Your favorite shoes, TV shows, music, and websites have one thing in common: They use digital marketers to help people like you find them and fall in love. It can inspire anyone to become a digital marketing freelancer and help more companies and people find their perfect fit. It’s a fun and dynamic job, and you get to experience new things regularly.

Let’s say you’re the type of person who likes to build things, experience a new adventure, or work on multiple projects at once. In that case, it may be time for you to consider becoming a freelance digital marketer. We’ve put together this review to help explain to you how to find great clients for jobs, and freelancing, and to help you get started.

In this article, We will Talk about 

  • What is a digital marketing freelancer?

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of Freelance Digital Marketing?

  • How Much Do Freelance Digital Marketers Earn?

  • What are the different digital marketing jobs you can do?

  • How to get started as a Digital Marketing Freelancer?

  • How to find and communicate with your customers?

What is a Digital Marketing Freelancer?

A digital marketing freelancer is any digital marketer who runs his own business to help clients. The category is broad, so it can include all types of marketing that are common today. Digital marketers often wear multiple hats, and some of their most common activities include: Writing copy for blogs, web pages, and social media

  • Website design and help
  • Managing social media accounts and communities
  • Creating ads with copy and visuals
  • Designing visuals such as infographics
  • Video making and editing
  • Organize a webinar or run a podcast
  • Running ad campaigns and managing ad budgets
  • Developing a campaign and marketing strategy for your customers
  • Emailing your client’s customers and managing an email marketing campaign
  • Generating and qualifying leads
  • Onboarding new clients and managing client meetings

The day-to-day work of any given digital marketing freelancer can be completely different. Some freelance digital marketing professionals and digital media consultants focus on building a brand strategy. Others can work with in-house teams to create ads that are part of those campaigns. Most digital marketers work with customers on a daily basis and communicate regularly. Some may specialize in specific areas – such as writing and market research – where negotiations take place only a few times a week.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Freelance Digital Marketing?

Freelance digital marketers and professionals have many options and specific areas of expertise they can pursue within their line of work. This abundance of options means you can have extensive experience if you decide to become a digital marketer.It is smart to consider the advantages and disadvantages of joining this field as an independent professional.

Here are the topmost independent marketers we talked to who shared with us.

Advantages:

  • Ability to work from anywhere and travel or change the location at any time. While COVID has made work from home temporary for some marketers, freelancers always have this option, thanks to the nature of digital technologies.
  • You can choose the job you want. Job services like Upwork give you access to many different digital marketing clients with their own needs. You choose the types of jobs, industries, and companies you want to work with.
  • Work the number of hours you want until you hit the deadline.
  • Use the tools and equipment you have and like.
  • You can rely on other freelancers as needed for assistance or expertise, enabling you to learn as you complete the job.
  • One can get more immediate payments when you use the services that escrow provides.
  • Can work with clients anywhere. This gives you access to major markets and large corporations outside the area where you live, potentially enabling you to charge higher rates for your work.

Disadvantages:

  • You are also running your own business, so there are tax filings, licenses and other things you may need.
  • Invoicing, customer management, social, and your own advertising should still happen, but you can’t bill these hours.
  • You only get paid for what you do. With some projects, sick days or weeks will mean your revenue fluctuates.
  • Paid time off, insurance and other benefits should be paid entirely by you.
  • Some find the ongoing hunt stressful for customers.

Becoming a freelancer can be a challenge. Thankfully, there are many opportunities to partner with others in your community. Local and online groups, job board forums, and national organizations can all help you find other freelancers who can answer your questions, offer business suggestions, or otherwise help you deal with the challenges you face.

How Much Do Freelance Digital Marketers Earn?

Remember that big and varied list of skills you saw earlier? This range of skills within a career means that freelance digital marketers can earn in an entirely different way. According to ZipRecruiter, the U.S. The annual income of these independent professionals in the U.S. is between $22,500 and $127,000. The national average is about $69,000 per year or about $33 per hour.

