how do you get experience in digital marketing?

JG1

Help!

I have a marketing background but the sectors i worked in were not using digital marketing/social media. I am currently looking for a job and anything that i am interested in is asking for experience in this area. Do I invest in a course or what is the best route to take?

Thanks

Chet Zar

JG1 wrote: »

Help!

I have a marketing background but the sectors i worked in were not using digital marketing/social media. I am currently looking for a job and anything that i am interested in is asking for experience in this area. Do I invest in a course or what is the best route to take?

Thanks

Online marketing is the future and so not surprised that employers are asking for it or saying it is a requirement. You could look to do an internship, or perhaps a course. Best bet is to look for an internship or work experience - or even just starting teaching yourself. For example, you could set up a simple free website and promote it yourself using various tools and media - that way you would get direct experience, learn from your mistakes, and build up lots of knowledge which you could then showcase when applying for any relevant jobs.

The Apprentice

One word buddy..

Digital marketing institute.. " one long 3 legged word " :P

It solves all your questions

JG1

Thanks - had a look and it fits the bill. It's pricey though particularly when one isn't working!

The Apprentice

Ya i hear ya..

The postgrad one 12 week course i shall do in a few months once i have a pile of cash.. 2k i think it is..

Tis a pity they dont do a payment plan cause im stoney broke.

Chet Zar

The best way to get into digital marketing is to just throw yourself into it. 2k for a 3 month course - I'd think long and hard about parting with your hard earned cash. A lot of people on that course will have their company footing that hefty bill!

There are tonnes of resources online everywhere from seomoz.org to seobook and a mountain of brilliant blogs on everything from SEO to PPC to email marketing, social media and beyond. While I see the attraction of a course, I'd recommend diving into these first and seeing how you go for starters before parting with a huge wad of cash! You'd be surprised how much you will pick up - for free!

pablo scholes

Find out what area you like be it display, search, social media etc and find an agency where you can work for free. Thats the best way if you dont have cash to do a course.

After 6 months you should have plenty of skills and be able to get paid for it

mneylon

Chet Zar wrote: »

The best way to get into digital marketing is to just throw yourself into it. 2k for a 3 month course - I'd think long and hard about parting with your hard earned cash. A lot of people on that course will have their company footing that hefty bill!

There are tonnes of resources online everywhere from seomoz.org to seobook and a mountain of brilliant blogs on everything from SEO to PPC to email marketing, social media and beyond. While I see the attraction of a course, I'd recommend diving into these first and seeing how you go for starters before parting with a huge wad of cash! You'd be surprised how much you will pick up - for free!

So true!

I'd be more interested in hiring someone who had some practical experience and was self taught than someone who had done a course.

The Apprentice

Blacknight wrote: »

So true!

I'd be more interested in hiring someone who had some practical experience and was self taught than someone who had done a course.

Well im finding the opposite blacknight, self thought myself i do think i can set myself aside from the competition but cant be taken seriously. I have even started to do a few free jobs with top 10 results.

I feel although yes you are right and the above poster that practical proven experience would be more beneficial, dont get into the mindset that you know it all and i myself will do this just to have the qualification to back up my knowledge base.

Hoping to eventually go full time, of which most of the initial legwork is done it might be that added qualification that gets me above my breakeven point.

Chet Zar

The Apprentice wrote: »

it might be that added qualification that gets me above my breakeven point.

Logically, you would think that - but I would say the opposite is true, in that doing a course might actually suggest that you are less knowledgeable than others - otherwise why would you be doing a course at all! Counter-intuitive I know, but I know that if I was looking to hire, e.g. a web-designer, and I saw that he had just completed a web design course to 'enhance his skills', etc, I'd be asking questions as to why he was doing that course in the first place.

Online marketing is about results and experience and passion, and very little else. Passion is something you either have or you don't have - and results and experience can be obtained and developed through simply working in the field - either through internships, freelancing or full-time work, and so on.

Doing courses is fine, but I'd be doing something to supplement or support your efforts to go full-time instead.

radooo

I have done postgraduate course with Digital Marketing Institute and happy to share my thoughts on it.

JG1

Please do!

radooo

no problem, send me a pm.

