Digital marketing side hustle guide:
- Learn digital marketing business skills.
- Pick a niche and platform.
- Develop in-demand services and create a business plan.
- Generate data-backed content using cost-effective strategies to engage your audience.
- Track and improve your campaigns.
- Build your portfolio and network.
Digital marketing has become one of the most accessible and flexible ways to earn extra income through side hustles. Digital marketing has many options you can do from home. They can help you either build new revenue while keeping your job or transition to a more independent career. From copywriting to email campaigns, each model meets the demand for online business solutions. These side hustles offer flexibility. They also let you build a scalable, sustainable income with the right strategies.
In Shane Hummus’ YouTube video entitled Is Digital Marketer A Good Career? (Digital Marketing Salary), he noted the profits and demand for digital marketing. A side hustle in it has great career potential. In the 21st century, many freelance digital marketers and agency owners thrive. Almost 60% of small businesses use online marketing to boost sales. In a video interview, Shane Hummus' student, Christopher, shared that aspiring digital marketers can expect to make $35,000 to $60,000 yearly. This is after 2 to 4 months of internship and training.
Robbie Cornelius, a YouTuber and entrepreneur, began his digital real estate journey as a side hustle. He learned from scratch how to build and monetize websites. Robbie targeted local customers by focusing on specific cities and grew his side hustle into a thriving business. After driving traffic to his sites, he used strategies like sponsored content, web development, and valuable content. His journey shows how dedication and the right methods can monetize a side project.
Like Robbie, I’ve been self-employed since 2014 after learning how to generate leads by ranking websites on Google. This skill of ranking and driving free traffic has changed my life. It lets me earn over $50K per month. In this article, I’ll guide you step-by-step on how to start your own digital marketing side hustle. You’ll discover five digital marketing side hustles you can do from home. By the end, I’ll explain why digital real estate might be the best option for you to try.
1. Learn the Digital Marketing Business Model
The first step to making digital marketing your side hustle is to learn the business model. Digital marketing requires knowing the industry's performance and consumer buying behaviors. You must understand your potential clients and the digital products and services you can offer. Tariq Siddiqui's LinkedIn article, "The Failure of Digital Marketing and How to Overcome It," blames failures in digital marketing on three things. It includes wasted resources, poor data use, and an inability to adapt to trends and algorithms. These factors directly result from limited knowledge of the business model.
This is why doing an in-depth analysis of industry data is crucial. It involves researching digital marketing, including social media, search engine marketing, and more. It includes customer journey mapping, online PR, and digital storytelling. Customer journey mapping aims to improve your customers' online experience. Digital storytelling and online PR focus on building a strong digital presence.
The best resources for learning digital marketing as a side hustle are Google Digital Garage, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, HubSpot Academy, and edX. These platforms offer online courses and certifications in digital marketing. They also provide short-term skills training. An article by Sloboda Studio says 91% of marketers believe platform investments impact a business's value and performance.
2. Acquire the Necessary Digital Marketing Skills
FirstCom Academy says a digital marketing side hustle needs SEO, email marketing, PPC, social media marketing, and data analytics. Your content writing and online marketing process will depend on your proficiency with these skills. You can create relevant, engaging, and keyword-rich ads and campaigns by developing all five skills. A SEMrush survey found that 44% of businesses say SEO success requires a good strategy. Meanwhile, 49% of marketers noted that social media marketing is a hard skill. These testimonials stress the need to learn digital marketing skills before starting a niche online side hustle.
3. Pick a Digital Marketing Niche
You must pick the most lucrative yet sustainable digital marketing niche. Saurabh Anand says that e-commerce, health, finance, real estate, and education are profitable digital marketing niches. These industries have been growing in terms of revenue and market size in the last five years. Take e-commerce and digital health, for example. Based on the latest data from Statista, their global revenue from 2019 to 2023 grew by 56% and 71%, respectively. Select high-demand, high-performing niches. They will boost your income and clients. Then, choose the right digital platforms.
4. Select a Digital Platform
To choose a social media platform for your marketing side hustle, consider your goals and your target market. As stated in Eight Media’s Starting on Digital Ads? In choosing a platform, consider its potential cost, audience, and market. Also, assess your internal capabilities. Digital media planning becomes crucial in this step. You must develop an online marketing strategy that fits your future social media and search engine campaigns. It comprises campaign launching, monitoring, and optimization to produce high-performing ads and promotions.
Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are the best platforms for your digital marketing side hustle, per Shelley Walsh's Search Engine Journal article. This is based on the number of worldwide monthly active users (MAU) for each platform. Choosing the right platform for your digital marketing is key to a profitable side hustle.
5. Develop In-Demand Digital Marketing Services
Aspiring digital marketers must choose in-demand digital marketing services. Upwork's "10 Digital Marketing Side Hustle Ideas for 2024" lists the top digital marketing services for 2024. It includes social media management, content creation, influencer marketing, SEO, and PPC. Prospective clients will aim for marketers who have unique and well-crafted service offerings. One of the most sought-after digital services in 2024 is reputation management. According to BrightLocal’s 2023 Local Consumer Review Survey, 98% of consumers check online reviews of brands. This pushed businesses to build a good reputation online. It shows that unique digital marketing services can build your success roadmap and boost your income.
6. Create a Digital Marketing Business Plan
Creating a business plan for your digital marketing side hustle is important. It will be your success roadmap. It will guide you on your business goals, marketing strategy, and finances. As stated in Noah Parsons’ article on Bplans, 92% of companies with higher sales growth are those with business plans. This also helps set your marketing ethics for online campaigns and customer interactions. Data from Investopedia reveals that 70% of brands with business plans survived for over 5 years. This means that proper planning and data-driven decision-making can help your business grow.
7. Generate Data-Backed Digital Marketing Content
Your marketing and other online content should be well-researched, engaging, and relevant. This process requires deep insights from tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, Google Trends, and AnswerThePublic. With thorough data on the market, industry, and clients, you can create valuable, high-performing content. HubSpot’s The State of Marketing Report 2024 reveals that blog posts, images, and videos are the three most popular content types in 2022. But, your digital marketing content must be timely and valuable to readers. Interactive content is 52.6% more engaging than static content, says Jodi Cachey's article on Mediafly.
You can use these content creation tools for your digital marketing side hustle: Grammarly, Canva, ChatGPT, Buzzsprout, and Descript. Rachel Handley recommends them in her SEMrush article. These tools enable you to speed up content research and creation. Also, they help you generate high-quality videos, photos, blog posts, and podcast content.
8. Use Cost-Effective Digital Marketing Strategies
Promote your digital marketing services with reliable, cheap, omnichannel methods. Implementing the right digital marketing strategy for your business is also crucial. The more creative and unique you get with your strategies, the higher your engagement will be. Professional digital marketers often use social media marketing, paid advertisements, and SMS marketing. A 2022 article by Adobe Experience Cloud said these strategies are your game plan. They aim to entice your target market and convert them into paying clients.
Social media marketing is a free way to engage potential clients. You can do this with informative posts and catchy captions. Paid advertisements like Google Ads and Facebook Ads are also great ways to amplify your online reach. However, this option requires a significant budget to run. Lastly, SMS marketing is quite traditional but effective. SimpleTexting says that over 30% of consumers check phone notifications within a minute of getting a text.
According to Digivizer and the Digital Agency Network, the best ways to promote your digital marketing side hustle are content marketing, SEO, email marketing, paid ads, and affiliate marketing. You can choose the ones that need less to zero usage costs if you're starting your digital marketing side hustle. SEO and content marketing are the best ways to maximize free marketing initiatives. Alternatively, email marketing, paid ads, and affiliate marketing are digital methods. They require a set budget. These strategies cut your marketing budget. But, they also boost engagement and traffic.
9. Engage Your Target Audience
Engaging your target audience means defining your ideal customer. Use factors like location, age, gender, and income to do this. You must also determine your audience’s needs and wants to craft personalized online campaigns. Digital marketers use different marketing tricks and gigs to engage their target audience. Some common tactics include using hashtags, posting creative visual content, and conducting surveys. Reddit user Akrish_17 says that, to drive organic traffic, research virality, hashtags, and audio.
You can attract your online audience with interactive social campaigns, contests, games, and giveaways. You can also provide incentives. Many marketers run social campaigns. These include daily challenges, "share to win" contests, and "tag-a-friend" programs. Aaron Lee, in Neal Schaffer's blog, said that interactive engagement strategies help your potential customers build a community. They also amplify your online reach and boost sales.
10. Track and Improve Your Digital Marketing Campaigns
Successful digital marketers track and improve their online marketing campaigns regularly. It lets them adopt the latest trends, marketing tech, and consumer demands to optimize their services.
