Being a freelance digital marketer in these days with AI is super interesting. You’ll have to be able to adapt to the many changes constantly.
I’ve had a lot of experience with SEO and worked with many marketers throughout my experience as a freelancer. So I’ll share my knowledge based on this.
Let’s get into it.
Key Takeaways
- Choose a niche to double down on SEO, SEM, email marketing etc.
- Find clients early in your career, as using your skillset will make you a better freelance digital marketer.
- Immerse yourself in your industry, listen to podcasts, and watch YouTube videos to improve your skillset.
What Is Freelance Digital Marketing?
Freelance digital marketing is a freelancer focusing on one or more areas within online marketing.
Areas to be an expert in could be:
- Email marketing
- Content marketing
- SEO
- SEM
- Marketing strategy
- Video Marketing
- Social media marketing
- Influencer marketing
These are the most common, and there are even more niched marketing areas.
As a freelance digital marketer, you have a set of clients you serve with your digital marketing skills.
For example, I have experience with SEO, so I’ve been helping clients with content research, content strategy, and feedback on whether their pages and posts are SEO-optimised or not.
As a digital marketing freelancer, you must adapt fast, as a fast-paced industry constantly changes.
With SEO, I’m constantly on the lookout for Google. Whenever Google makes changes, I need to stay on top of it.
The same if you’re focused on SEM. You always need to stay on top of Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. Whenever they release new ad features or change their algorithms, you need to know about them and develop a plan for your clients.
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What Does A Freelance Digital Marketer Do?
As a digital marketing freelancer, what you do solely depends on your niche within digital marketing.
I’ve collected the 5 most common niches that I’ll dive into and share what you do and what you can expect to do for your potential clients.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the industry I have the most experience with, next to search engine optimisation.
These 2 go hand in hand, but content marketing is the backbone of SEO, and you can easily separate the 2 niches.
With content marketing, your focus is on content, content strategy, and content marketing.
Your digital marketing service will consist of multiple elements, and you’ll often work together with other freelance marketers, such as an SEO expert.
You will often work closely with your potential clients to figure out what direction they want their content to go and what the tone of voice should be throughout all of their content.
You’ll often create content for:
- The website
- The blog
- Social media
- Newsletters and email flows
Helpful tip
If you have some basic knowledge of SEO, it’ll help a great deal in the content you create for the blog and the website, but it’s not a must-have skill.
Search Engine Optimisation
Now to the other niche within digital marketing services where I have my experience: SEO.
This is one of my favourite things to work with, and if you like to test techniques, are patient and like technical stuff without having to code, then you’ll love SEO as well.
As an SEO expert, you’ll work with anything from optimising content written by your or content creators to ensure it’s optimised for Google.
You’ll ensure the technical set-up for the entire website is working perfectly well. This means you’ll ensure heading tags are used correctly, your Google PageSpeed score is 90+, and you’re using schema correctly and much more.
If you don’t know any of the stuff just mentioned, don’t worry, you can easily learn this through online courses or through immersing yourself in the industry by listening to podcasts.
I’ve learned with SEO that there is so much knowledge out there for free. And if you want the expert stuff, you’ll have to find a course.
Here are my 2 favourite SEO podcasts:
They’re also both on YouTube if you prefer to watch them visually.
Social Media Marketing
Working with social media marketing for your potential clients is another exciting element of marketing.
You’ll have to work closely with other marketers to align your efforts.
You’ll often be using social media to promote campaigns, sharing tips in your client’s industry or even behind the scenes.
When creating digital marketing strategies, social media is the single most important thing to have a marketing strategy for.
If you just post random stuff throughout the week, your audience will get confused, and you won’t get the full benefit out of social media.
To be a social media expert, you must learn about the following social media:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Snapchat (Maybe)
Social media today is much more than just posting text. It’s all about video as well. And for this, you’ll work closely together with an expert in video marketing, or your client might want you to do it.
Another element of social media marketing is paid ads. Facebook is something that works very well for ads because of the many options to personalise the ads.
LinkedIn is a bit more expensive to advertise on.
TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube are brilliant places to advertise, but you must have some good video material.
So if you dive into social media marketing, remember both aspects: Paid advertisement & posting organically.
Search Engine Marketing (Paid Ads)
Search Engine Marketing is where you work with ads on Google itself, or Bing, for that matter.
This means you’ll be creating ads, maybe working together with a content creator for the content, and then creating ads which will be shown on Google.
Here is an example from Google.
So all these results when you search on Google marked as “Sponsored” are the ads you’re going to work with.
There are tons of digital marketing jobs for Paid ads specialists. To get started, it’s just essential you immerse yourself in the niche by watching courses and practising yourself.
When you go out and pursue clients for your digital marketing services, it’s essential you have something to show, and that’s why you need to practice.
Set up some digital marketing campaigns for a family member, or do it for your own website, and then track the results and how it’s going with the ads.
You can even create cases and write about them on your website and share it on social media to show your clients you know your stuff.
Video Marketing
This is one of the newer marketing niches, even though it’s not that new anymore.
Video marketing really immersed back in 2008, and it’s just exploded since then.
Today TikTok and Snapchat are social media purely made for video materials, you can also share images on Snapchat, but people want video.
Through video, you can feel the person, there is more trust, and the viewer doesn’t have to read to learn; they just have to listen.
There are so many benefits for the viewer, but it requires a lot of work for you to create the videos.
So when you want to start with video marketing, start your digital marketing career by creating videos yourself and practising endless times.
The more videos you create with small improvements, the better you’ll become, and you’ll automatically grow your online presence while doing it.
As a video marketer, you’ll often work with an SEM freelancer or even an SEO freelancer to ensure your video gets used as much as possible, supporting as many elements as possible.
Pros And Cons Of Being A Freelance Digital Marketer
There are definitely pros and cons to being a freelance digital marketer, and even with cons doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it. You just need to be aware of the cons, which help you in the long run.
Pros Of Being a Freelance Digital Marketer
Cons Of Being a Freelance Digital Marketer
Step-By-Step To Become A Freelance Digital Marketer
Now let’s look at it from a more generic point of view, how do you get started as a digital marketing manager, SEO expert or something else within marketing?
There are primarily 6 steps you need to take, and if you follow these, you’ll definitely have a higher chance of becoming a successful digital marketing consultant.
Establish Your Skillset
The first step to becoming a digital marketing specialist is choosing the area you want to work in. Is it SEO, SEM or email marketing?
Based on this skill set, your journey will then turn towards that skill set, and you’ll focus purely on that skill set.
It’s important not to learn all different skill sets as prospective clients want experts. They don’t want generalists.
Figure out what you think is fun. It’s okay to play around initially with social media platforms and content creation or pretend you’re a business owner and set up some ads.
When you’re through this testing phase, you’ll know what you find most intriguing, and then you can pursue that to become a digital marketing specialist.
Create A Showcase
When you’ve found the industry and niche you want to work in, then it’s time to create a showcase.
This is not a portfolio, it’s just a showcase of projects you’ve done over time, and it doesn’t have to be projects for prospective clients; it can easily be personal projects.
Potential clients just want to see results and what you’ve done in the past to ensure you know your stuff.
They don’t care about a beautiful website, even though it’s a bonus. They want to see results.
So go out and test your skill set, even for a very low hourly rate. If this means you get a client, you can work for who acquires some new skills or improve your current skills.
It’s just important you have a database of projects you can show. And for each project, write a little about where the project started, the plan, where you ended up and what you did to take the project to that successful end goal.
Find Your First Client
Now that you have chosen your skillset and created at least one showcase, it’s time to go out and find your first actual client. And by an actual client, I mean a client where you sell your services to clients at a level where you’re happy.
Go on Upwork, Worksome or other platforms to find clients, and you can also ask your network on social media or pursue clients yourself to find just the right client for you.
Helpful tip
You can pull a list of newly funded startups, look at their website or marketing profile, and then use your skillset to tell them how they can improve and how you would do it. They have money to burn, so they’ll most likely hire you.
