Are you considering the freelance digital marketing route? Look no further. In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about starting—and boosting—your career as a successful freelance digital marketer.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What does a freelance digital marketer actually do?
How to get started in freelance digital marketing (A step-by-step guide)
Tips to help you succeed in your freelance digital marketing career
Is a career in freelance digital marketing right for you?
How much could you earn as a freelance digital marketer?
Freelance digital marketing FAQs
Key takeaways and next steps
Ready to discover the exciting world of freelance digital marketing? Let’s go!
What does it mean to be a digital marketing freelancer?
A freelance digital marketer is a professional with multiple ranges of skills from content and copywriting to social media, search engine optimization, ad creation, building websites, strategy building, and design. Digital marketers engage in online communities, join conversations on LinkedIn, and share great content on Facebook. They try to do anything they can to ensure their clients reach their goals (sales, generating leads, meetings, sales calls).
You might be surprised when I tell you that it can be anyone from anywhere.
It can be an 18-year-old at the start of his career or a 40-year old that comes from technical engineering. Freelancing in itself is a lifestyle that anyone can adopt at any point in their life and career, and it matters how and where you do it, not your past, school, jobs, or companies.
I’m a big believer that anyone can do marketing. And please don’t take any offense to that. What I mean is that when I dropped out of college, I barely knew a thing or two about the world of marketing. But I’ve learned everything by myself googling, reading marketing agency blogs, talking to experts from online communities, influencers, podcasters, social media managers working in agencies, CEOs, and employees – EVERYONE. Yes, I really embraced the wonders of the internet.
I talked with all the people I could learn from.
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I started to share my experience with them. And started taking courses – because again, internet comes to the rescue with dozens of courses on marketing and social media, like these ones.
And that’s the best part of it.
When thinking about the pros and cons of digital freelance marketing:
Digital marketers love that they can sometimes work for themselves, travel around the world, save on commute, and unnecessary meetings that you can do via an online conference calls platform. At the same time, sometimes they’re struggling to work alone.
What are the pros of working in digital freelance marketing?
Live wherever you want (Bali, Hong Kong, or Sydney).
Get to create your own schedule and be your own boss!
Build your own team and outsource work if you want to.
Save time and money on daily commuting when you work from home.
Enjoy a different office every day – choose any coffee shops or co-working space or just space that resembles an office.
Choose the clients and projects you’ll spend your time on.
Work as little or as much as you prefer.
Set your own social media management pricing.
What are the cons of working as a freelance digital marketer?
No fixed salary – you have to be crunch the numbers and make sure you’re earning enough.
No company benefits, such as health insurance, 401k, free gym membership, etc.
You’re a one-man (woman) show – account, writer, designer, and analyst, sometimes it might get overwhelming.
Distractions everywhere! Netflix, bed, food.
The sales part of freelancing can be very time consuming.
Lack of co-workers might feel isolating and not motivating.
You will be in charge of sales and marketing yourself.
What’s the digital freelancer day-to-day?
When working as a digital marketing freelancer – learning becomes a daily thing, because as I mentioned earlier – it’s a one-man (woman) show. There are multiple responsibilities and tasks to do, and they vary every day, depending on clients.
A digital freelancer can learn anything from Photoshop to web design or HTML. Which is quite exciting for some of us.
These are just some of the responsibilities of a freelance digital marketer:
- Create a digital marketing strategy
- Send monthly reports to the clients by using free marketing templates
- Set up KPIs
- Write blog posts
- Create PDFs, eBooks, presentations, or any other promotional materials
- Design case studies
- Start a podcast (here’s a list for inspiration) or webinar
- Design an infographic
- Write newsletters
- Write copy for the website
- Build the marketing funnel
- Learn marketing concepts
- Improve conversions and CTAs
- Create social media calendars
- Hold a webinar
- Design a website with portfolio website builder (and monetize it)
- Stay active in relevant online communities
- Have a client meeting to discuss the next steps
- Create Facebook or Google Ads
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Join an in-house affiliate program
- Build backlinks for website authority
- Improve website speed
- Take sales calls
- Onboard new clients
- Create QR codes (bridge the gap between traditional and digital marketing)
- Build online courses
I know it might sound overwhelming, but there are dozens of productivity tools for better results. In case you’re looking for a digital marketing freelancer, you can use the list above to quickly build the perfect job description and help guide you through the requirements of your ideal candidate.
