Did you know that digital media spending has surpassed TV spending last year? Digital marketing spending will continue to grow and will account for more than 35% of the total budget. This has brought digital marketers in the limelight, as the demand for digital marketing professionals will continue to surge. From creative concepts to engaging storytelling, from analyzing consumer behavior to capitalizing on opportunities, digital marketers are your key business drivers today.

If you look at the job market, there has been a constant rise in jobs with social and analytical skills requirements, which means that digital marketing jobs are here to stay. If you are planning to make a career in digital marketing, then here is what you need to know.

• Think like a Brand

As a digital marketer, your goal is to make a brand stand out and if you cannot make yourself stand out, how could help the business in making their brand stand out? Just like a brand focuses on benefits not features, you should also focus on the benefits you can bring for the company. Tell your story just like a brand tells its story. It should be unique and interesting. How could you help them deliver their brand promise? Developing a brand thinking and practicing it take you one-step closer to success in securing your dream job.

• Stay One Step Ahead

The pace at which digital marketing is evolving and new trends replacing older ones has made it extremely difficult to keep pace with it. If you want to become a successful digital marketer, you should stay one-step ahead of these trends and be curious about what is coming up next. Digital marketers who stay on top of these trends are those who dominate the industry by setting standards for others to follow. Stay in the learning mode all the time and hone your marketing skills continuously to stay relevant. Your resume and your outlook must reflect your knowledge about the industry. If you can tell your perspective employer about the latest trend or the future of marketing that they did not know about, you have a better chance to land a job.

• Grow Your Network

Instead of continuously asking for jobs here and there, you are better off building your professional networks by connecting with right people. Marketers have to be social as they have to connect and partner with many people throughout their careers. You can do it both online and offline. Attend networking events, conferences, seminars and workshops where you get an opportunity to learn from and meet with industry experts. Many tools and websites can help you in this regard. Join professional communities, forums and groups. You never know one of the people you met in a conference or workshop or one friend on LinkedIn could refer to a job. These networking efforts will not only help you secure a job but also help you even after that.

• Be a “Jack of All Trade, Master of One”

Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of Moz uses the term T-Shaped marketer to refer to this concept. The T-Shaped marketer concept suggests that you must have the basic understanding of multiple marketing disciplines but specialize in only one or two digital marketing domains. Digital marketing is a broad term that covers everything from SEO, social media, email marketing, PPC and much more under its umbrella. Companies are on the lookout for digital marketers who possess command over several digital marketing channels as it help them in executing campaigns across different marketing channels.

• Let Your Creativity Shine Through

Depending on the company size and standing in the market, a company receives hundred to a thousand resumes for a single job opening. The situation is not much different for marketing job openings either. With HR just having few seconds for each resume, your resume should have something extraordinary to attract their attention otherwise; it will join hundreds of resumes in the bin.

Use your creativity and make your resume as good as you can. It would be even better if you could tailor your resume around their biggest problems. Tell the employer how you can help the company to solve these problems. Remember that the people who are looking at your resume are successful digital marketers themselves. They will not be impressed with any gimmick so you have to think out of the box and come up with some impressive resume building ideas that could instantly grab the attention of the looker.

Conclusion

More graduates will pursue a career in digital marketing but only those who keep themselves updated, eager to learn, connect and attract will become successful digital marketers. With increasing competition, you will have to come up with something special to land your dream job. Share your feedback in comments section below.