Switching over to a career in Digital Marketing.
Hope this post reaches everyone well. I'm a final year engineering undergrad student from a core branch in a Tier 2 college. I'll cut to the chase - I hate my degree and want to switch over to DIgital Marketing. I recently completed a two month digital marketing internship in an arm of a retail brand. This was to test the waters; to see if I actually like Digital Marketing or just the idea of it. Turns out, it's pretty fun. While the tasks were mundane, I handled basic stuff like on-page SEO tactics, LOTS of content writing and a market analysis of our competitors. I wanted to also venture into other domains (like Performance Marketing and Brand Management), but I wasn't given the chance to do so.
Coming to the topic, what do I do from here? Look up case studies? A remote intership (which I'm unsure if I can handle with college)? And what exactly does 'build a portfolio' entail? And yes, I know the market is in the doldrums right now. This might be the worst time to embark on a career in Marketing, but I need to bet on myself now.
I've started applying for internships (January-July, leads appreciated!), and need guidance from someone elder than me on how to navigate the situation I'm in. Apologies for any errors.
TLDR: Engineering student hates his degree (nothing new), loves Digital Marketing, needs guidance from someone senior to figure out a path towards an alternate career.
You need to master social media/paid ads/influencer marketing etc. This is a very outcome driven field (similar to trading)in which being average means very mediocre career, If you want traditional career (9-5 job), I would say better do a tier 1 MBA first. But if you are really great at it, you may not need a job for very long. Few successful campaigns for 2-4 years can make enough money for retirement.
I sadly don't think an (Indian) MBA is an option right out of college for me. My 10th and 12th marks are not that great and I'm a GEM, which practically ends all hopes I have. The plan was to get a bit of work experience and go abroad, but let's see about that later. I'm assuming mastery of the fields you mentioned comes by practise, just like most of marketing?
It can be a blessing if MBA door is closed. Actually that increases your chances of big success. 😀 Even if you go abroad, payment for a typical digital marketer is pretty less compared to a developer. You gotta learn by doing and following case studies of successful campaigns. Pick a platform. I would pick TikTok/reels and master it. Follow successful USA based marketers. Freelance>agency >own D2C>Big $$$. If you were to pick a job, consider first 2-3 years as training. Focus on learning rather than salary.
Get ready to be paid less. Digital marketing is losing money because a lot of people are ready to do it for very cheap, plus in general, spends on marketing have come down.
MBA not needed.
Start with a social media marketing or any other digital marketing role in an agency. You’ll learn everything there. Decide your way forward after learning all DM tactics for a couple of years.
There is a 500 rs Udemy course on all digital marketing & analytics if you still want to do a course
Can you give a link to the course?
Forgot to add this to the post, but I apologise if the post comes off as arrogant. I'm aware of the fact that there's a LOT to learn in a domain as vast as Digital Marketing, and what I know is just a microcosm of whatever needs to be known in an ever evolving field like this. I'd be willing to learn; I just need to know how.