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What skills should a digital marketing freelancer have?
Firstly, set your expectations right.
Freelancers sometimes run in circles multitasking. It sometimes gets to situations where everything is chaos – there’s a half-written tweet, a few paragraphs of an article, some pieces of design left in the trash, a client meeting starting in 10 minutes and there’s always something to catch up on. There’s a lot to learn in freelance marketing. You can become an expert in marketing by learning all types of skills or choosing something to specialize in. Also, always keep an eye on marketing trends.
- Email marketing
Some of us really hate e-mails, eblasts, and newsletters. And that’s why marketers have to learn the witchcraft of building the perfect newsletter, onboarding e-mails, outreach messages, or product updates. It’s a much-required skill. As an email marketing freelancer, you’ll highly improve your copywriting skills that will prove to be useful in other areas of your freelance job.
Some of the basics you need to learn are the following:
Ask for willingness to receive emails (remember GDPR?)
Find your perfect tool to work with (NinjaOutreach, Mailchimp, or Mailchimp alternatives, EmailOctopus, Snov.io, etc.) When we checked out this GetResponse review, we found they now offer their email marketing software for free. That is a great way to get started, and then you can upgrade to other paid tools later
Master the perfect headline (few tips here)
Write great copy for the email
Improve your email signatures
Make sure you have powerful CTA
Run Email A/B Test (read a guide here)
Always follow up (even up to 5 times, when doing outreach)
Clean your list, if people are inactive
I also found these email newsletter examples to be highly useful if you’re looking for inspiration.
PRO TIP: Even the best-written marketing email can only go so far if it doesn’t reach the recipient’s inbox. Fortunately, free spam checker tools like MailGenius help make sure your marketing emails get delivered (and opened) instead of getting lost in the spam folder.
- Content Marketing & SEO
If you’re a Jedi with words and you type with the speed of light, then skip this part. Content marketing is everywhere. From billboards to Amazon products, articles, and websites. It’s one of the most useful skills for any digital marketing freelancer in my opinion, as any of them should be able to create a great copy. Did you know that Welcome Emails have an 82.57% Open Rate? That’s your perfect chance to charm your users with the perfect sales pitch.
I recommend checking out this piece by Inc. to learn more about Content Marketing. If you want to go more in-depth, I suggest signing up for Planable Academy. Upgrade Your Content Marketing OS. You’ll learn from 20 experts who are at the front of content creation and workflow management. In each of the 6 chapters, you’ll deep-dive into every step of the modern content workflow. In the end, you’ll get clear guidelines on what to do next. The best part? It’s free.
Also, you can use some SEO tools that could help you in this process such as Ahrefs, Semrush, SERanking, Moz, Linkio.
You’ll also have to master what SEO means, how to build links with other blogs, rank on the first page of Google, optimize your website speed, and constantly outreach the website. It’s hard and constant work but pays a lot- min. 500$ / month.
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- Analytics
I’m not a data geek myself, but in the world of digital marketing, you should measure everything. It’s one of the greatest things about this industry – data is everything. Ideally, your analytics approach should be divided into three steps – capture data, analyze, and interpret it. Taking data-driven decisions should be one of the most important pillars and values of each marketer.
With Google Analytics Academy you can learn analytics with free online courses, learn about Google’s measurement tools so that you can grow your clients’ business through intelligent data collection and analysis.
Additionally here’s a great piece by Link Humans – The Complete Guide to Analytics in Digital Marketing.
- Facebook, Google Ads & Social Media
Facebook Ads Manager is amazing, but a lot of small businesses and brands find it very complicated. And that’s exactly where you come into the game. There are A LOT of brands looking for someone to manage their Ads and this is definitely not a full-time job.
