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Digital marketing

digital-marketing

The role of a digital marketer is to make sure that a brand, whether it be an organisation, service or product, can be found online.

Digital marketers often work across multiple communication channels and key areas of work include social media, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns and search engine optimisation (SEO).

Ensuring that a website attracts a lot of attention, or traffic, is essential in a tech-savvy economy, which means that roles in digital marketing are constantly expanding and can be highly lucrative.

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Read our blog - Digital Skills: Let's Get Digital

Exploring the sector

The future is digital

Innovations in technology have enabled the whole economy to become digitised, and this also extends to marketing products and services.

According to Bubble Jobs, a digital recruitment agency, the fastest growing areas within the digital economy are now:

digital marketing
content management
social media

All sorts of organisations now have to think about new ways of doing business and engaging with customers and service users online. While some businesses exist entirely in the digital world, more traditional businesses are now developing digital marketing strategies out of necessity to reach new and existing customers.

As organisations focus more and more on their online presence, opportunities are created for those with great writing and communication skills who can produce and manage digital marketing content.

Top 15 cities to start your career in digital marketing

Roles and employers

Typical job titles include:

Digital marketing executive
Digital copywriter
Digital marketing manager
Head of digital

Typical salaries range from £18,000–£70,000 dependent on experience and location.

Digital marketer job profile on Prospects

Employers

Browse the Digital Agency Network’s pick of the best digital agencies in the UK, which you can also search by location.

Manchester MediaCityUK's directory of companies shows the huge range of companies operating in the digital industries and is another good place to start when thinking about applying for jobs in this area.

How can I gain the skills and experience to enter the industry?

Developing your skills

Digital marketers work across several communication channels, so having a broad skill set is essential. As well as possessing excellent written skills in order to produce great content, strong verbal communication skills are needed in order to articulate your ideas to clients.

You'll also need to have analytical skills, be creative, highly organised and have at least a basic understanding of HTML, databases and SEO.

Internships and work experience

Digital agencies can be found in most large towns and cities across the UK and are usually open to being approached for internships and work experience.

Enquiring about experience will work best if you can show that you developed some relevant skills, and have passion and curiosity about brands, culture and the digital world, along with a willingness to learn.

We run a Digital Marketing Academy in autumn term, to help you gain the skills and experience needed to get that vital 'foot in the door'.

A large proportion of Nottingham Internship Scheme roles also require digital marketing skills. All are paid opportunities with local employers which fit around your studies.

If you are a masters or PhD student, a postgraduate placement might be useful.

Develop a digital portfolio

Being able to demonstrate examples of writing for the web is essential. Use sites such as Creative Pool to showcase your work and make contacts. Also consider writing articles for student publications which have an online presence such as IMPACT or LeftLion, or write a blog.

You can enhance your digital portfolio by building a digital profile. Having a presence on Twitter and LinkedIn allows you to follow organisations you would like to work for, keep up-to-date with industry news and find out about local networking events such as Second Wednesday and NottTuesday.

You can also keep up with current trends by reading industry blogs and journals such as Creative Review, The Drum, and locally, The Creative Quarter.

Volunteering

Once you have taught yourself some basic skills, get in touch with local voluntary organisations and charities such as Skillsbank, who could do with help in creating web content, communicating with service users and some simple online marketing strategies.

Research local digital agencies

If there is a role that interests you, make contact with the person working in that role, and ask them lots of questions. You never know, a conversation like this could lead to the offer of work experience or mentoring.

Investigate opportunities with larger companies

If you're keen to learn more about the work of digital marketing in large organisations, consider applying for summer internships.

Application deadlines for most corporate internship schemes will fall between November 2018 and March 2019.

Join relevant societies

Societies such as MadSoc may offer training and networking opportunities.

Join the Institute of Digital Marketing (IDM)

The IDM run a free week-long summer scheme which provides an invaluable insight into digital marketing and the opportunity to visit global agencies and pitch your ideas.

Digital Humanities Centre

The University's Digital Humanities Centre provides training, experience and networking opportunities for humanities students interested in digital media in the arts. You can choose an area of interest, one of which may include PR, marketing and social media.

Join the Nottingham Writers' Studio

The Nottingham Writers' Studio, and other local organisations, sometimes offer courses around blogging and social media.

Sign up for a free online course

Sign up to free course through FutureLearn to enhance your existing knowledge, plug gaps on your CV and prepare you for job applications. Courses last from a few days to a few weeks and are offered by hundreds of universities around the world.

You can also learn more and boost your digital skills through Google courses including Digital Garage, AdWords and Analytics.

Unitemps

Unitemps advertise paid temporary roles, many of which are roles within the University and may allow you to become familiar with web content management systems.

Career Mentoring

Consider applying to be mentored by an industry professional and Nottingham alumni by applying to the Career Mentoring scheme.

Professional courses

Doing a professional course is not a pre-requisite for entry to these jobs, and relevant experience is often more important. However, if you wish to consider a course, the following options could be relevant.

A full-time or part-time masters in digital marketing – find out more at findamasters.com or prospects.ac.uk.
Part-time and distance learning certificates and diplomas accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing

Further internship vacancy sources

Inspiring Interns

Creative Access (specifically for black, Asian and other non-white minority ethnic candidates)

Indeed

Ratemyplacement

Target Jobs

Where can I find my first role?

Recruitment advice

Employers in the digital industries are often much more open to creative CVs. Consider using infographics and sending electronically so that employers can easily click through to any links you have provided, including your digital portfolio. Sites such as Canva offer free templates.

Take a look at this Creative CV Guide

You could also apply the creative approach to your cover letter, for example writing the introduction in the form of a tweet. Make sure you have researched whether the employer is open to creative applications before taking this approach, by looking at the style and tone of their website, or to be absolutely sure – ask them first!

Some other top tips are to:

ensure you have a sensible email address for applications.
check your social media privacy settings. It's great to be active on LinkedIn or Twitter, but ensure the selfies and partying photos on Facebook are seen only by friends! Read our online networking advice for further information.
be able to provide evidence of a digital portfolio. Sites such as Creative Pool and GitHub are great for building your profile and showcasing your work