Advice please- anyone know how to move into Digital Marketing?

[Flawedperfection]

Hello all,

I’ll try to get to the point! I am late 30s, have a film and photography degree, teaching degree and lots of little IT qualifications (basic level).
I currently work in care, which has been lovely in some ways but NEVER what I intended for myself. I am compassionate but squeamish. Fulfilling job but I always wished to be creative, but wasn’t sure how or more importantly, how to make the move into it.

I worked as a private tutor up until Covid and have been in care ever since, and I need to start to make plans or I might never get out (no offence intended but I don’t want to do this for much longer- I don’t want to hurt my back more than I have done already etc). I have also worked in photography (before I taught for nearly 15 years).

Could anyone please be honest with me regarding what I have to do to make a career in Digital Marketing, please? Any good training courses? What could I earn in an entry level position? Am I likely to get hired at my age in this sector? Will I be able to increase my earning potential swiftly?

Basically, is it realistic to make a move into this sector; is it really as easy as people make it out to be? Thanks 🙏

It's totally realistic. Look at the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) for qualifications that are well-regarded. Their website will tell you which level you would need to start at. Lots of people work in marketing having come from a wide variety of career backgrounds.

You should have a think about what area of marketing you want to do - consumer or B2B. Consumer is more creative and fun, but very competitive. B2B can be very well paid, especially if you go into financial services, City-type corporates.

Thanks, @MissSueFlay!

Has anyone here made the move over to this type l job without experience?

• of

I've been in digital marketing for 15+ years, currently in IT. I started at £12K and got to £25K in 3 years, and then significantly further up after that. In the absence of relevant work experience you need to build a credible portfolio of work - this can be as a volunteer for a charity or a local sports club or a school for example. Once you've done that, you can apply for salaried junior positions. The difficulty of a career change at your age is the inevitable significant drop in salary initially. I would do digital marketing as a freelancer as a side job until you're confident you can make a living out of it. It's definitely possible with determination and hard work. Lots of good courses online so you can study and work in the evenings and on weekends in your free time. Your age is not an issue in my view / experience.

I did the Google course - Squared Online - after a pretty random background in editing, proofreading, TEFL teaching, and raising kids. It was good but the best thing was that it gave me a boost and helped get over imposter syndrome (a bit, I mean, I still have it!).
Getting experience is a really good tip, it's easy to freelance and lots of opportunities. Use your network and do networking. I know, but it is worth it!

Look into apprenticeships too.

I moved into Digital Marketing approx. 5 years ago without experience. I was lucky to be recommended by a previous colleague, but my connection was that I had worked with agencies in my previous role and had a bit of an understanding of PPC. I quickly worked my way up.

I work for a DM agency and I would suggest taking the route of applying to DM agencies for account exec. roles where your skills would transfer.

Short term, get your head around Google Analytics. You can also get the Google Ads qualification online through Google - think it’s free (or maybe you just pay for the certificate). There’s a wealth of info on SEO online that will give you a good level of knowledge and might help your confidence. Longer term you can look at CIM, but it isn’t critical. May help to fast track you though.

Most people I work with (a big London Agency) came in without qualifications and learned on the job. It’s a fast moving industry so you’re always learning anyway.

You can easily do it. Good luck!

Account execs in my agency earn 21- 24K but these are usually young graduates.
You could probably go for an account manager which is prob circa £27K.

Looking at your skills I would apply for a creative role within a Digital M agency. Once you’re in you can develop your skills and move into a Digital team.

I’ve been in digital marketing for 10 years too. Most execs are grads with degrees in marketing starting in low salaries 18-21k and it is a competitive industry particularly if you want to work in a media agency.

Where are you based? The most jobs are in London but there are decent hubs in Manchester and a few other cities. Obviously you can also work remotely for some roles.

Any idea what area of digital marketing you’re interested in? Social media and programmatic display and video have exploded in the last 5-10 years. I personally find those more interesting then search (paid or organic) or email but you may feel differently.

Google quals can be done for free online. So can Facebook blueprint I believe. You also need decent excel skills and maths is a pretty big part of the role (calculating CPMs etc). Progression can be very fast when you have your foot in the door.

I have been in digital marketing for 5 years with no prior experience. Google Garage have lots of free courses but I agree CIM qualification would stand you in good stead.
Also Group M have apprenticeships.
Also LinkedIn to keep you up to speed on new technology, industry changes & opportunities
Good luck 🍀

Fur paid training the IPA is good but 250 quid isn’t cheap and most agencies will pay for you to do it while you’re employed: ipa.co.uk/courses-qualifications/foundation-certificate-global

Digital marketing is in high demand and there aren’t enough people to fill that demand currently, so I’d say it’s worth going for it.

You would need a portfolio though so I would advise finding work on the side to start - do you know anyone starting a business? Needing a website? Advertising etc, do an online digital marketing course there are many and they don’t cost a lot, see how you get on and if you like it once you have built a small portfolio you could start applying for an entry level role if you find something, again see how you get on.

If you enjoy it longer term you could study for a CIM qualification, you may even find an employer that could sponsor this.

Make sure you are on LinkedIn and your profile is good. It’s lots of work and can be very stressful but same as any job I guess. Good Luck!

@mug2018

I have been in digital marketing for 5 years with no prior experience. Google Garage have lots of free courses but I agree CIM qualification would stand you in good stead. Also Group M have apprenticeships. Also LinkedIn to keep you up to speed on new technology, industry changes & opportunities Good luck 🍀

Did you do a CIM qualification to get a foot in the door?

I work in marketing, funnily enough for a photography company. I managed to work my way up in the company from sales assistant and have no formal marketing qualifications.

I think we all need to be a little bit honest here and say that "digital marketing" is a pretty broad and vague term. For example, most of my job involves brand collaboration, event management, project management, some shit-hot PR skills, and editorial, such as content writing for the website. it's mostly a very fun and rewarding job.

However, i decided to do a course a few years ago in digital marketing and was quite shocked at how corporate it was, very data driven and dry as hell. I lasted less than a week.

I've since started learning more about SEO and copywriting which is the more analytical side of marketing which ties in nicely with my current skills.

What i'm trying to say here is there are different areas of marketing you can go into so it might be worth writing down the parts of this you enjoy more and maybe draw up a list of companies you might like to work with and reach out to them. If you can do a week work experience that might help a lot (hard when you're older i realise.)

I recommend creating your own experience start a blog TikTok or Instagram about a passion of yours, analyse your own analytics and trends and this will give you experience to talk about.

some councils do have apprenticeships which are paid higher than a normal apprenticeship.

linkedin is a good place to start as well and join the Facebook group pretty little marketers

Hey there! Your journey in marketing sounds incredible, especially rising from a sales assistant to your current role in a photography company without formal qualifications. It's inspiring to see your diverse skill set, from brand collaboration to project management and PR wizardry. Your honesty about the corporate side of digital marketing resonates, and it's fantastic that you found your groove in SEO and copywriting.
Your advice about exploring different areas of marketing and reaching out to preferred companies is spot-on. Your unique journey is a testament to the varied opportunities within the field. And hey, age is just a number – work experience is valuable at any stage. Keep shining in your rewarding role, and thanks for sharing your positive insights! But personally, I found my way into crowd marketing here. And here I realized that I could realize my potential.