LJL

hi,

if you check out your local enterprise board they usually have training days for less than €100. some of them do digital marketing or social media marketing. might be worth a try.

frag420

HI,

Currently doing an internship in this area through Job Bridge. I had looked at several courses including the DMI but simply could not afford it. I did a one day course with them in Social Media as it was all I could afford at the time. Ironically enough the boss today suggested getting them in to the office to bring others in the up to date with digital media so I will get to complete it after all.

If I were you I would look at the intern route. Approach a few companies and ask them if they will take you on for six months. do it through Job Bridge so you will have some kind of income. One word of advice though. male sure you sit down with whomever you decide to go with and draw up a learning plan. Have weekly/Monthy meetings to gauge your progress and dont go with the first company that says yes as more than likely they may be looking for a jobsbody/coffee maker etc.

If you are willing to work for nothing for a few months and learn then it show future employers that you are determined to succeed. Think of it as a free practical education, soak it all up.

good luck with it

frAg

link8r

JG1 wrote: »

Thanks - had a look and it fits the bill. It's pricey though particularly when one isn't working!

Surely the price of something is determined by its input and marketing costs and not what people would like to pay ? (just asking)

link8r

JG1 wrote: »

Help!

I have a marketing background but the sectors i worked in were not using digital marketing/social media. I am currently looking for a job and anything that i am interested in is asking for experience in this area. Do I invest in a course or what is the best route to take?

Thanks

IT and Web skills are in high demand at the moment, which means many companies are hiring-to-train. This is very common. When I worked in Dell, we hired lots of people from completely different backgrounds as "graduate software engineers" - i.e. level 1 and then via exposure, training and processes, we turned them into sw engineers.

I'd say the best place is the internet itself. Go to wordpress.com or blogger.com and get a free blog and start seeing if you can get people to it. Join forums like this, IWF (more focused to the web industry).

Dont worry about being a specialist - there are lots of technical aspects like understanding hosting, development technologies, website architecture that trip many people up. I bet you if you met 10 people who'd describe themselves as "Digital Strategists", that 9 of them are utterly useless because they think that strategy is an excuse card that gets them out of being "technical". Not being "technical" in the internet world is like being unable to drive a car in the driving world.

Everything you need to know about starting a Google AdWords campaign is published by Google. Anyone selling facebook marketing strategies can be distilled in 2 hours

I'm sure that if you taught yourself some basics about WordPress, using graphic design software, ftp, html, php and hosting, that you could easily start in a support role within a digital agency, where you'll learn faster.

Take a look at sites like http://technicaljobs.ie or www.iwf.ie and talk to web developers. A website can be built without spending any money at all - if you can do that - you're useful to someone!

Chet Zar

link8r wrote: »

Surely the price of something is determined by its input and marketing costs and not what people would like to pay ? (just asking)

I would have said it's primarily determined by the price enough people will be willing to pay to make a profit

neto

I know an online marketing company called voodoo has a fulltime vacancy for an SEO / PPC exec and noticed that they are also advertising for a search marketing intern thru the Job bridge programme - http://jobbridge.ie/i.aspx?v=657284.

Hope this helps!

link8r

Chet Zar wrote: »

I would have said it's primarily determined by the price enough people will be willing to pay to make a profit

What I meant is, that pricing can't just take into account what people are "willing to pay" (as distinct to capable of paying). Services sold as "Service-as-a-product" are in a dangerous area imho. We're so used to the "can of beans" analogy that people often forget they're in a B2B transaction and not a B2C transaction. If there was a course for Operating System Design, and there were only 5 people interested but it cost €100k to deliver, then its going to cost €21k per student :-P

Service-a-a-p is intriguing. I've come across companies looking for €300 a month for internet marketing (as if its cement per kg or coke per litre (or gram depending on where you live)) - and then drop because the client's budget is €100 a month. Yet nothing to do with size of market, number of customers, price per visit, cost per acquisition, actual hours worked.

So where do we value a training course at €5k as overvalued if it delivers you a career potentially worth €100k per annum?

The Irish IM marketing salary scale varies between a laughable €25k pa (so this person can't make more than 25k per annum themselves but you'll entrust the future of your online sales to them?>>) to €150k pa. And more on the higher side.

I'd go for it personally!

Disclaimer: I'm not involved in any training companies!