The world is evolving at a rapid pace and so too is the digital era. In such a fast-growing atmosphere, you need to be up to date in order to keep up. So if you’re a young professional who’s just beginning to explore his/her options in the market or a seasoned professional trying to increase their network, you’re bound to have a professional resume. You might even have an online resume built that showcases your achievements and skills.
But that would still be a document accounting for your professional journey. To increase your chances of reaching your targets, you need to have a digital marketing portfolio that encompasses your entire personality in a one-page website. A marketing portfolio is an upgrade to the classical resume where you don’t just tell recruiters and businesses who you are but show them in person.
Rita Cabreal’s website is a great marketing portfolio example that shows you how different a marketing portfolio can be from a regular online resume. There’s more to a marketing portfolio than meets the eye.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
This article explores the concept of a digital marketing portfolio and shows you how to make a marketing portfolio on your own.
Let’s begin with...
What is a Digital Marketing Portfolio?
In layman's terms, a digital marketing portfolio is an online collection of all your work. It can be photos, videos, blogs, projects or assignments that you have worked on. Unlike a resume, which is a document of your achievements and skills, a marketing portfolio is a window to your world. Such a digital collection of skills and working competency is essential for marketing professionals looking to earn the attention of recruiters and boost your chances of landing that dream job.
Why Should You Create a Marketing Portfolio?
Well, the straight answer to this question is just because it’s better. Gone are the days of carrying hard or soft copies of files and documents. In the digital era, it goes without saying that you need to at least have an online CV. So, why not have a marketing portfolio instead? To be more precise, here are some reasons to create a marketing portfolio right away.
1. Professional Recognition
Suppose you're thinking "who needs a marketing portfolio when you have a dashing resume that showcases all your achievements?". In that case, you don’t realize what a marketing portfolio can do to your career. In order to get a call for top positions in some of the best MNCs, you need to prove your resume. And a digital marketing portfolio is the best way to do this. It builds your credibility as a high-achieving professional in your field instead of an amateur who goes with the flow.
2. Unique Presence
A marketing portfolio creates a unique image among recruiters. Imagine you apply for a job that has 100s of other people also applying. Though you make a vibrant resume that’s perfect for the job, the recruiter’s chances of coming across it are rather low. By creating a digital marketing portfolio, you can build a unique presence that elevates your brand value among your peers.
3. A Digital Identity
A digital marketing portfolio is more like a website. You can put more than just information in it. You can have a gallery, add some videos of your work, or even put in links to your best works. Moreover, you will be able to access it from anywhere, provided you have an internet connection and a web browser. This makes your marketing portfolio exclusive to its viewers giving them a broader idea of who you are both personally and professionally.
4. Better Opportunities
One of the best things about a marketing portfolio is that it can be actively looking out for better opportunities even when you are not. You can be busy at work and not have enough time to check out the latest developments in your field and not be up-to-date about recent job offers. But with a digital marketing portfolio, you can rest assured that you are on the radar of top companies in your field. An updated marketing portfolio will keep your prospects alive in terms of achieving your goal, while you can focus on reaching your job targets.
How to Make a Marketing Portfolio?
Building a marketing portfolio has never been easier. Unlike a few years ago when building a website was only left to tech geniuses who understood the art of coding, establishing a marketing portfolio is much simpler today. You have numerous website-building sites that guide you through the entire process of how to make a marketing portfolio on their platform. To make it easier, we simplified the steps to build a marketing portfolio. Here are the simple steps to make your own marketing portfolio.
- Choose an Online Platform
- Create a compelling homepage
- Create an elegant strong about page
- Showcase your best
- Explain your work process
- Make yourself easy to connect
These 6 steps will show you how to make a marketing portfolio on your own. Let’s take a closer look at each step.
1. Choose an Online Platform
The most important part of a building is the foundation on which it is built. Likewise, the platform you choose to build your marketing portfolio can play an important role as you go ahead in building your website. Thus you need to consider things such as ease of use, simplicity, custom options, etc. before you start building your marketing portfolio. You don’t want to be halfway through, only to realize that you won’t be able to add videos to your website. A good option that has, off late, come on top of the website building marketing is Strikingly. Rated as one of the best website builders for personal websites, it can be the perfect website building to make your kickass marketing portfolio.
Image taken from Strikingly
2. Create a Compelling Homepage
As you already know, first impressions are the best impressions. Thus, creating a homepage that stuns visitors is a given. Nobody, especially time-crunched recruiters, will have the patience to go through a website that does not have an exciting landing page. In short, the homepage is basically your short intro to the people landing on your marketing portfolio website. Your homepage design and content need to be precise and to the point. Tell visitors what this website is about and what they might encounter, should they choose to proceed. Your homepage can tell your audience who you are and what made you create a marketing portfolio. You can look at some marketing portfolio examples of successful people to take some inspiration. Keep the design simple and always remember to strategically place call-to-action buttons on your homepage. It can be an easy route for opportunities to knock at your doorstep.
Image taken from Strikingly user's website
3. Create an Elegant About Page
An about page in a marketing portfolio is another name for your resume. This is where you tell recruiters about yourself, your likes, dislikes, professional experience, achievements, while also giving links to your social media pages. But remember, no one likes to read a book about you. So keep it short and sweet. Add in a bit of humor if possible. It would be ideal to narrate your journey as a story so that it would be easier for clients to understand your roots and future aspirations. In addition to this, you can also put in a few words from previous employers, colleagues, and other people that you’ve worked with. It helps give a third-person perspective of your personality. This can help build a strong image of you as the perfect candidate for the job.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
4. Showcase Your Best
Now we come to the interesting part. Sorting through all your work and choosing the one that is the best representation of your work. You need to remember that when it comes to showcasing your work, quality always beats quantity. Choose the best out of the best, your most appreciated works, and organize them so that visitors get a clear picture of what to expect from you. To make it easier to choose the right type of works that will get your target audience’s attention, you can pick projects that have achieved commercial success, works that display your creative ingenuity, and highlight your working capabilities in complex situations. You can add as many projects as you like but 5-6 should be a good number to keep your marketing portfolio short and precise.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
5. Display Your Working Process
Once you’ve arranged your projects in a presentable manner, you need to explain a few points about each project to show your growth and development in the industry. You can put these short descriptions along with each picture so as to narrate a story. To keep your description to the point you can start by talking about the goals behind the project, your roles, and responsibilities, any challenges that you faced, your solution to overcome the problem, and the end results.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
6. Tell Them How to Reach You
This is an important step, though quite obvious. You need to strategically place your contact details, social media links, and contact forms so that those who feel the need to contact you, do so with ease. You can check out any number of digital marketing portfolio examples and you’ll find the most eye-catching aspect of the page to be the call-to-action buttons. Likewise, place your CTA buttons on every page. You can put in links to your social media handles at the end of your page so that visitors can get to know you personally.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
We have described what is a digital marketing portfolio and also shown you how to make a marketing portfolio of your own. And go a step further, we would also like to pick the best website building platform for your marketing portfolio. Strikingly is the best website-building platform for you. It’s a simple DIY website building platform that is easy to use and affordable. So sign up with Strikingly and start building your marketing portfolio website right now!
