How to become a Digital Marketer in India? (Practical Guide)

Did you know that the digital marketing market worth 199 billion rupees in the year 2020 is predicted to grow up to 539 billion in 2024?

Here is the data for you.

Key Takeaways for you

– A Digital Marketer in India is like any other marketing but using digital platforms and using the internet.  – Digital Marketing begins with a lot of aspects along with the knowledge of tools. – You can start your career as a Digital Marketer by joining a course, Getting an internship/job, or starting your own website. – There are three stages during your career progression which start from Entry level, Mid Level, and Senior Level or as a consultant. – There are various SEO job positions with different ranges of Salaries. It depends upon your skills, knowledge, and qualification to land you a high-paying SEO role.

The graph shows the statistics of the growth in the digital marketing industry over the past decade and a half.  

If your ambition is to be a part of the industry, your future is guaranteed.

For an industry that has such promising growth, the subject does not find a way into mainstream academics, and aspirants are left to their own devices to learn skills from different sources and online courses trying to educate themselves to build a career.

I said your future is guaranteed, not that it was an easy one to begin with.

However, I shall try to make it easier for you with this practical guide if you are looking for information to start a career in digital marketing.  

I have tried to demonstrate what you have in store before you can set foot on the new career path.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is like any other marketing but using digital platforms and using the internet.  The audience is reached through laptops, desktops, and phones.

Customers are attracted through websites, blogs, and social media to purchase products or services.

The term digital marketing itself is an umbrella term consisting of several skills including creativity, analytical skills, and a basic understanding of technology.

Why should you choose a career in Digital marketing?

There is no doubt that this career choice is very much in demand today with the whole world going digital and having the internet in their palms.  This has forced businesses and individuals to build their online presence to establish themselves.

But if you are newly entering this field, I am sure you will have a lot of qualms about whether it is meant for you or not.  Whether you can fit in.

Even if you do, where to begin?  What do you choose to do?

The good news is that there is something for everyone in this field.  There is web development for coders, graphic designers for artists, content marketing for writers, video marketing for orators, and so much more.

There is one condition though.  It is a dynamic industry that is evolving on a daily basis and you need to be on your toes to keep yourself updated and aware of the new developments in technology and marketing, and constantly stay updated as the need arises.

Even before you begin you need an idea of all that a digital marketer does.

What does a digital marketer do?

The role of a digital marketer is understanding a user’s journey from being an information seeker to becoming a customer, and coming up with strategies to connect with them throughout their journey.  A digital marketer needs to play different roles in different stages of this journey.

It begins with:

Content marketing: 

This involves designing a strategy to create content relating to the brand and its services on various platforms to educate users.  This includes blogs, videos, ebooks, and infographics.  If you are a writer and designer, this role is for you.

Search Engine optimization: 

Creating content does not suffice, it is important that the content reaches its desired audience.  This is possible only if it is ranking in the search results.  This attracts quality traffic to your website.

Social Media Marketing: 

After providing useful content and reaching the right audience, you need to ensure the users do not forget you.  You need to consistently engage with them to establish your presence and importance.  Almost the entire world lives on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and that’s where you can reach and interact with your audience.  

Search Engine Marketing:

It is advertising on Google with ads and advertisers pay every time a user clicks on the ad.  It is also called Pay-per-click advertising.  It is a great way to get customers and make sales. 

Email Marketing:  

It is the most personalized form of marketing.  You understand the needs and desires of your potential customers and help them achieve their goals but individually engage them via email.

Performance marketing: 

It is a type of digital marketing strategy that is based on results or performance.  Different parameters like clicks, leads, and sales are monitored and advertisers use this data to identify where to invest more to scale up.

The different parameters evaluated are:

• Cost per click,
• Cost per impression
• Cost per lead
• Cost per sale
• Cost per acquisition

Marketing automation: 

It is the use of software and tools to perform repetitive tasks in effective marketing.  You construct a workflow or process to build brand awareness and sales with minimal effort.

Mobile marketing: 

It is a marketing technique used to reach specific audiences through multiple channels on their phones, tablets, and other devices by engaging with them via email, messages (SMS/MMS), websites, and mobile applications.

Knowledge of Tools

It is always good to know a couple of tools relating to your skill.  The tools come with inbuilt features that make your job easy and save precious time that you could be investing elsewhere.  It also helps create, test, and measure your performance.

Content Marketing:  Grammarly, WordPress, Plagiarism checker

Design: Canva, Photoshop

SEO:  Rank Math, Ahrefs, SEMRush, Google Search Console, Google Analytics

Google Ads: SEMRush, Google As Editor, Keyword Planner, Optimizely.

Social Media Marketing: Tweet Deck, Twitter Analytics, Facebook Insights, Hootsuite, Buffer.

Automation: Convert Kit, WATI

The key is to specialize in one of the skills while maintaining an updated awareness of the other related skills.  But it is not sufficient to know just these hard skills, you also need to efficiently use soft skills to employ and implement the strategies.  You need to have a strong understanding of the digital landscape.  

