A decade back if you had told someone that you want to make a career in and earn with Digital Marketing, not many people would have taken you seriously. Especially in India, since the industry hadn’t picked up that much to get people to consider it as a legit career option where you could actually earn through Digital Marketing.
Cut to present time when brands have accepted Digital Marketing as a no-brainer to include in the marketing mix, when hundreds (if not thousands) of Digital agencies have cropped up in just India, Media budgets to be spent on digital channels are increasing rapidly, and there are freelancers emerging in even the smallest of towns in India.
Due to low mobile data prices, coupled with increasing internet penetration, a large part of the originally untapped audience has made a foray on digital and social media channels. This has created a huge opportunity for brands and Digital Marketers (professionals who earn a living through Digital Marketing) to reach out to their Target Audience on digital alike.
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Can you really earn with Digital Marketing more than other professions?
Since you are reading this article and are looking to learn Digital marketing, you probably already know the answer to this. Yes, this field gives you an immense potential to earn as much as, if not more than, any other field.
There is no limit to how much you can earn as long as you are constantly learning and evolving in this field. There are some great Digital Marketing online courses that will help you get started in this industry and upskill.
There is a huge demand for Digital Marketing professionals in India and the quality supply isn’t matching up to that.
So let’s say you are beginning your Digital Marketing learning, and are starry-eyed about the bright future. What options do you have – and what do you need to succeed in those options. Below are the 6 Digital Marketing career options you can choose from.
1. Work on the Brand / Client Side
Most companies/brands have a Digital Marketing department these days or there are digital marketers as a part of the Marketing department itself. These professionals can be someone looking after the digital marketing strategy of the company, looking after the Social Media, SEO, Digital PR, Performance Marketing (leads/online-sales). This role also generally involves liaisoning with external vendors/agencies. This is a great role if you have an overview of the operations of digital marketing but do not want to do it hands-on, or want to stick to strategy and planning while the agencies execute the strategy. If the brand has an in-house digital marketing team, then the hands-on experience becomes a part of this role too.
2. Work with a Digital Marketing Agency
Digital Marketing Agencies are those organisations that act as an extended marketing team for various Brands (companies). Brands outsource their Digital Marketing services as a mandate to Agencies that manage the entire piece in coordination with the brand marketing teams. Agencies have teams that work on multiple brands at the same time, which allows them to keep costs low and efficiencies high. Brands choose to hire agencies because it is affordable than maintaining their own Digital Marketing teams and provides a larger think-tank for ideation. If you start working on Agency-Side, you will probably get to work with more than one brands at the same time. This role is generally very hands-on and could be high-pressure. But the learning on the agency side is immense and most agencies are fun places to work at too. It is a good idea to start working with an agency for a while and then move to Brand-Side or Self-Employment once you have learned the tricks of the trade.
3. Work as a Digital Marketing freelancer
Once you have gained enough knowledge through experience or learning, you might want to decide to move out of a job and work as a freelancer. This gives you freedom to work as per your schedule and style. Also, this allows you to choose the kind of brands/partners you want to work with. While establishing yourself as an expert and competing with loads of domestic and international other freelancers might be an uphill task, the upside is great once you have a nice portfolio that starts getting you gigs easier than before. There are websites like Fiverr that allow you to become a freelancer and take up projects by bidding on them. With Gig economy rising, Freelancing is a great way to be your own boss and make a lot of money (sometimes even more than a job). If you manage to establish yourself and get scaling opportunities, you might even set-up your own Digital Marketing agency.
4. Work as an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is also called referral marketing, which means it is based on the weight of one’s recommendations. In this marketing channel, you can establish yourself as an expert in a certain category (niche) – like Automobiles, Fashion, Skincare etc. If you have a blog where you talk about this particular niche and a large audience follows you and trusts you for your recommendations, a lot of brands would approach you to help them sell their products as long as they are in your niche. The earning model in this scenario is pretty straightforward – The brand asks you to sell their products on your own blog or website and when you do, you get paid a pre-decided commission on the sale. It is a great revenue channel that can be automated and earn extra income for you.
5. Grow your family business
Traditional businesses are already transforming to digital and if you have an established family business, you can bring your newly acquired Digital Marketing skills to the table. From lead generation to online branding to customer service,, there is little you can’t achieve more efficiently via digital. A lot of local businesses are geographically constrained. However, with the help of your digital marketing, you can transcend the geographical boundaries and grow your business by leaps and bounds. You can start an online store, promote your business on social media, and catch the attention of your potential customers who might be from different regions, yet want to purchase your products or avail your services.
As you can see, Digital Marketing provides you with ample opportunity to learn, to grow and to earn. It’s up to you to choose the right path. We’re here to help you choose that. If you are a complete fresher who has no background about Digital Marketing, join our free Basics of Digital Marketing Course here.
