How to Gain Practical Experience in Digital Marketing

People often ask me how to get experience running paid social ads when they don't have access to a business's ad account. My most practical advice: launch an experimental $1/day Meta ad campaign for yourself. This is how I got started. Choose something to promote. Anything. Your band. Your friend's jewelry business. Your brother's improv show. Anything you want to have more attention. This will force you to learn how to create an ad account, connect it to a business page, set up payment, and all the initial back end steps it takes to get a paid social ad account ready to go. You'll also learn how to create a strategy for your campaign. What do you want to happen? Do you want people to consume your ad in their feed for awareness? Do you want people to click on the ad and visit an external website? Do you want people to take a specific action? Even with a small $1/day campaign, you'll begin to learn how to think strategically and making decisions that shape your campaign. From here, you'll learn the difference between campaign objectives like brand awareness, website traffic, engagement, conversions, etc. You'll learn how to create ad creative(s) that capture attention, communicate your desired message, and get people to take the action you want. You'll learn how to build a target audience based on location, age, gender, interests, employment, etc. And you'll learn how to navigate the wonderful world of Meta Business Manager. If you can handle Meta you can handle any digital ad platform. Basically, you'll learn that a million decisions are made when planning, building, and launching a paid social ad campaign. And if you have experience doing this for yourself you'll be much more prepared to do it for someone else. Learning by consuming Facebook ad tutorials, podcasts, books, blogs, and free courses from the platforms themselves is super important. But actually DOING the thing will prepare you more than only watching tutorials. It will cost you your time and $1/day. But if you really want to learn paid media the learning will be worth everything. #paidmedia #marketing #paidsocial

3 Tips to Build a Portfolio If You Have No Experience in B2B Digital Marketing I have worked in B2B Digital Marketing for 15 years. If I were starting right now, these are the 3 ways I would build a portfolio without any actual work experience: 𝗧𝗶𝗽 𝟭: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝘄𝗻 The best way to prove to a company that you can help market to their audience, grow their brand, or increase their revenue is to use yourself as the guinea pig. — Share your thoughts online — Build an audience — Create a website — Build emails — Ad creative — Campaigns Then find a non-profit or small business and offer to do it for them. Don't be afraid of free work. It's low risk and will help you build a portfolio. 𝗧𝗶𝗽 𝟮: 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 — Find people in the industry who are active on social. — Engage with their posts consistently. When the time is right, you can send them a connection request. Praise their work, ask for nothing, simply build rapport. Pro tip: Select people 2 years ahead in the journey. They're more likely to engage. 𝗧𝗶𝗽 𝟯: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 Marketing and sales alignment will be something you hear about a lot. In order to be a great marketer, you have to understand the pressures that come with Sales. Learning to sell 1:1 will enable you to sell 1:Many. If you're in Marketing, what other pieces of advice would you give to someone starting out? #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing

Your competition isn’t just the person next to you; it’s everyone online, from every corner of the globe. With an abundance of talent vying for attention in this saturated market, standing out requires more than just showing up—it demands continuous learning, especially if you're navigating unemployment, eyeing a career shift, or simply aiming to level up. The talent pool is boundless. Opportunities are fiercely contested. Acquiring new skills is now a necessity Because times have changed and it’s no longer about who you know, but who knows you! So, what do you do if traditional routes to gaining experience are closed? You create your own opportunities. Here's how I created my own opportunities: Social Media: I kicked off my digital marketing journey in social media management, starting with pro bono projects. This hands-on approach wasn’t just about learning; it was about becoming so proficient that what started as volunteer work turned into paid gigs and eventually my own agency. Startups: I networked with investors and immersed myself in the dynamics of VC funding, pitch decks, investor relations, and the thrill of decision-making in fast-growth environments. AI: I dove into everything from ChatGPT to MidJourney, exploring and mastering these tools. I wasn’t just learning; I was experimenting, playing, and in the process, acquiring invaluable skills. E-commerce: I started selling products on Amazon, turning theory into practice and profits. Learning the art of GTM. Advertising: From social platforms to Google and even Amazon. I learned everything about creating and activating ads, budgeting, optimizing, A/B testing and more. Blockchain: I joined communities and networked with some of the best. I started trading crypto and learning everything I can about the industry. Personal Branding: LinkedIn is where you need to be. So I show up, post daily, engage with others, add value, connect and network. And if you saw yesterday's post, you know the rest. Your Action Plan: If there's a skill you want to master or a new domain you’re curious about, dive in. The barriers to learning have never been lower. Create your own opportunities and just do the thing. Reclaim your power Future-proof yourself. Learn, grow, and stand out. #deepgeneralist