I’d say it’s more about monitoring the Ads and making sure you constantly optimize them. Also, learn more about sentiment analysis to understand how to better optimize your ads.
I totally understand the fear of facing the dragon. The first time I looked at Ads Manager I saw it as a complicated puzzle, and I just started poking holes. After a bit of research, I understood where to start from, found the best tips, and then chose it as one of the main platforms for my marketing strategy.
You don’t have to pay for Udemy courses to learn how to do Ads – it’s all online. Creating good ads is actually the trick. In the learning process, I suggest you create a fake page, put some cents into it and play around with all the ad formats available. There’s nothing like practice when developing a new skill.
You’ll have to master both the arts of design and copywriting, to understand who exactly is the audience you’re targeting, their desires, needs, problems, and how you solve them. You’ll have to learn to convert your audience to website visitors and then to paying customers. Facebook Blueprint is one of the best resources if you want to learn how to do ads. In case you’re looking to learn more about Google Ads, here’s a great resource.
Where can you find the best freelance digital marketing jobs?
Freelancer is not a typical employee in a company. They can easily choose from any variety of clients, depending on the budget and job required. Digital marketers working as freelancers provide their own conditions and consultancy on an independent basis. And a lot of them find their next client on one of the following platforms:
Upwork
Link-able
The Dots
LinkedIn Jobs
FlexJobs
ClearVoice Marketplace
Media Bistro
Problogger
People Per Hour
RemoteOK
99designs
Make sure you have a great description on your profile, a good profile picture, and a personalized message when looking to apply for a job. It will highly increase your chances. I’d also recommend you to read this piece. Oh, and don’t worry about the logistics for payment – there are tools such as Bonsai to help you with that.
What’s the salary of a freelance marketer?
LinkedIn recently introduced a new way to help its users and companies with their recruiting processes by showing salaries across countries, positions, and cities. It shows estimated data and salary ranges for open roles available on LinkedIn jobs. Numbers are either provided by employers or are estimated ranges from data submitted by members. The tool can be adjusted to reflect a professional’s experience, skills, education level, company size, industry, and location.
We can see that based on 1205 responses submitted by LinkedIn members who have this title in the United States, the average salary for a digital marketing manager is $72,000/year, in a range between $45K and $102k.
Digital Marketing Specialist – $51,000/yr
Online Marketing Manager – $77,000/yr
Digital Marketing Director – $110,000/yr
Digital Marketing Consultant – $70,000/yr
Social Media Manager – $53,500/yr
From these numbers, you can figure out some desirable hourly / monthly rate for you.
Let’s see what Glassdoor says:
Digital Marketing Manager $77K
Digital Marketing Specialist $67K
Online Marketing $37K
Online Marketing Manager $71K
SEO $57K
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5 tips to find your next client as a digital marketer
- View profile → Connect → E-mail outreach → Follow up
It’s one of my favorite hacks. So, what’s the story? You can find your next client on Linkedin, as it’s a growing platform meant exclusively for professionals and it has over 300M users worldwide.
What should you do?
Step 1: Install a software, such as Dux Soup/Meet Leonard
Step 2: Choose the people you want to reach using LinkedIn Search
Step 3: Automate View Profile using the tools above
Step 4: Automate Connect Profile with the people from Step 3 (with a personalized message)
Step 5: Scrap their e-mails using Hunter.io or FindThatLead
Step 6: Send them a personalized email (take care of GDPR! If they’re in Europe, don’t do it)
Step 7: Follow up on Linkedin and email
Step 8: Set up a meeting
- Optimize your LinkedIn profile with the best keywords and description
As I’ve mentioned, Linkedin is an amazing place to look for new clients, besides dozens of other marketplaces. Make sure you optimize your Linkedin profile with all the necessary details to target exactly the types of clients you’re looking for.
Some tips on optimizing your profile:
Fill in every section
Make sure you have a professional headshot – it improves your chances to get your profile viewed with 14x
Add an inspirational cover photo (you speaking at an event, guiding someone or working)
Ask friends and connections to endorse your skills
Create a vanity URL
Get recommendations from past clients
Optimize your profile for search engines with keywords matching your description, for example – Digital Marketing Freelancer, Expert in SEO
Showcase your past work, clients, results, and numbers!