It’s just essential you do everything you can to get that first client and don’t worry about rejection, and it’s part of your freelance business. Here are 9 tips on freelancing in general.
It’ll be tough initially, but as soon as you find that first client, the next clients will come much easier because you now have a track record.
Build A Portfolio
Do not build a portfolio until you have at least 3 clients. Otherwise, it’ll just look empty, and you want to be able to fill in good client cases in your portfolio.
I see so often freelancers building a portfolio as the first thing, but as clients want to see results and client cases, your portfolio without this content will not be very useful.
Use your LinkedIn or Upwork profile in the beginning, and it’s more than enough. I didn’t create a portfolio website in the beginning, and I acquired multiple clients purely based on my Worksome profile.
It’s important when you build your portfolio website that it includes the following:
- Social proof
- Services to clients
- Contact information on you
- About page
- Beautiful front page collecting it all.
- A badge telling you’re open for work
With these elements, then you have a trustworthy portfolio website that clients can easily hire you through.
Down the line, when you get a healthier stream of clients, you can add a blog to your portfolio and start to acquire clients through organic traffic and writing blog posts.
Share Your Marketing Knowledge On Social Media
This step is such a fun step, and you get to share all your knowledge on social media and don’t be afraid to overshare.
Your clients won’t access your profile, take your tips and guides and perform them themselves. Clients either don’t have the time or the skill set to do what you do, and they hired you for more than just your skill set.
Your clients are probably using you for sparring in general and for much more than just your core knowledge.
Share everything you learn down the line, even when you find small hacks working, and then share them with your following.
Not only will you create a following, which is super valuable for your freelance business, but your clients will also see your social media posting and verify that you know your stuff. It’s just such a powerful thing.
But don’t do this until you have the time because you want to stay consistent.
Keep On Improving Your Marketing Skillset
The digital marketing industry develops so fast, and it’s so important you stay up to date with your freelance business.
Watch digital marketing courses, and embrace all the information on YouTube and through podcasts. I personally learn so much through podcasts.
If you fall behind, you’ll become obsolete to your clients, and that’s the last thing you want.
You want to stay a digital marketing expert, and that requires you to spend time educating yourself every week.
Helpful tip
Set a goal for yourself that you want to learn at least one new thing every week. And if you’re ambitious, then one new thing every day.
And that’s it. Following these steps ensure you stay on top of the digital marketing industry and become a digital marketing professional.
How Much Does A Freelance Digital Marketer Earn?
The earning potential of a freelance digital marketer can vary widely depending on factors such as your level of experience, the type of services you offer, and the location you work in.
According to a survey conducted by Upwork, freelance digital marketers in the United States earn an average hourly rate of $66, with rates ranging from $20 to $150 per hour.
However, it’s important to note that as a freelance digital marketer, you typically don’t have a steady salary.
Your income can fluctuate depending on the number of clients you have and the amount of work you take on.
Additionally, you must factor in expenses such as taxes, healthcare, and retirement savings, which can impact your take-home pay.
An average monthly salary in Europe varies from $3000 – $10.000 depending on your skill level.
Freelance Digital Marketer FAQ
How do I become a digital marketer with no experience?
To become a digital marketer with no experience, start by choosing what niche within digital marketing you want to focus on SEO, SEM, email marketing etc.
Then immerse yourself in that niche by listening to podcasts and watching youtube videos.
Lastly, find clients where you can start to use your skills, and then you’ll improve over time.
What do Freelance Digital Marketers charge per hour?
Freelance digital marketers charge anywhere from $35 all the way up to $150, and some even more, but on average, they charge around $50-$70.
More experienced digital marketers charge up to $180. So the earning potential is super high.
What skills are required for freelance digital marketing?
The skills required for freelance digital marketing are Time management, proactive communication, the ability to learn and adapt, SEO knowledge(If it’s your industry), and being able to work in a team.
Is freelance digital marketing a good career?
Freelance digital marketing is a good career, and as long as you’re willing to learn all the new techniques and knowledge surfacing, you’ll thrive in the industry.
It’s future-proof, even with AI on the rise. AI is a fantastic assistant for you as a digital marketer.
