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Did you know that the digital marketing industry is projected to be worth more than $300 billion by 2025?
With businesses recognizing the importance of online presence, the demand for digital marketing services is going to be massive.
Being a freelance digital marketer you have the freedom to work with a diverse range of clients and choose projects that match your strength and interests.
And here the question arises, Who is a freelance digital marketer? What do they do ? How freelancers earn? How to become and grow as a digital marketing freelancer? & it continues…
Good news for you!
In this guide we’ll cover everything you need to know to start your career as a freelance digital marketer.
So whether you are a new marketer or a student who wants to build their exciting career as a freelancer, let’s dive in and explore the world of freelance digital marketing together!
Digital marketing freelancers are the professionals who provide their digital marketing services to their clients as a contractor, not as an employee. Clients can be solopreneurs, businesses, organizations, or agencies.
Freelancers help their clients to promote their products and services and increase their brand awareness and revenue through different digital marketing services like writing, SEO, social media marketing, emails, etc.
Let me break this term for you. Freelance digital marketing isn’t anything complicated to understand as it sounds.
Digital marketing freelancer has two terms - digital marketing and freelancer.
Digital marketing is promoting products and services over the internet.
Freelancer is an independent contractor who offers their marketing services and generates income as per service delivered.
With the clear understanding of the above terms, I'm certain that you get the point of who is a digital marketing freelancer.
As a freelance marketer your main goal is to help your clients to grow their online presence and and achieve their target objectives.
But what exactly does it entail?
The services freelancers provide depends upon the project you’ll work but here are the most common and demanding services freelance digital marketer provides:
90% of firms and marketers are investing in content marketing, and 83% are increasing their budget for content marketing.
It’s clear to see that content marketing plays an important role in overall digital marketing and is an in-demand service.
Content marketing includes:
As a SEO service provider your main responsibility is to improve website’s visibility and drive traffic to it.
SEO service involves a variety of tasks , including:
As a social media marketer, you use social media platforms such as instagram, facebook, linkedIn, twitter to connect with their client’s target audience, increase awareness, and drive sales.
Social media marketing service includes:
As a freelance digital marketer you’ll be able to create email marketing campaigns for your clients to promote product or services or content.
email marketing service includes:
PPC (pay per click) is an online marketing form where businesses pay only after someone clicks on one of their ads.
As a marketer you’ll have to develop online advertising campaigns to reach highly targeted audiences.
PPC service includes:
These are just a few of the digital marketing services but there is a wide verity of services you can provide as a freelance digital marketer.
Resources to learn more:
Digital marketing course (By SkillCamper)
This is the most common question to those thinking of making a career switch.
The answer is it depends. Freelancing income depends on the industry, your service value, and the years of experience you have.
However some skills are more lucrative than others - Email marketing, performance marketing, and paid advertising tend to command higher fees.
There are certain industries too that pay more than others - Finance, Blockchain, travel, digital marketing, Technology writing, and education.
According to a recent PayPal survey, freelancers in India make an average salary of Rs 19 lakh.
The survey breaks it down further:
Something you need to understand is that there is no standard rate in freelancing.
Each freelancer earns a different amount. It totally depends on what you do and how you do.
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.
Here is the step by step process to follow to become a freelance digital marketer.
How to find a niche?
Choose a niche with IDE formula. I - Interest D- Demand E- Earning potential
Choose something that you are most interested in that is highly in demand and has a good earning potential.
One thing you need to know is that choosing a specific niche is very important. Do not try to reach a big set of audiences just for the sake of building up your portfolio.
Otherwise you’ll end up being jack of all trades, a master of none.
When it comes to freelancing in digital marketing, there are unlimited opportunities and niches to explore which are high in demand and have the potential to make more money. These includes:
It’s also important to not base your decision solely on the present scenario. Keep an eye on the future trends too.
Also your choice is not set in stone, you can always have the option to experiment with different niches.
Ideal client is a customer that will most likely get the benefits from your services. They should have a problem or need that your service can solve and be willing to pay for your service.
Picking an ideal client will help you to tailor your service according to their needs and preferences which will ultimately increase customer satisfaction.