If you’re lucky enough, people will view your profile, check out your headshot, cover photo, and headline. Consider complementing your efforts with tools that can help you boost your efforts in getting people to your profile. Now they’re reading your bio, checking your website, and looking to connect. Bam! Great job.
LinkedIn is your main landing page to get new clients.
Be specific in describing what you do, and how you can help other people!
- Bring value for free
Another secret for rocking the freelance digital marketing world is being generous. It takes time, but it’s beneficial without a doubt. Go to several Facebook/LinkedIn Groups (or your profile) and offer people your help in any marketing related problem (that you know). Here’s an example of a message
“Hey, awesome community!
I’m John, a digital marketing expert with more than 5 years of experience and I’m here to help. I’d like to offer to anyone interested a free 20 min consultancy on how to optimize your website and social media marketing strategy.
Interested? Drop a comment below.”
After that, you already have lots of leads and tons of people that can recommend you or intro to other companies needing a professional like you. You can also invite people in the Facebook/LinkedIn Groups to join a free webinar where you share your digital marketing knowledge. This is an effective way to interact with your audience and show off your expertise. Plus, hosting a webinar nowadays is simple, as there are tons of excellent webinar services that can help you handle the job.
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- Engage in conversation
Give feedback to the people you think can improve their Facebook company page or Instagram profile. Just go right there, and write them a personalized message with a few things they can easily improve directly to get better reach and conversion on their product. There are a lot of rookie mistakes multiple brands still do such as:
Bad profile description
No CTA on the page
Low-quality profile picture
No engaging photo
Lack of links
Bad Ads
It’s exactly your chance to tell them how you can help, share a few suggestions, and present yourself in the message. If they’re interested in knowing more, schedule a call and offer your services.
- Join Facebook Groups
Over the past few years, I watched Facebook groups skyrocketing. Position yourself as a freelance digital marketing consultant and make sure people understand it. You can start by sharing the latest social media news in the Facebook groups you’re part of. This way, your name pops up more often than the other – engage, talk, ask a question, and follow up with people to make sure you establish a personal connection. You can also explore the best Facebook groups for entrepreneurs and potentially find new clients there.
You can also write an eBook (like this one I published recently on building marketing teams of the future) and share it in multiple Facebook Groups or Guest Post. That’s a tactic to collect leads and follow-up with an offer for your services.
One more idea that’s time-consuming but brings good results, is by starting your own course on one of the popular platforms such as Udemy or Skillshare. Aside from proving your expertise and gaining credibility, you’ll get people to know you, get opportunities as a speaker or interviews and it may go way beyond a standard omnichannel marketing strategy.
Digital Marketing Freelancing FAQs
Freelance vs full-time
There is no easy “yes” or “no” answer to the question “is freelance better than full-time?” This might not be the breakdown you were expecting, but it all boils down to you. What is your personal lifestyle and what are your expectations from freelancing? What would you be giving up if you went from being a full-time employee to freelancing? On the other hand, what would you gain?
It might not be a glamorous answer, but making a pros and cons list will shed some light on this tough-to-crack nut. Only you know where the balance tips.
Is becoming a freelancer truly worth it?
Freelancing is not for everyone and you might belong to this category. Before you go all-in, do some soul-searching and think hard about what you want to get out of it. Are you looking for more income or flexible hours? With freelancing, clients ebb and flow, so if you’re not comfortable with hustling, wearing various hats and multi-tasking, it might not be for you.
What’s the best way to start a freelance digital marketing career with no experience?
The first step would be to get on a first-name basis with everything digital marketing. Curiosity and hunger for knowledge will take you far. Don’t overlook SEO: take some online courses and optimize your website to gain some experience. If you want to become a well-rounded freelance digital marketer, spend some time learning about Ads (primarily Google and Facebook). Spend some time on analytics tools to learn how to interpret data, measure KPIs and create customized reports.
