How to Be an Internet Marketer

Co-authored by Janet Peischel

Last Updated: March 10, 2023 References

It's never been more important to capture online users, and as a result, a lot of companies are outsourcing their digital campaigns to internet marketers. If this sounds like the career for you, we'll walk you through the education and skills you'll need to get started!

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

First Steps

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Decide if marketing is a career fit for you. Consider taking a personality test, which will reveal your preferences. A test similar to the popular Myers-Briggs test can be found at 16personalities, and there are many others. This test will reveal your work preferences. See how of your preferences match the skills needed to be an Internet marketer.^{[1]
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- Marketing is the process of getting attention and generating interest for a product or service. Marketers spend a lot of time communicating with people about their needs and preferences. A marketer thinks about how they can meet those customer needs.
- Professionals in marketing come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many marketers earn a college degree in business or marketing. However, the marketing field also requires graphic artists, writers and programmers.
- Marketing requires creativity. That creativity can come in many forms. Graphic designers put together visual presentations to attract customers. Writers create content that is designed to engage the reader and keep them interested. A programmer writes code to create a web page that is easy to navigate. Regardless of your marketing role, you need to think creatively.
EXPERT TIP

Emily Hickey, MS
Marketing Consultant & Master's Degree, Business, Stanford University
Emily Hickey is the Founder of Chief Detective, a social media growth agency that helps some of the world’s top retailers and start-ups scale their Facebook and Instagram advertising. She has worked as a growth expert for over 20 years and received her Master’s from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2006.

Emily Hickey, MS
Marketing Consultant & Master's Degree, Business, Stanford University

You need to be able to use data to build a big picture. Emily Hickey is the owner of Chief Directive, a social media growth agency. She says: "The people who are good at internet marketing are really data-driven. You have to really enjoy using the data you're getting to make good decisions."
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Learn about the components of the Internet marketing profession. Internet marketing requires a variety of tasks. To decide which areas are a good fit for you, find resources to learn about each task. Fortunately, there many free resources you can access.^{[2]
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- A majority of Internet use now takes place on mobile devices. It’s critical for a marketer to understand how a website looks on mobile. Users want a site that is simple and easy to navigate on mobile.
- Google has put an increased focus on good content. If you consistently post useful content, your site will move up in Google search results. Knowledge about content marketing is become more important for Internet marketers.
- Your degree program will provide a base of marketing knowledge. Business, graphic design and technology degrees all include marketing as part of the curriculum. Your college courses provide a good starting point.
- Read blogs and articles and educate yourself about the industry. Search Engine Land and Marketing Land are two excellent websites for Internet marketing. You can subscribe to these sites to stay on top of the industry. You can also perform a web search to find other current topics on Internet marketing
- You can find a You Tube video that explains just about any task you perform as an Internet marketer. Keep a list with the You Tube links that you find the most useful. You can refer back to those videos when you need a refresher.
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Build your skills through education and your portfolio of work. Once your have an overview of the profession, you can decide on the right type of college degree for your marketing career. You can also start to build a portfolio of work from school and internships.^{[3]
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- Many marketers get a marketing degree through their school’s business department. Other successful Internet marketers have degrees in communications, graphic design or IT. Because this field requires several different types of skills, you can enter the field with each of these degrees.
- It’s important to build an online portfolio that displays your work as an Internet marketer. Most people have a website with links to work they have performed. When a potential client is interested in you, they can review your website to find out what you’ve done in the field.
- Your portfolio can have still photos of web pages you have built for clients. You can also provide links to client pages and testimonials from your customers.
- Make sure that you have a complete and current LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn may be the first place a potential employer visits to find out more about you. Fill out your LinkedIn profile completely and connect with people you know.
- Start to think about taking on projects as a freelancer. You can find projects on large employment sites like Monster.com. If you simply search the web using “freelance Internet marketing jobs”, you’ll find job boards that are updated weekly. Craigslist is also a great source for freelance work.
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Take on a small project to build your skills. Whether you plan on interviewing for a marketing job, or decide to become a freelancer, you need some experience. Consider taking on a small project to apply your marketing knowledge.
- You may handle all of the components of an Internet marketing project, or only a portion of the work. In many cases, freelancer marketers collaborate with other professionals. If you’re just starting out, you may complete a portion of an Internet marketing project.
- There are many entities that need Internet marketing, but only budget a small amount for the work. If you’re willing to volunteer or offer a discounted rate, you can find projects. Non-profit entities and political campaigns need marketing help, but don’t have much money budgeted for the work. These types of organization may present an opportunity for you.
- Ask the company if you can include the work in your professional portfolio. You need to build a portfolio of work to interview for jobs or to do find freelance work.
- Say, for example, that you design the layout for a website. You can include still photos and a link to the site you created in your portfolio. Most marketing professionals have a personal website to display their work and promote their skills.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Finding Work As A Marketer

