t test the reader’s patience by oversharing. Don’t keep promoting yourself. Build an audience, gain their trust, become their advisor, not a pushy salesperson. Let them look forward to your quality content. Make it fun or meaningful.   

The following are some of the ways, in which you can actively engage and connect with your potential and existing customers.

Be fun

Be active

Be authentic

Share your expertise

Share what’s trending

Share feedback of happy customers

You may reveal snippets of behind the scenes

Offer a discount for sharing your page on their story

These are a few tips to get you started. However, everyone eventually has their own style and engages in a way that feels right to them or their audience. Experiment and explore, but maintain a professional approach.

Some of the most popular social media applications used in India

Instagram  Facebook  Twitter  YouTube  LinkedIn

Whatsapp  Messenger  WeChat  Snapchat  Pinterest 

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a process of gaining website traffic by both paid and organic means.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the key practices employed by a digital marketer to improve the performance of a site organically. It employs small yet effective tactics, that enhance the probability of a certain content appearing at a higher ranking, during an online search. The searchability can noticeably improve if we create the content mindfully, with proper selection, placement, and repetition of certain keywords. These keywords are carefully selected based on words that are frequently searched. The strategic placement of these keywords, within the content, enhances the visibility of a page organically.

“Good SEO work only gets better over time. It’s only search engine tricks that need to keep changing when the ranking algorithms change.” – Jill Whalen

Pay per click (PPC) is a model of advertising on the internet, wherein an advertiser pays the publisher only when the ad is clicked. The publisher here maybe a search engine or a website owner.  This is a cost-effective marketing technique used to drive traffic to websites.

Digital Marketing tools than you cannot ignore

Google Analytics is a free tool that provides all the data you may need to know your target audience and analyze the pattern of their engagement. There are multiple tutorials online to learn how to use this tool.

Email marketing involves sending out commercial information and newsletters to a group of people who have subscribed to the mailing list. It may be done manually or can be automated.

Remarketing involves connecting with buyers who have interacted with your website or social media page in the past. It might be a good idea to remind them of your product and encourage them to make a repurchase. It is an effective method to solicit their feedback.

Customer feedback

A business must be conscious of their existing customers’ feedback. In the digital world, it refers to online reviews. Customer feedback can easily be submitted on most websites. New users have made it a habit to sift through previous reviews before making their decision. Hence, monitoring and responding the customer reviews is indispensable. The consistency of your responses indicates your interest in listening and addressing the concerns of consumers. Hence, feedback cannot be ignored.

Marketing automation

Takes care of many repetitive functions like automates the email newsletters, filtering date and generating leads, follow-up email to customers who leave the site after viewing the checkout cart without purchasing the product; and several helpful features that maintain customer engagement.

Scope of digital marketing after COVID-19

In the past 6 months, we have witnessed a tremendous increase in a user’s dependence on online purchasing. With a dramatic increase in work from home during the pandemic, many companies have re strategized and increased emphasis on increasing their online presence.

Several new Industries have emerged online during the pandemic. And existing ones have simply geared up their efforts. 70-80% of the population is making even the most basic purchase online, and e-commerce websites like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, big basket, etc. have gained an increased market share. Even the movies are being screened on digital platforms. Giving rise to the demand in the subscription of such platforms. Now, practically every channel has succumbed to the pressure and started its online streaming service.

The demand for digital platforms has increased considerably, and as per recent reports, 50% more time is being spent by users on social media. Due to this, there has been and shall continue to be, a surge in the demand for a digital marketing professional.

Future of digital marketing

Digital marketing has become a promising industry with exciting career opportunities with rapid growth. Ever since the launch of the Digital India campaign in 2015 by the government, there has been a rise of an entire market of start-ups, relying solely on digital marketing services. Hence, it has become a genre of business.

According to the International Journal of Advanced Research Foundation, India is undergoing a golden period of digital marketing growth since 2013 and the trend continues through 2020.

An average Indian spends about 4-5 hours browsing the internet, scrolling through social media, and checking emails. Hence, the content available on the internet has begun to largely influence our lives. The amount of time spent by people on the internet empowers digital marketers to create and implement digital marketing strategies that may influence people’s lifestyle choices, to benefit online marketers.

How to Transition from Your Current Role into a becoming a Digital Marketing Professional

If you have reached this far, it is obvious that you are already in the process of making a transition into becoming a digital marketing professional. This is certainly the way to go. There is no harm in learning the trade, irrespective of the fact that you will be making any major career changes or not. The job profile of a digital marketing professional is slowly becoming quite relevant to every business and soon there may come a time that every person may be required to undergo basic training in digital marketing to be successful in any role.

To learn from the best in the industry in the minimum possible time and at an affordable price, there are some great Digital Marketing courses available.  Pursuing a Digital Marketing certification is bound to add value to your resume and give you the advantage of being a digital marketing professional in addition to your professional expertise.

As you embark upon this exciting new journey as a digital marketing professional, you will be presented with several challenges as well as opportunities from time to time. It is up to you to use these experiences as a stepping stone towards your growth as a professional, as well as achieving success in terms of generating substantial revenue.

Being a digital marketing professional is bound to provide you the edge you need, to thrive in any role you undertake. As a digital marketing professional, the world seems to be coming closer, while your scope of work continues to expand.  With a vast number of opportunities taking birth daily, a Digital marketing professional is practically a hero today.