You might also want to join a community of marketers like Acadium where you can launch your marketing career for free learn the basics of marketing to start building your portfolio, or even find an apprenticeship to skyrocket your career.
How can you get your first freelancing gig?
If it’s an option, get an internship to start accumulating experience ASAP. Whether it’s paid or unpaid, you will gain essential skills that you’ll later use running your own gigs. If you already have some experience but you’re unsure how to get started, start networking (reach out to connections on LinkedIn or past co-workers) or browse the many sites that list projects and tasks for freelance digital marketers.
How do you know if freelancing is for you?
Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut to figuring out if freelancing is for you. The first months (or even years) of freelancing are almost never smooth sailing. You need to keep grinding to build up your reputation and start accumulating loyal customers. Sometimes it gets easier. But other times, it doesn’t. This fast-paced, hustling environment is not for everyone. If you want to dip a toe in the stream of freelancing, consider taking up a couple of projects alongside your full-time job and only make the jump to freelancing once you’re fully confident the lifestyle suits you. Remember it’s always ok to change your mind if your priorities shift or if you’re unhappy.
How to easily collaborate with your clients
When it comes to seamless social media collaboration, Planable can be your go-to app.
Save time
Time is money. Especially for freelancers. From having all clients centralized in one place to the much cleaner inboxes, everyone will enjoy the actual productivity and efficiency of the new system.
Become more productive
Every new client you’ll take on means that communication needs add up, and inefficiencies along the way cause more wasted time. With Planable you can pick an hour you want to spend to go through client feedback and your days stay organized. Whereas with Google Docs and emails the days will become hectic. You might check emails in the morning, get 20 different messages with feedback from the same client asking you to check this and that. It will never come at the right time.
I always say marketers don’t focus enough on the operational side of things. We always postpone looking at this issue because we’re too busy and because it’s not an exciting project. The right workflow, however, can change the way any digital marketing freelancer runs.
Safe client management
When clients are onboarded in the wrong processes and setups, miscommunication is a big risk. Losing pieces of information and feedback can lead to frustration from both parties. It makes you feel guilty and overwhelmed by the scattered messaging and the client feels like they’re not being treated with responsibility.
Clients don’t and shouldn’t understand how complicated it can be for a freelancer to manage multiple brands at once. With Planable, everything is centralized as it’s all in that one place. Clients know that’s the place to leave feedback and they’re happy with it.
Automated publishing
Once you’re done with collaborating on your posts, you can easily schedule them to go live. In fact, there’s a magic button that enables you to automatically schedule posts once the client approves them. So. many. saved. hours. Plus, we just released the direct publishing feature for Instagram. Which is huge for the marketing community. Why? Because now you won’t need push notifications for every damn post. You can become the best Instagram freelancer combining Planable’s grid view & automated posting. Want to give it a go?
- What does a freelance digital marketer actually do?
A freelance digital marketer is a self-employed individual who uses one or several marketing channels and techniques to help businesses promote their products and services. Freelance digital marketers typically specialize in one of the many digital marketing channels available. Some of the most common freelance digital marketing fields are: - Content marketing
Freelance digital marketers specializing in content marketing promote brand awareness using written content. Content marketing encompasses content strategy, copywriting (writing webpage copy), and long-form content writing (like this blog post you’re reading!). Often, content marketing works in tandem with other digital marketing channels like social media and SEO. - Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO refers to organizing and optimizing content so that search engines (like Google, Bing, and Ecosia) recognize it as useful and rank it highly in search results. Freelance digital marketers specializing in SEO typically work closely with the content team to optimize content for search engines using industry best practices. - Social media management
Social media platforms have become a marketing pillar in many industries. Freelance digital marketers specializing in social media management work to improve engagement and growth on social media. They manage brand accounts, experiment with effective strategies, and monitor growth across platforms.
Curious about social media management? Learn about what a social media manager actually does in this guide, and learn how to become a social media manager here.
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
Although similar sounding, SEM is different from SEO. In SEM, the freelance digital marketer focuses on creating, placing, and monitoring ads on search engine results to promote a business. They research keywords and monitor the performance of pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
Learn more: What is SEM?
