Cover letters, resumes, and networking is essential components of the job application process. However, there is another tool that every digital marketing professional should add to their job search toolkit: the portfolio (and increasingly, the online portfolio – an excellent tool for showing examples of your work). To begin, let's look at some of the digital marketing portfolio examples and reasons why you should create a digital marketing portfolio – even if you don't have work experience – and how to do so to be noticed in the job market.
What is Digital Marketing Portfolio?
Portfolios are typically associated with artists and photographers, but they are helpful in various professions. They are the most effective way to market yourself and your creations. A digital marketing portfolio template, in particular, can be used by marketing professionals to showcase their best work. It can help you find new clients or jobs. Perhaps the simplest way to describe what a portfolio is and how to approach it is to say that it is your own advertising campaign. You're in the business of marketing other people's wares, correct? It's time to start marketing yourself.
What Should Your Digital Marketing Portfolio Contain?
Your marketing portfolio is a living document that evolves alongside you as you advance in your career. It's critical to keep adding to it, curating the content and growing it. You may have enjoyed the projects you worked on when you first started out, but chances are you've improved. Your portfolio aims to show potential customers what you can do for them, not to show your journey and growth.
It's a good idea to prioritize results on your website. Marketing entails more than just flashy projects. How successful was the campaign? How much of it was in your hands? Each project you choose to highlight should include some information so that the viewer understands how hiring you will benefit their marketing efforts. People frequently wonder how many words should be featured in an online portfolio. In most cases, less is more should be your mantra. Five or six outstanding pieces of work are sufficient to make your point. If you overburden your website, you will most likely lose your customer's attention.
Once the portfolio is up and running, the most crucial task at hand is curation. You must not, under any circumstances, allow your website to become stale. It will help to highlight what you are doing for clients now, rather than what you were doing years ago. To stay organized, set up monthly calendar reminders. Every month, set aside time to clean the house, remove old projects, and post new ones. You'll develop a habit of keeping your digital marketing portfolio ideas fresh if you take the time to sit down and look at the best things you've done in the last few weeks.
Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Create a Digital Marketing Portfolio
There are a few non-negotiable aspects of your portfolio. The majority of these items are self-evident, but it's worth devoting some thought to each section. How can you make each one have a more significant impact?
1. Select the Best Hosting Platform
Every website begins with hosting, and those creating portfolios have two main choices: a self-hosted blog or a free blog. When building your site, going the self-hosted route gives you more flexibility and freedom.
2. Utilize a Personal Domain
To sell your services as effectively as possible, you must find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. You already have personalized hosting services. Customize your own domain to take it to the next level. Consider this: which is more professional, www.YourName.wordpress.com or www.YourName.com?
3. Have a Neatly Designed Web Layout
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Your domain and host will provide you with more flexibility, but you will be responsible for developing the look of your website. The entire purpose of your portfolio is to provide potential clients with a simple place to view your work. That means it's finally time to create your own website. This does not have to be challenging to accomplish. When creating a customized but clean web layout, Strikingly themes are a great option to consider. It's a simple but effective tool that provides digital marketing portfolio ideas with a plethora of design options for their websites.
4. Tell Us Your Story
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website.
Finally, more than the security of a quality hosting platform or the creation of your own design, what distinguishes your work comes from one person: you. You have the experience to provide quality services, and it is best if you tell your story based on the type of work you've done. You can create infographics that tell your unique story to persuade prospects that you're worth working with. Consider developing a content strategy that will attract prospects to your site, demonstrate your expertise, and earn their trust as an aspiring digital marketer.
5. Organize Your Best Work
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Of course, you want your digital marketing portfolio ideas to be as creative and personal as possible. But, at the end of the day, what convinces clients of your worth is proof of your work. On the other hand, clients do not have the time to review all of your work. So, make things as simple and straightforward for them as possible by displaying only your best pieces. Choose projects that you oversaw or were a part of that produced excellent results. Consider passion projects or volunteer work that you are proud of so that prospects can get a sense of your personality and interests. If you've worked with a diverse range of clients, select one per industry that perfectly encapsulates the type of work you do so that any prospect who comes in can see that you have, in fact, working with people in their industry.
6. Include Original and High-quality Images
Regardless of the type of digital marketing service you intend to provide, adding images to your digital marketing portfolio can give prospects a sense of tangibility. Take screenshots of articles you've published, social media posts you've created and curated for clients, or even photos of various campaigns you've launched.
7. Optimize Your Portfolio by Using the Right Keywords
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Your digital portfolio website is a tool for new prospects to find you. That is why conducting a website analysis to ensure your site is optimized for the appropriate keywords. SEO is essential, and one simple step you can take is to use local SEO to target prospects looking for freelance marketers in their area. Rather than simply optimizing for "freelance digital marketer," for example, optimize for "freelance digital marketer in [Your City]." How do you find the best keywords? Examine job postings on job boards in your industry to see what keywords prospects are likely to use. You can even look for actual job openings and begin pitching. Make a point of including your digital marketing portfolio in your pitch.
8. Incorporate a Video
Relevant video content, like images, helps drive more engagement. While creating videos takes more time and effort, the benefits may be worth it when building your online portfolio. Consider making a simple video where you introduce yourself and explain how you can assist prospects with their marketing needs. Include case studies of your previous work and the results you achieved.
9. Include Testimonials
When trying to sell your services, word of mouth and social proof is important. And what better way to sell your services than by displaying what previous customers have said about you? After all, people trust other people, even if they have never met them. Inquire of previous and current clients about their experiences working with you. Consider asking them guiding questions to assist them in creating a winning testimonial.
10. Allow People To Easily Contact You
After demonstrating your previous work and client testimonials, your prospect may be ready to close the deal and contact you. Make it as simple as possible for them to contact you and inquire about the next steps while also providing you with the information you require to proceed. Before they even get on a discovery call or meeting, some freelancers have an intake form that asks prospects specific questions about their needs. Others use a simple, easily accessible contact form on their website.
Important Takeaways
The platform you use to build your digital marketing portfolio can significantly impact its effectiveness, which is an often overlooked fact. Many users have created visually appealing, cost-effective, responsive portfolio websites here on Strikingly. Our easy-to-use editor will allow you to easily change the page layouts and color palettes and add interesting content to highlight your skills and expertise. If you want to create a digital marketing portfolio website on Strikingly, you must sign up for an account and choose a template that suits your needs. You can host your website with us for free, saving you even more time and money.
The majority of the features needed to build a basic digital marketing portfolio are available in our free plan, where many users start. As your business grows, you may decide to upgrade to one of our paid plans to take advantage of some of our more advanced features. Building your online portfolio is a great first step for an aspiring digital marketer to ensure you're booking clients. As you create a digital marketing portfolio, keep the tips above in mind and focus on demonstrating your value and services. Soon, you'll be turning down offers from all sides.