The more specialized you are, the more you can charge for your services. Focusing on high-impact areas, such as managing large campaigns for enterprises or learning AI tools to create marketing analytics, can also help.

What are the different digital marketing jobs you can do?

While many skills and tasks are required for digital marketers, a quick look at the jobs available shows a concentration in certain areas. So, let’s take a look at the five most popular areas for freelancers today.

Facebook and Instagram Ads

Facebook has Instagram, so ads on both channels can be managed through the same account in Facebook’s Ads Manager. Many small businesses advertise and find customers solely through social media, making expertise a big attraction here. Small and medium-sized businesses often need more freelancers than full-time employees, so mastering advertising campaigns on these platforms can help you find a wide variety of companies to work with.

SEO Consulting

Search engines drive significant traffic to businesses, and that means they drive sales, too. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work takes place on a website and the pages of that site follow current best practices to help it perform better for user searches. Unlike paid ads, organic ranking can help any business.

Chatbot and Customer Service

Chatbots are a growing customer service tool as they can now be easily integrated with websites and even Facebook accounts. You may have chatted with someone through Facebook Messenger who was actually a chatbot. Business owners often need assistance with these tools, from installation and making answers to customizing them for sale. New professionals can get a lot of work done with multiple chat-like platforms.

Sales funnel and landing page

Digital marketers must master the art of selling online. In most cases, this means reaching out to the customer again and again and creating the website pages that visitors need to make a purchase. The overall process of interacting with people and making them buy through advertisements, emails, and website content is called a sales funnel. Landing pages are specific pages that people reach that are designed to close the deal. Marketers create both of these to help businesses flourish.

PPC and Google Ads

Pay-per-click advertising is a type of advertising model where you place ads with sites, especially search engines, and pay the publisher when someone clicks on the ad. PPC campaigns can either cost the same or require you to bid around keywords. The most prominent PPC network is Google Ads. It’s easy to run and works on almost all ad campaign tools, making it one of the more common tools for marketers creating and running search ad campaigns.

A quick note is that Google’s advertising program was initially named AdWords in 2000. Even though this “Google Ads” branding was moved to 2018, many customers will still ask AdWords for help.

How to get started as a Digital Marketing Freelancer?

Digital marketers are in high demand and freelancing can be a smart entry point, but you need to take on the daunting task of getting your services to companies. On the bright side, you don’t need to interact with HR and go through interviews, you just need to communicate with a team manager who is looking for specific help. There are a few simple steps you can take to start the process and make yourself a desirable option for companies.

Here are seven things to know and do so that you can get started as a freelance digital marketer.

Take a Course to Study What’s New

There are many digital marketing courses available. Some come from small digital marketers and freelancers themselves while others are provided by universities and top marketing agencies. Look for classes that can teach you about the many different options and that show when they last updated their content. Information from a few years ago may already be out of date and may not be relevant to you. For example, if you take a course on a specific product, you should be taught the latest version so that you understand how it works. Certifications from well-known groups can go a long way in giving a customer confidence that they can do the work they need.

Determine Your Skills

After studying and knowing the many different possible functions of digital marketing, give them a try. Your research can give you an overview of the skills. If so, run through tests and programs to see where you excel. If not, create your own tests. Thankfully, there are tons of free tools for things like social media management, and most advertising platforms will give you a little bit of free credit for trying out their systems. See where you did well, through tests, tests, and asking colleagues and teachers to see what you’ve built. List skills that others have admired.

Now, make a separate list of tasks and skills that you enjoyed. When a certain skill overlaps both categories, highlight it and add it to a new list of services you can offer.

