5 Ways to Give Your Digital Marketing Career a Boost

5 Ways to Give Your Digital Marketing Career a Boost Digital marketing is a relatively new industry, which means there is little in the way of uniform, established methods for improving your digital marketing career.In general, thats the case for any career in any field. Our careers depend on our individual personalities and capabilities. They develop at different paces according to a wide range offactors, some within our control and some bedrngnis.That said, there are a few golden rules you should keep in mind when pursuing a digital marketing career, no matter who you are1. Improve Your SkillsContinuouslyIf you wantcustomers or employers to choose you over your competitors, you need to prove you know what youre doing. This is why you need to keep improving your skills over time.One great way to do that is to invest in earning the right certifications. Apart from boosting your knowledge, these certifications will also help you position yourself as an authority in the field. Here are a few popular courses you should check outHubSpots Inbound Marketing CertificationHubSpots Content Marketing CertificationHubSpots Contextual Marketing CertificationHootsuites Social Marketing CertificationGoogle AnalyticsIndividual QualificationGoogle AdWords FundamentalsContent Marketing Institutes Online Certification2. Become a T-Shaped MarketerDigital marketing is a massive field. Search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), copywriting, content development, and social media marketing are just some of its major branches. Becoming an expert in each of these fields is impossible, but you can become a T-shaped marketersomeone who has a general knowledge of multiple marketing disciplines butspecializes in one or two fields.Lets say you enjoy creative writing and conducting studies. In that case, the role of a content marketer is perfect for you. Youshould have some basic knowledge of link building, social media marketing, and influencer r esearch, but your mainspecialization would beproducing valuable, engaging, and informative content that stands out.3. Stay on Top of Industry TrendsDigital marketing evolvesquickly, and if you dont keep pace, you will lag behind your competitors.To stay on top of the latest news and developments, you should follow authoritative digital marketing sites, such asSearch Engine LandSearch Engine JournalContent Marketing InstituteDigital Marketing InstituteDistilledHubSpot4. Track Your MetricsLets say youre running a PPC campaign for one of your clients. If your digital marketing team doesnt include a data analyst, you need to keep track of your metrics yourself. This is important for acouple of reasons.First, your clients want you to assess the effectiveness of your strategy and calculate the ROI for their campaigns. Second, by setting clear PPC benchmarks, you will be able to identify and address weaknesses in your strategy.In short, to achieve the desired goals, you need to understand your metrics. If youre not sure which ones to track and how, take a look at the courses provided by Google Analytics or HubSpot.5. Build a Solid Personal BrandOnce you enter the digital marketing field, you need to find a way to rise above the competition. One of the most effective ways to do so is to brand yourself.The first step in branding yourself is polishing your LinkedIn profile. As the main professional social network, LinkedIn allows you to get yourself noticed. It can even serve as your online resume, given that thousands of companies use the site to find candidates.To reap the benefits of your LinkedIn profile, you shouldChoose a professional-looking profile photoWrite an attention-grabbing summaryList the skills relevant to your digital marketing career, and make sure you get plenty of endorsements to boost your credibilityDont limit yourself to connecting with people you know build relationships with new connections who workin niches related to your ownEngage your follo wers by sharing relevant content, as well as liking andcommenting on their activities.Having a killer LinkedIn profile is a necessity, but its not enough on its own to build a personal brand that stands out. Simply put, all LinkedIn accounts look alike, so you cant truly express your uniqueness on the platform. That is why, in addition to a great LinkedIn profile, you need an engaging personal website.Your siteis all about you. It lets you present yourself however you want, emphasizing your positive client experiences and proving your credibility withhigh-quality content. Most importantly, it will skyrocket your visibility in the search engine results pages. Precisely because of that, its always a good ideato use your personal name as your domain name. This way, your site willlikely be the first thingpeople find when they Google your name.While all of the above will help you stand out as a digital marketer, keep in mind that becoming a leader in the field requires along-term investm ent. To succeed, you need passion and commitment. Constantly improve your knowledge, keep track of trends, monitor your majorkey performance indicators, andbuild a solid personal brand. If you do those things, youll get ahead.David Webb is a business consultant, marketing analyst, and a writer. He is an editor-in-chief at BizzmarkBlog. You can reach him on Twitter or Facebook.