- Video marketing
Video is becoming an increasingly popular and highly valued content format. Videos can be used across marketing channels and shared on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo for greater engagement. Freelance digital marketers in video marketing conceptualize, script, and oversee video production.
We’ve outlined just some of the areas a digital marketing freelancer might focus on. Essentially, any kind of marketing job that can be done in-house can also be done in a freelance capacity, too! We’ve rounded up some of the most in-demand digital marketing skills and professions here.
A freelance digital marketing expert working outside on a laptop
- How to get started in freelance digital marketing: A step-by-step guide
Digital marketing can be intimidating if you’re a complete newbie. And even if you’ve worked in the field, starting as a freelancer can feel daunting. Follow this step-by-step guide to get started. - Establish your niche
Digital marketing is a broad industry, so niching is key to the success of your career. Try to do everything, and you may find yourself spread thin and constantly feeling like a rookie starting from scratch with every project.
However, niching doesn’t mean you only have to do the same thing every day. For example, my digital marketing niche is content marketing. Within content marketing, I focus on content writing specifically. In content writing, I’ve decided to write long-form content for mostly B2B audiences. In that context, I’m open to more fields such as SaaS, digital marketing, healthcare, and cybersecurity. I’m also happy to try new subject matter—all within that niche.
Ideally, your niche should be at the intersection of your interests, capabilities, and high availability of well-paying gigs. For example, perhaps you’re interested in social media marketing. You’ll quickly learn that you enjoy some industries or jobs more within that niche. Maybe you prefer Instagram strategy to Pinterest management, for instance. You’ll also learn that some jobs pay better than others. You can then use that information to choose a niche.
TL;DR: Choosing a niche is crucial to succeeding as a freelance digital marketer. However, take time to try a variety of specialties and industries before you decide—and don’t be afraid to change your mind and pivot later.
- Build a portfolio
Regardless of your industry and specialty, you need a website as a freelance digital marketer. Digital marketers work online, which makes your website your online office or shop front. You can find cheap site hosts and simple setup options like Notion to get started.
Your website is foremost proof that you have the tech-savvy and expertise to market yourself. On your site, you can show off various skills, from SEO to copywriting, design, video production, and content writing. You can also host your work portfolio and testimonials, all in one place.
No portfolio or testimonials yet? Be your first client. Write blog posts, grow a personal brand and social media following. Tell clients the SEO results you’ve accomplished with your site. Be your first success story, and watch other clients roll in. You can learn more about how to create an awesome digital marketing portfolio here.
TL;DR: Every freelance digital marketer needs a website and online portfolio. To prove yourself as a digital media/marketing expert, start with your business and highlight your marketing skills on your site.
- Find a network
Marketing without an audience or network feels a lot like screaming into the void. Networking is essential to a successful freelance business. Peak Freelance’s study quoted earlier shows that 42% of freelancers find high-paying gigs from word-of-mouth referrals. In 2021, I found 3 out of 5 new clients through referrals!
Networking with other freelance digital marketers will also help you determine how to set rates based on the market and your experience.
On social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, be curious about other freelancers—especially those in your niche or industry. Befriend them, share what you’re doing in your business, and even that you’re looking for work!
Facebook is known for having supportive freelancer groups and communities. Run a quick search for groups with freelancers in your niche. Join and participate actively. You can also join freelance communities outside Facebook, depending on your niche. For example, I have benefited from being part of Peak Freelance—a community for freelance writers (also how I got those referrals).
TL:DR: You need a network to win at freelancing. Hiring managers and marketing leads tend to rely more on referrals from trusted contacts than job postings. Build your network by actively participating on social media, joining freelancing communities, and patiently building relationships with other freelance digital marketers.
- Promote your business
Promoting your freelance digital marketing business requires a multi-pronged approach. Self-promotion is key to finding new clients—particularly high-paying ones. However, it can be tricky when you’re new to the business and don’t have many contacts or much of a portfolio. Thankfully, it’s not impossible.