Here are some of the soft skills that will come in handy in the field.

• Analytical and problem-solving skills to understand the data and analytics report for marketing campaigns and make informed decisions to improve strategies.

• Researching abilities

• Communication skills are a key essential whether it is with your clients, partners, or networks.

• Critical thinking:  Designing strategies to meet the needs of clients, and managing customer relationships require critical thinking abilities.

• Creativity:  A touch of creativity is definitely needed to understand how best to attract the attention of your audience

• Passion:  Don’t do it because everybody else is doing it.  If you want to be successful and sustain in a strongly evolving and competitive field, you need to be passionate about it.

If you have a healthy combination of these skills you can build a successful career in digital marketing.

How to start a career in Digital marketing?

Now that you know what the skills required to become a successful digital marketer in India are.  You need to learn these skills, apply them, get a job, and scale your career.

Join a course.

Though it is an emerging field, the industry lacks structure.  There are barely any opportunities for formal education in digital marketing like in other professional fields.  But there are several online courses available ranging from three months to a year.  You can learn different skills from different courses.

I offer courses like SEO Career Kickstarter and Content Marketing Career Kickstarter.

Jack of all trades, and a master of one.

Dive deep into one skill, know it inside out, and master it.  Let it define you.  Meanwhile also learn some of the complementary skills to your specialization.  Know that you will be working with a team and you need to know the bigger picture too to work together.

Start your own website

The best part about digital marketing is you do not necessarily need a job to gain experience.  Have your own project website.  Apply what you learned, experiment, and learn more.

Get an internship or a job

Initially, you cannot go solo and establish yourself successfully overnight.  Be realistic, you have bills to pay.  You need a job.  You can start as an intern too.

Don’t stop learning

Know that digital marketing is a fast-evolving industry.  New tools, new software, and new methods are emerging all the time.  

What your career progression looks like

Like every field, there is career progression and hierarchy in the digital marketing industry.  It can be broadly categorized as entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level.  The job titles may vary but the roles are approximately the same.

• Entry-level jobs are as trainees or assistants where you are part of a team performing different tasks as instructed by a Supervisor or Manager.  The skills may include creating content, SEO, and social media marketing while collaborating with other complementing roles in your team and planning and executing with them.  You may spend six months to up to two years at this level before you scale up to the next level.

• Mid-level jobs are as Managers or Supervisors where you have a team that works for you.  This role requires a lot of client and agency interaction, understanding the needs and goals, and strategizing with your team to meet those goals.  

You are responsible for your team and its performance, hiring, and growth.  You also work with other teams on projects to meet the company’s goals.

• Senior-level jobs are Executive and Director level jobs where you wear a lot of hats.  You are expected to know about all the different skills in the industry for you to work towards the future growth and progression of your brand.  You need to be a futuristic thinker.

You need to oversee profits and losses for your teams, strategize investments, and innovatively plan to grow the business.

• Consultants (Freelancers) are those who work independently consulting for agencies and brands.  I am sure you are tempted to freelance and work on your own.  

But my advice is to work on your skills and work with a team to get an insider knowledge of the industry before you can actually work by yourself.  It takes time to establish yourself in the market to make it a steady working business for yourself. 

You can start finding freelancing gigs while you work somewhere to fall back on. Once you know you can get out on your own, then feel free to do so.

Here is a 10-year plan for your career progression in terms of money.

What are the different job roles and how are they paid?

Your salary is based on 4 main factors:

• Skills:  What skills do you know take you far in your career?  It is always good to stay updated and upskill yourself for the job roles you want to work on.

• Experience:  How much you have worked in the industry and how much you know of its working is a key factor for your hiring managers.

• Designation: Your designation is of course depending upon your skills and experience, but the job title you earn comes with a pay scale.

• Employer:  It also depends on how much your employer can afford to pay you.  Larger firms have bigger pay rangers.  

But you also need to keep in mind that smaller firms enable larger growth curves in learning and building skills.

Let us have a look at the average pay range for different roles according to Payscale.

SEO Specialist

Pay-per-click Analyst

Web Developer

Social Media Marketing Specialist

SEM Specialist

Data Analyst

Content Marketer

Paid Media Specialist

Digital Marketing Manager

Marketing Automation Specialist

I have not covered all the job roles in the industry.  But I suppose the above examples gave you a general idea of what income you can expect in your career as a digital marketer.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you understand what skills are required for a career in digital marketing and how to prepare for it.  You also know what to expect in terms of pay scale when you are applying for jobs.

If you are planning to become successful in the field try to get the right education and training.  It is a promising industry with rapid career growth and with your hard work success is guaranteed.

Now go on and sign up for a course!

What digital marketing skills do you choose to work in? 

Let me know in the comments.

Digital marketing courses in different cities: Bangalore, Nagpur, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and, Mumbai

 FAQ