Choose Your Specialization

The new list will tell you where you can be successful, as digital marketing requires both technical knowledge and a passion for the job. Focusing on the areas you love and having enough skills can turn freelancing into a long-term career that you enjoy. This keeps all of the previously mentioned “pros” available to you and reduces the stress that the “cons” will put on you. Expertise also underpins your work. You’ll get some skills to practice and learn to narrow your search around these items. When companies interview you, you’ll know what to focus on and demonstrate. This focus keeps you from learning and trying it all, or from looking for jobs that aren’t a good fit.

Get expert help for ongoing support

Freelancers often can’t get on-the-job training or ask a manager. However, you can find many mentors online. Groups on LinkedIn that focus on digital marketing, forums, Reddit, and local community businesses are often geared toward helping beginners learn the ropes and avoid mistakes. Start building a community of people who do similar things to you so that you have people to ask. When a client asks for something new or a specific tool isn’t working for the job, it can make a huge difference.

Freelancers should also look for consultants who know how to run a business. You may be faced with questions such as contacting customers, managing time, paying taxes, and other questions specific to where you live and work. A wider community can help you find the right answers or contact a professional who can solve the problem and keep your business in good standing.

Follow blogs that focus on your specialty

Digital marketing practices change regularly. There is always a new platform update or social media channel ready to tap. Search engines change how they rank websites, and some ads become too familiar to be successful. The way you consume media is different now than it was five years ago, and so is all the marketing surrounding that media. Experts in the field address this by doing two things: they create blogs and they follow other professional blogs about their specialty. Blogs have become areas to showcase expertise and discuss the latest trends.

Reading blogs regularly can help you stay on top of changes and discover new opportunities.

Create Your Profile

Once your mind is full, it’s time to start using that knowledge. Build your freelance portfolio and profile to showcase who you are and what you have to offer. Tell a story about your skills and highlight the work you’ve done. If you haven’t reached that first job, use things made for school and online courses, or create something new to showcase your abilities.

You can also look to other marketers to see how they interpret skills and offers. You’ll see what works and what you don’t. Plus, you can browse jobs at the same time and make sure that your profile mentions the skills and software you see as being most preferred by customers.

Start applying for entry-level jobs

After improving your skills, you have ongoing lesson plans, and a profile ready, it’s time to start applying for jobs. Use job boards, LinkedIn, and word of mouth to let people know that you are offering digital marketing services. Look for companies that create job posts and apply to them. Respond to requests with information, samples, and personal notes. Don’t use the standard answer for everyone! You’ll want to customize every pitch and response. It builds trust and helps people understand you better. It may take some effort, but soon you will find the right place to start your new career.

How to find and communicate with your customers?

Communication is your main skill when it comes to finding clients and ensuring jobs. Digital marketing requires constant work with customers to understand their business and audience, especially when you are new. You want to learn about people, build personalities, find the best channels and times to do outreach and know who your customers see as their most profitable customers. For this, you need to talk, ask questions and listen One of the best places to do this is on the system that manages your tasks and contracts. While you can communicate through things like email and Slack, messages can often get buried and it’s easy to miss deadlines, changes, or other contractual requirements. Visiting a freelance job page and then using the same site for everything else will help you avoid confusion or missed communication when starting your career. There are also built-in opportunities for feedback, which makes it one of the best tools for digital beginners.

 

Becoming a freelancer in the online marketing industry is a great experience. Digital marketers can choose what tasks to take on and it’s a job you’ll never get bored of. On the other hand, it is not a profession for everyone. To work as a freelancer you must be motivated and have a high level of confidence. When your life and family depend on it, it can quickly become a very stressful task.

The best way to boost your confidence is to build your skills first. To provide digital marketing services to clients, you need to be an expert in many areas. It won’t happen from day one, but it’s something you can build on by learning and practicing. Once you think you know how digital marketing works, and have a few success stories in your portfolio then you can relax and enjoy the ride. The demand for digital marketing consultants is increasing and it can only increase in the next years. Take it step by step, build your portfolio slowly, and never stop learning and experimenting. Digital marketing is an exciting industry and you will never regret it.