Ishika Gupta, a digital marketing executive, mentioned these KPIs in his Quora post:
It’s important to track marketing metrics on specified time frames to get accurate results. These data-rich reports show how the industry performs. They also reveal how your potential clients or consumers react to your campaigns. Reddit noted the importance of tools for competitor analysis. They help to measure your digital reach, find effective marketing channels, and create cheap ads.
According to Mayple and Meltwater, the best tools to monitor your digital marketing are: Funnelytics, Google Data Studio, Hotjar, Hootsuite, Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Fullstory. These tools help you track your content marketing, ads, funnel, social media, and customer experience. They improve a digital marketer's online business and their marketing portfolio.
11. Build Your Digital Marketing Portfolio
You need to build your digital marketing portfolio. It must be a complete set of your best, high-performing online campaigns. CareerFoundry says a digital marketing portfolio should have: a professional intro, a detailed list of your skills and services, the tools and platforms you use, work samples, and a comparative analysis of your work. Prospective clients will use this compendium to check your digital marketing. They will want to see its quality, style, and relevance to their brand goals and growth.
A Quora post says your portfolio can showcase your digital skills. It can boost your business's credibility and prove your work with data. It should be complete but easy to understand. Including photos and graphs of complex data helps your clients grasp your portfolio.
12. Connect With Digital Marketing Professionals and Groups
To grow your knowledge of digital marketing, connect with its pros and groups. Stay updated on the latest trends and best practices. Facebook, Meetup, and Slack communities are popular channels for this activity. According to Amity, 76% of internet users participate in an online community, and 64% of online community site visitors say they’re visiting those sites more often now than they did a couple of years ago. These platforms offer valuable opportunities to learn from experienced marketers and stay current with industry developments. Additionally, Amity reports that 77% of companies believe that online communities would help them improve their marketing for current and prospective customers.
Aranyak Patnaik, a digital marketing expert, says that community marketing (or engaging with customers and other marketers) boosts brand awareness and satisfaction. Some exclusive groups on digital marketing are: Superstar SEO, Traffic Think Tank, AstroLabs Digital & Tech, and Growth Hackers. These groups connect you with various marketers. They include freelance writers, social media managers, and digital marketing execs. They offer insightful interactions.
5 Digital Marketing Side Hustle from Home
1. SEO Business
SEO business helps businesses of all sizes improve their online presence. Also, most of them lack the in-house expertise to do so. SEO services can help a company attract traffic, boost sales, and grow online. This service is always in demand. Businesses need search engine visibility to compete today. Research from SEO.ai shows that 64% of small businesses have implemented local SEO, and 40% of these campaigns see a return on investment of 500% or more.
Additionally, SEO consulting offers flexible work hours and the ability to work with clients globally. Experienced SEO consultants can charge higher rates. They can work with more clients and offer ongoing monthly services. ZipRecruiter reports that SEO Consultants in the United States earn an average of $45.91 per hour.
To find clients, you can start by targeting small businesses or freelancers who often need affordable SEO help. SEO.ai also reports that over 75% of local searches lead to potential customer inquiries, and 28% of these searches result in a purchase within a day. Create a website to showcase your skills. Or, use LinkedIn or Upwork to connect with clients.
Some key areas of focus in SEO consulting include:
2. Content writing
Content writing has a constant demand for quality content. It helps businesses attract and engage their online audience. Many companies need blog posts, website copy, and social media content. But they lack the time or expertise to create it in-house. So freelance content writers are now precious. Fronetics says that writing is the most outsourced content marketing task. 44% of businesses outsourced it.
This side hustle is flexible. It lets you work from home, set your own schedule, and it offers a steady stream of opportunities in various industries. Clients can be found on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr, or through direct outreach on LinkedIn. Fronetics also notes that 30% of B2B marketers view external agencies as top content creators. Writers can charge per word, per article, or on a project basis, and experienced writers can increase their rates. Content writing offers a flexible, home-based opportunity with the potential for steady income.
To succeed, you need strong writing skills and a clear understanding of the target audience. It's vital to write SEO-friendly content. It helps clients boost their search engine rankings.
Some key areas of focus in content writing include:
3. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing allows you to earn passive income by promoting other people's products or services. You earn a commission for any purchase through your affiliate link. This model is low-cost to start, and you can work from home, making it an attractive option for anyone looking to generate income online. Forbes reports that more than 15% of affiliate marketers make over $50,000 per year in passive income. This highlights the potential for significant earnings in this field.
To succeed, you need to choose a niche you're interested in and find affiliate programs that match your audience's needs. Forbes notes that over 80% of companies have affiliate programs. This provides many opportunities for marketers. With the right strategy, affiliate marketing can be a side hustle. It can generate steady commissions over time if done consistently. It’s a flexible way to make money by leveraging the power of content and online platforms.
