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One question nearly all digital marketing newbies will be asked eventually, and you may find the answer even when it's posed, quite simply:
“Portfolio? However, will I present that as I haven't been anywhere yet?”
Let's get one myth dispelled right now. No, you don't need 5 years experience or a string of blue-chip clients. All you need is creativity and this article that will show you how.
A portfolio presented while searching for a job can sometimes actually pave your way.
If you're going through a digital marketing course (in Delhi or online, as it is an increasingly common medium), intern for someone, or self-teaching, here are tips on how to create a digital marketing portfolio from scratch.
What is a digital marketing portfolio?
It's simply a testament to your skills. Instead of "I know SEO," you demonstrate.
"This is the research, here's the audit and this is my recommended outcome."
It has much more substance. A portfolio may feature work in any of the following areas: SEO, social media marketing, Google ads, content marketing, website creation, Google analytics, local SEO, email marketing, lead generation and graphic designing. Remember, it's about showcasing what you know, not what you can list!
1. Get a Basic Website:
This is crucial as the home for your portfolio. You needn't break out a massive agency website, however. A simple, clean professional design, whether using WordPress, Wix or some other page builder, will suffice.
Pages can include: About Me, Skills, Projects, Certificates and Contact.
It's important to be concise. As a matter of fact, a portfolio website can become a portfolio project in itself-especially if it has some basic SEO implemented.
2. Demonstrate an SEO Project:
The lack of paid clients means that you haven't demonstrated SEO for them? You can analyze the website of the businesses you admire, of your friends, or even make one up and conduct an SEO project. Document everything.
Keywords research, an audit, some On-Page SEO suggestions, maybe even internal linking ideas, content gaps and some technical notes you have gathered together with local SEO opportunities.
To clarify with a practical example, pretend you are analyzing an online bakery located in Delhi and looking for keywords such as “bakery in Delhi”, "custom birthday cake delivery online", "find me a nearby bakery" etc. Explain then which search intent would have been behind these keywords and recommend a kind of page/content the hypothetical business could provide. A single project may be used to present a wide range of SEO elements.
3. Social Media Marketing Projects:
If social media marketing piques your interest, create a marketing plan on the spot for an existing or hypothetical brand. For instance, assume the hypothetical brand is an online store selling organic foodstuff targeted at young professionals and the specific goal of this plan is to expand awareness as well as traffic. The key elements to have included in the plan would be: content ideas and planning (including the number of posts per week, captions, hashtags and creative aspects), target audience profiling, and of course, a range of key performance indicators. Once more, do not show just static designs; remember that it is a marketing plan: explain what the purpose of every element within it is.
4. The Mock Google Ads Campaign:
Spending real cash on ads might not be an immediate option for you, however, this doesn't mean you can't create an actual ad campaign outline for an online institution or any other business by simulating how a PPC campaign structure could be implemented. This includes defining keywords, a precise audience selection, formulating Ad copy for targeted individuals in Delhi and creating a compelling Landing Page structure along with some budget and performance indicators which can later be assessed for optimization purposes. Essentially, this showcases that you possess a general understanding of PPC marketing and its basic principles, rather than a generic idea of what Google Ads entails.
5. Showcase your Content Marketing Experience:
Content remains one of the primary aspects of digital marketing, hence be sure to feature your writing samples – this can be anything ranging from blog post to ad copy, even to landing page text copy. When submitting your content pieces, avoid just providing pure documents. Instead, explain your approach: for example, targeting a keyword like “digital marketing course Delhi”; what would have been the users' intents behind the search query?
What kind of content do the target users seek?
And what secondary keywords should have been incorporated. This provides valuable insight into your marketer mindset.
6. Include Google analytics and reporting
, to boost the value of your portfolio. While this might seem challenging given that you probably haven’t worked with live websites or social media accounts. But if, through a previous arrangement with friends/family or even by simply analyzing your own social media presence (your personal profile if there aren't any better alternatives), you can demonstrate.
Produce a simple but impactful reporting document outlining Traffic and Engagement, the Top posts/content, audience insights and any necessary suggestions for improvement.
A short discussion will serve best to demonstrate your analytical abilities.
7. Utilize your course assignments:
Many student courses end up in the digital recycle bin of your laptop, as soon as you have been tested. Try to maintain at least the important assignments that you receive for some digital marketing course. Each will be converted into an independent presentation – i.e.
An SEO test report for the SEO task, a social media platform demonstration, etc..
You can turn even simple work for an assignment into a showcase of your understanding of some concept, by means of an exhibition rather than as of only that which has already been tested. Honesty is a virtue-never try to fake customer results. There is great value to presenting your work for testing assignments and using it for your own work.
8. Create case studies instead of just screenshots
, this would make the presentation of your work truly professional. Instead of uploading just an illustration and saying "seo job". Tell us exactly what was the case.
Describe "What was the challenge, research, strategic plan and execution that brought about the best result; and what can I personally add into future works and researches".
Clearly state if it's simulated.
9. Showcase yourself on LinkedIn:
Both your professional portfolio and professional summary on LinkedIn need to compliment one another, presenting both the hard skills learned as well as Soft skills application skills of candidate in various digital marketing projects; also if you are going to publish any article to support your skill presentation, make sure it is related to digital marketing topics especially of those areas you are more focusing. Making yourself visible and consistent on LinkedIn will also help you find employment and meet professionals within your field.
10. Continuously Update Portfolio
Your first portfolio doesn't have to be great- it won't be at first.
The first project you build probably won't be a masterpiece.
But that is good enough!
After a few months down the line you are going to be looking at that portfolio and saying "Why did I ever build it like this?" This is actually how progress happens.. Work on your portfolio with each new skill that you learn and replace the old, less-experienced work with new, better pieces.
Incorporate your internship work, where it may apply and utilize specific data to quantify your results when applicable.
Eventually, your portfolio will display a noticeable growth from beginner to advance pieces.
What pieces can a first-time portfolio contain?
When just starting out, don't add a handful of unrelated projects to your portfolio- Four to six "great" projects are far better.A simplistic portfolio would incorporate of;
SEO Audit and Key Keyword Research. Social media strategy.* mock campaigns for Google Ads.* SEO content.* Websites or Landing pages.* analytics and/or performance reporting.
At this level, this is all the tangible information that you can expect a recruiter to review.
Conclusion:
You don't need to be employed before starting a portfolio; in fact your portfolio may be a piece of the puzzle to gaining your dream job.
Small projects are always a start- Choose a business issue; do research, build something, develop a strategy, analyze the performance of what you've built and learn from the experience. If you take digital marketing classes in Delhi consider adding your projects to case studies from class or use independent projects to show a willingness to work. You may not have 5-10 years of experience as a fresher, but what you do have is your intelligence and practical knowledge: Use it and prove it..