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Select the Internet marketing skills you will use in your work. Whether you’re interviewing for a job or looking for freelance work, you need to decide what skills you will offer. Consider the components of an Internet marketing campaign and decide which tasks you will perform.^{[4]
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- Decide on a writing or communication focus for your work. Content marketing is becoming a critical way to market online. If a website can post interesting blogs and articles, they can drive traffic and attract business. You may decide to specialize in writing great content. You can also apply your writing skills to text on a web page and to sales materials.
- Some marketers focus on the advertising component of Internet marketing. You can focus on the keywords and phrases that entice people to click on an ad. You can also help clients with search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of changing a website’s content to increase the site’s ranking in a search result. These marketers also help clients build links between pages and websites.^{[5]
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  Expert Source
  
  Janet Peischel
  Digital Media Expert
  Expert Interview. 30 March 2021.}
- If you have a programming emphasis, you can write code to make a website’s navigation simply and easy to use. Programmers use code to improve the functionality of websites.
- You may decide to learn all of these roles and manage the entire Internet marketing process. This approach requires management skills, so you have the ability to keep an Internet marketing campaign on track.
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Focus on social media marketing. Consumers spend an increasing amount of time on social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. You can help your clients reach their target audience through social media marketing.^{[6]
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- Make sure that you understand all of the potential marketing opportunities on LinkedIn. All of your customer’s key employees should have complete profiles on LinkedIn. Those managers should also post articles and blog links to the site frequently. People use LinkedIn to network, find business and also look for jobs. Use your marketing knowledge to ensure that your clients have a presence on LinkedIn.
- Set up an attractive Twitter page for your clients. Post to the firm’s Twitter account frequently, using links to blogs and articles. Make sure that your client understands how to use hash tags to reference topics.
- You can help clients create an effective Facebook page. Facebook allows you to post more text, pictures and graphics that Twitter.
- As your customers post on social media, you need to ensure that prospects and customers can easily click through to the company website. Make sure that all the social media sites make it easy for customers to get to the firm’s website.
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Look for a job in the field. Use all of your available resources to find an Internet marketing job that interests you. Access your school’s placement office and your personal network to find job postings.^{[7]
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- If you’re earning a college degree, ask your college placement office for help. They can tell you the types of jobs graduates are finding in your particular field. The placement office may have potential employers visit your campus.
- Contact people in your personal network and find out about their business contacts. Look for individuals who work in the marketing field. Your network can refer to you into companies that may be interviewing for marketers. You can also find a mentor to help you consider jobs in the marketing field.
- Perform a search for Internet marketing jobs on the web. You can search for jobs in the specific marketing fields you prefer. In today’s job market, employers increasingly use the Internet to find qualified candidates. While you will face a large number of other job candidates, searching for jobs on the web can pay off.
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Prepare for your interview. Your interview may be for a full-time job or for work with a new freelance client. In both cases, you need to prepare for your interview.^{[8]
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- Learn everything you can about the firm and its marketing needs. If possible, find someone in your network that knows about the firm. Perform Internet research about the company.
- Put together an effective portfolio of your work. In most cases, your portfolio will be on your personal website. Send the interviewer a link to your personal website before the meeting. Be prepared to talk about your prior work.
- Explain how your marketing skills can solve problems for your client. Read the company’s job requirements carefully. Connect your skill set to the outcomes the employer wants. For example, you may explain how you can put together great content to build website traffic. Explain how the additional traffic can increase sales and profits.