Some key areas to focus on affiliate marketing include:
4. Copywriting
Copywriting helps businesses have compelling copy to sell their products and services. As a copywriter, you write persuasive content. It should drive action, like buying a product or signing up for a service. It lets you work from home and earn good money by providing a sought-after service. A survey by Upwork found that 19% of freelancers were copywriters. It was the most popular freelance job in 2022.
To succeed in copywriting, you need strong writing skills and the ability to understand your client's target audience. Nectafy reports that 86% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads and sales. This has greatly increased the demand for freelance writers. You can find clients on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or LinkedIn. Copywriters often charge per project or by the hour, and as you gain experience, you can command higher rates.
Siege Media says 54% of companies will boost their content marketing budgets this year. This will increase the demand for skilled copywriters. You can find clients on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or LinkedIn. Copywriters often charge per project or by the hour, and as you gain experience, you can command higher rates.
Some key areas to focus on copywriting include:
5. Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing campaigns help businesses connect with customers, promote products, and drive sales. As an email marketer, your job is to create and manage email campaigns. They should engage subscribers and prompt them to take action, like making a purchase or signing up for an event. Constant Contact says 81% of small and medium-sized businesses use email to get customers. 80% use it to keep them. Also, Constant Contact reports that 60% of consumers bought something due to a marketing email. This underscores the effectiveness of well-crafted email campaigns in driving sales and engagement. You can find clients through freelancing platforms or direct outreach to businesses.
Email marketers usually charge per campaign or a monthly fee. This side hustle is a profitable, flexible way to help businesses grow their customer base and increase revenue. Constant Contact says email marketing has a $42 return for every dollar spent. This shows its cost-effectiveness. To succeed, you need strong writing skills. You must also know about audience segmentation, email design, and automation tools.
Some key areas to focus on email marketing campaigns include:
Can You Make Money With Digital Marketing Side Hustles?
Yes, you can make money with digital marketing side hustles through lead generation, content marketing and SEO services, PPC campaign management, and freelancing opportunities. Digital marketers can earn around $300 to $30,000 monthly by venturing into any of these lucrative online models. Reddit user Jet32123 commented on how he/she started his/her career with no experience. Jet32123 spent 16 hours daily for a year training in digital marketing. Now, he/she makes money online with a 6-figure income yearly.
Is Digital Marketing the Best Side Hustle Idea To Make Extra Money in 2024?
Yes, digital marketing can be the best side hustle idea to make extra money in 2024, given that you don’t spend as much time to make significant income. According to The Freelance Hustle, digital marketing specializations like social media management, content creation, and SEO consulting are the most common in 2024. You can spend around 5 hours weekly and make around $200 to $2,000+ monthly. However, getting clients and competing with professional and experienced digital marketers requires more than 5 hours of your time daily to hone your skills and make an impactful online presence.
Conclusion: Why Local Lead Generation is Still the Best Side Hustle in 2024?
Local lead generation is still the best side hustle in 2024 because it lets you earn higher monthly passive income by building multiple digital assets. Starting a digital marketing business entails learning more than 10 basic skills and acquiring in-depth knowledge of different digital specializations to compete with thousands of online marketers worldwide. It’s also challenging to build your following and create a reputable digital presence in an overly saturated industry.
According to Reddit user Braney12, starting a digital marketing side hustle is painfully difficult because most companies hire the ones with more experience and broader skill sets. Beginners in the industry with zero experience and a few core skills are at a disadvantage. You will need to spend more time learning the business model, industry movements, technical digital skills, and consumer behavior. This takes a significant cut off your extra hours or leisure time just to keep up with your competitors. It can also interfere with your full-time job. Yes, you can get small and local businesses to hire you, but gaining their trust takes tremendous effort and time sacrifice.
The local lead generation business model is much simpler. Since it’s localized, you get better opportunities to target specific service niches. You don’t need to compete with the relentless global markets. First, you need to create a website for your chosen local service. Next, craft an engaging, keyword-rich, and well-researched article to rank organically on search engines like Google. And because of the high internet penetration in different countries, it’s easier to rank for high-performing keywords. Once you’re ranked, hundreds of free leads will start reaching out. Forwarding these leads to local businesses lets you earn around $10,000 monthly for every website you make.
Choose the best online side hustle that offers a scalable passive income. Begin your local lead gen journey today.