In addition to the tips we’ve shared so far, try these two effective promotion strategies to find new clients:
Cold pitching: This involves reaching out to business owners or marketing leads in your preferred industries and pitching them your services. Many marketing leads need a freelance digital marketer but either don’t know it or have no idea where to find one. Before pitching, research how your skills can help. Can you help their site rank on search engines? Do you have a strategy to help them grow their social media platforms? Show them. Use stats from your website or social media profiles (hello, portfolio!).
Working for free: This may be contentious, but for some people, it’s the only way to gain experience in the field. It also looks different for every specialty. For example, writers can submit guest posts to big brands in their industries. Social media managers can pitch themselves for unpaid internships, and budding SEO experts can barter their services to another freelancer who can offer them a service in return. Win-win!
TL;DR: Being a successful freelance digital marketing expert requires salesperson skills. It’s good practice for marketing other people’s businesses. Don’t be afraid to pitch businesses and marketing leads or work for free at the start of your career.
- Make it legal
As your business starts to take off (it will!), it’s time to make things legal. Register your business (either as a sole-proprietorship or LLC—I prefer the latter), get a tax ID if it’s applicable in your country, and start tracking your income and expenses ahead of the tax filing season.
Even before you register your business, learn basic business skills like sending invoices—yes, even for your first job. Something else to implement from day one is using a contract for every business engagement (you can send yours if your client doesn’t send one) and including payment terms within.
More of a visual learner? Watch the following video with CareerFoundry’s own Chief Marketing Officer, Ed Wood, who goes over these steps and other insider tips:
- Tips to help you succeed in your freelance digital marketing career
- Treat it like a business
You’re not just a freelancer; you’re a business owner. Some ways to treat your freelance career like a business include creating a separate bank account, paying yourself well (set competitive rates), and showing up to work whether or not you’re feeling “motivated” (as long as you’re mentally and physically healthy). - Keep learning
Invest in yourself by learning about your industry and updating your skills as much as you can. It’s tempting to focus on scoring gig after gig, but it is vital to set aside time in your schedule to pour into yourself. Digital marketing requires creativity, and you can’t draw from an empty well.
Curious about a career in Digital Marketing?
Start learning for free!
- Set boundaries
Being your own boss is a double-edged sword. You have the flexibility to work 9-5 hours, but also to overwork yourself and work round the clock with no coworkers to pick up the slack. It’s easy to overbook yourself or find yourself tethered to your inbox, responding to client requests at all hours. Set firm boundaries about when you will work and what time to reserve for your hobbies and loved ones. - Raise your rates regularly
Be a good boss to yourself by raising your rates regularly. This shows that you value your work and what you do for clients. It also allows you to grow your business (you can’t scale by charging the same rates for years and years). I raise my rates every six months, and when I was starting out, I raised them with every new client. How you choose to raise yours is up to you. - Take breaks frequently
Finally, nourish yourself. Creating a sustainable freelance career depends a lot on how you care for yourself. You are the engine of your business. Hustling yourself into burnout is the quickest way to ruin all your hard work. So, plan breaks every quarter—or every week! I work a four-day week and try to take one week off every quarter. It’s always worth it. - Is a career in freelance digital marketing right for you?
In 2020, there were 59 million Americans freelancing, a trend that continued through 2021 and beyond. With the booming freelance economy, many people are considering leaving their full-time jobs and working for themselves. But is freelance digital marketing the right fit for you?
There are two parts to consider: freelancing itself, and a career in digital marketing. Let’s look into both aspects and help you figure out if this is the best path for you.
Pros and cons of freelancing
On surface evaluation, freelancing can seem like abundant freedom—and it is in some ways. But from experience, I can tell you that there are other aspects to think about first. Here are the pros and cons of freelancing.
Pros
Freedom to choose your work projects, niche, and clients based on your preferences
A flexible work schedule
Ability to scale your business and salary as desired
You get all the credit for your work
All business profits belong to you
Cons
Unpredictable income
You’ll need to wear all the hats and market your business
Work-life balance can be challenging to achieve
No health or other employer benefits
Now you’re aware of some of the pros and cons of a freelance career, let’s look closely at the skills and qualifications you should master before becoming a digital marketer—freelance or not.