For example if you are a content writer you should decide an industry you’ll be writing for. It can be travel, health care, beauty, finance, technology etc.
Remember, when picking an industry to work with, consider conducting market research, understanding goals, target audience, and competition.
As a freelance digital marketer, having an online presence is cherry on the cake. Having a strong online presence helps you build your personal brand, establish your credibility and open unlimited opportunities.
As a digital marketer you are expected to know how to create and maintain a strong online presence. It will make it easy for the clients to check and draw conclusions for you and reach out to you anytime.
You can choose any social media platform or website to showcase your services. Make sure to give your best shot here.
By investing time and effort into building your online presence you can set yourself as a successful freelance marketer.
Every client wants proof of your skill and expertise, even if you are a beginner. When you reach out to your client the very first thing they see is your work.
But before moving ahead, what is a portfolio?
Portfolio is a collection of samples of your work you create to showcase your skill and abilities.
For example you started as a freelance content writer so before you pitch clients for your service you need to build some samples to showcase your work.
You can create your own website and write some articles and share it with clients. On this basis the client will decide whether or not you are the right fit for their needs.
The most important thing is that building and maintaining a portfolio is an ongoing process. You keep updating it with your new work, testimonials, and case studies.
For this you can either build a website or use canva for premade portfolio templates.
The next step to become a professional freelance digital marketer is to decide your charges or rates.
Now the important question is- How much we can charge?
So let’s understand the criteria to set rates for your services.
You can charge on the following basis:
Or a combination of above all
There is no industry rate so you can set charges according to how demanding your service is, how much time you invest, and client’s need for your service.
As a beginner the rate can be low but with every 3 - 4 projects you can update your portfolio and increase your rates.
So now you are ready with your niche and sample work (portfolio) the next step is to promote your services through social media or cold emailing or by networking with fellow freelancers.
The best way to promote your services as a freelancer is by creating informative content which not only showcases your services or skills but also helps your target audience to get valuable insights from you.
You can also provide free consultation to your potential clients to demonstrate your expertise.
Take the advantage of the above ways and get ready to skyrocket your business as a freelancer.
As I mentioned, once you create an online presence and start creating content related to your skill or promote your business there is a high chance of attracting potential clients. This method where we wait for our clients to reach out to us is called inbound marketing.
But as a beginner it is always best to do your client research and reach out to them first by pointing out what they are missing out on and how your service can help them.
This is called outbound marketing where you reach out to your clients.
Here are 3 ways to reach out your clients:
With consistency I am sure you’ll get your first client in just a few days :)
Client’s review in your portfolio plays a very important role. Potential clients will check and read past reviews so they need to be authentic and transparent.
Quick tip - You don't need to wait until a job is completed to ask the client for feedback. When you believe they are pleased with your efforts and outcomes, get a review from them and post it on your website.
Resources to learn more:
Different types of digital marketing
Because the world of digital marketing is always evolving, it's important to never stop learning and developing new skills. Keep upgrading yourself with reading blogs, attending workshops, events, and online courses.
Nowadays It's simple to become sidetracked and lose track of time when working.
Having effective time management skills is essential for success. This includes establishing reasonable deadlines, developing a work plan, and staying focused while working.
If you're giving your clients great outcomes, don't be scared to ask for additional money. Running a successful freelancing business requires regularly reviewing and modifying your charges.
To prevent burnout, it's necessary to take frequent pauses while working as a freelancer because the work might be demanding. You may maintain your energy and freshness by scheduling time off and taking frequent, brief breaks.
Never stop learning and experimenting; take it step-by-step and build your confidence by working with different clients at your own comfort.
You are not going to regret choosing to work in the interesting field of digital marketing.
So now I hope you are ready to take the plunge?
If yes, start by learning more about digital marketing with the Digital marketing workshop offered by SkillCamper.
See you on the other side!
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Job winning interview questions and answers for beginners
Written by
SkillCamper
SkillCamper is a revolutionary skilling platform offered to you by GoSeeko, designed to help you learn future and demanding domains in the digital world. Our Bootcamp-style courses give a thorough learning experience in topics like Digital Marketing, Data Science, and Full Stack Development.