What to consider before becoming a digital marketer
Before you hand in your resignation and dive into the industry, figure out if this career is the best fit for you, your interests, and your abilities. Ask yourself these questions:
Am I creative enough to develop marketing strategies across various platforms and media?
How strong are my writing and editing skills?
Do I enjoy analyzing campaign results and adjusting strategies until I find the right fit?
How well do I know SEO? Am I willing to learn more about it?
Am I tech-savvy?
Do I have an eye for design?
How good are my community-building skills?
These questions highlight just a few of the skills you’ll need to possess to excel at digital marketing. Granted, not every skill is necessary for all facets of digital marketing, but you’ll at least need an understanding of them and why they’re so important to the broader digital marketing strategy and efforts.
If you’re convinced that this is the job for you, perhaps a look at your potential earnings as a freelance digital marketer will seal the deal.
A freelance digital marketing specialist sitting on a sofa, working on a laptop
- How much could you earn as a freelance digital marketer?
Freelancing earnings, in general, vary widely, depending on industry and years of experience. This also applies to freelance digital marketers. Your annual revenue will depend mainly on your specialization and your niche within that specialty.
For example, a study by Peak Freelance showed that over 50% of freelance writers (content marketing) earn less than $30,000 per annum. However, the same survey showed that 27% of writers earn over $50,000 per year. It also highlighted that all freelancers making over $100K have been writing for at least two years, showing how experience plays into annual income.
Earnings for other digital marketing specialties are slightly different. According to our research, social media managers earn an average salary of $54,874.
Zip Recruiter reports that freelance digital marketing managers earn $68,970 per year. Other outlets report varying average salaries between $84,000 and $123,000. For comparison, read our full guide to digital marketing manager salaries for in-house roles.
So, how much could you earn? The possibilities are endless. It just depends on what you do and how well you do it. You can learn more about how to price yourself as a freelancer in this guide.
- Freelance digital marketing FAQs
Before we wrap things up, we’ll answer a few common questions about getting started in freelance digital marketing.
Can I do freelancing with digital marketing?
Yes! Freelance digital marketing is a sustainable career. The nature of work, regardless of specialty, lends itself to a freelance schedule. Just pick a niche!
How do I become a digital marketer with no experience?
Learn about the field by taking introductory courses and then practice what you learn in your business. If you want to go into SEO, start an SEO blog and hone your writing skills along the way. Don’t want to invest in a blog of your own? Then help a friend optimize theirs for free or little pay. There’s your experience and first portfolio client.
What qualifications do I need for digital marketing?
Digital marketing does not require specific educational qualifications. A degree in marketing or journalism might serve you if you already have one. But if you don’t, you could take an upskilling digital marketing program, then focus on gaining experience as that counts the most. We talk more about whether or not you need a degree to become a digital marketer here.
- Key takeaways and next steps
Figuring out how to get started in freelance digital marketing can be tricky. I’ve been there! But I can also tell you that it is possible. As discussed, follow these steps to start your freelance digital marketing career:
Choose a niche: Which marketing channel would you rather focus on? And in which industry?
Build a portfolio: You can do this by working for free, being your first client, or trying an internship. The one thing you must do? Have a website.
Find a network: Build a referral engine by befriending other freelancers and joining communities on and off social media.
Promote your business: Tell people what you do on social media and by cold pitching.
Make it legal: Make sure your business follows legal guidelines. Treat your work like a real business by starting a separate business account and showing up consistently.
Ready to take the plunge? Start by learning more about digital marketing in our free, 5-day course, or read any of the following recommended articles:
Should you do a digital marketing degree or a digital marketing bootcamp?
How to become a digital marketing manager
The 8 best online courses to learn digital marketing
What You Should Do Now
Get a hands-on introduction to digital marketing with a free, self-paced short course comprised of five short tutorials.
Take part in one of our FREE live online digital marketing events with industry experts, and check out digital marketing student Adelina’s portfolio project.
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