How to work in digital marketing: areas, salaries and how to start from scratch
Learn how to work in digital marketing as an employee, freelancer or affiliate, which areas to pick, what you can earn and what to study to land your first client.
What will we see in this post
To work in digital marketing, you can be hired by a company or agency, provide services as a freelancer, or use marketing to sell digital products, either your own or someone else’s.
Working in digital marketing means using online channels, such as social media, search engines, email, WhatsApp and ads, to attract customers and generate sales. The path to getting started is similar in any model: pick an area, learn the fundamentals, practice on real projects and build a portfolio.
The demand is there. According to the RD Station Panoramas 2026, a survey of about 3,000 Brazilian professionals, 85% of companies use social media frequently in their marketing, and 7 out of 10 use WhatsApp. And marketing project manager is among the 25 fastest-growing jobs in Brazil, according to LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise 2026 report, published by Forbes Brasil.
You don’t need a college degree or a big investment to get started, but you do need study, practice and consistency. Below, we walk you through the ways to work in the field, the step-by-step to start from scratch, the main areas, how much people earn and the most in-demand skills.
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What does someone who works in digital marketing do?
Someone who works in digital marketing plans, runs and measures online actions to attract consumers, turn prospects into customers and keep the relationship with them. The digital market is broad, and the day-to-day varies a lot depending on the area:
- content production;
- working as a digital influencer;
- paid traffic management;
- data marketing;
- social media management;
- creating digital products;
- working as an affiliate for digital products.
The channels that concentrate most of this work are social media, WhatsApp and paid media, the three most used by Brazilian companies in the RD Station Panoramas 2026. Paid media, for example, shows up in 6 out of 10 companies.
What are the ways to work in digital marketing?
There are three main ways to work in digital marketing: be hired by a company or agency, provide services as a freelancer or consultant, and run your own business, selling digital products of your own or from other people. Many people combine more than one, for example, a full-time job with a side project of their own.
| Model | How you earn | Initial investment | Main advantage | Main challenge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job at a company or agency | Fixed salary | Study time | Predictable income and learning with a team | Competition for entry-level openings |
| Freelancer or consultant | Fee per project or monthly fee per client | Study time and basic tools | Freedom over your schedule and clients | Variable income and constant prospecting |
| Own business (affiliate, producer or creator) | Commissions and sales of your own products | Low, you can start without inventory | Scale: the same product can be sold many times | It takes time until the first sales |
Job at a company or agency
A job is the path for those who want steady income and to learn with a team. Entry-level openings are usually internships, assistant or junior analyst roles, in areas such as social media, content and performance. A hired marketing professional can work inside a company or at an agency that serves several clients.
Freelancer or consultant
A freelancer provides services to several clients, with no fixed employment tie, and sets their own hours, prices and workplace. It is a common entry point in social media, design, writing and paid traffic, especially for small businesses.
Own business: affiliate, producer or creator
In your own business, you use digital marketing to sell, not to serve a client. You can be an affiliate, promoting other people’s products in exchange for a commission; a producer, creating and selling your own courses and ebooks; or a creator, monetizing an audience. If you are unsure whether to be an affiliate or a producer, compare both paths first. It is one of the routes of digital entrepreneurship and takes time until the first sales.
How to start working in digital marketing from scratch: step by step
To start working in digital marketing from scratch, follow seven steps:
- pick an area to start with;
- learn the marketing fundamentals;
- take free courses and earn certifications;
- practice on a project of your own;
- build a portfolio;
- look for your first job or client;
- specialize and keep studying.
This order helps because practice and a portfolio weigh more than loose certificates when it comes to landing your first client or job. Next, we explain each step in detail.
1. Pick an area to start with
Trying to learn everything at once slows you down. Pick an area that fits your profile, such as social media if you like communication or paid traffic if you like numbers, and go deeper into it first. The main areas are listed further below.
2. Learn the marketing fundamentals
Before the tools come the concepts: target audience, buyer persona, positioning, sales funnel and metrics. They are what let you decide what to do in each situation, and not just carry out tasks.
3. Take free courses and earn certifications
You can learn a lot for free from official sources. Google Skillshop offers free training and certifications for Google Ads and Google Analytics, and Meta has free courses on Facebook and Instagram advertising.
4. Practice on a project of your own
Create a profile, a blog or a page about a topic you know well and apply what you are learning. A project of your own lets you test content, low-budget ads and emails, and generates the first results to show.
5. Build a portfolio
A portfolio shows what you can do in practice. Gather examples of posts, texts, campaigns and reports, with the before and after of the results whenever possible. Small case studies, even from your own or volunteer projects, help those who don’t have formal experience yet.
6. Look for your first job or client
The first jobs usually come from internship and junior openings, from small businesses nearby or from your own network. If you prefer your own business, you can start as an affiliate, with no need to create a product.
7. Specialize and keep studying
Digital marketing changes fast: algorithms, formats and tools are updated all the time. Once you have a foundation, specialize in one area and follow the news so you don’t spend time and money on outdated strategies. Keeping an eye on the professions of the future also helps you choose where to go deeper.
What are the digital marketing areas you can work in?
The main digital marketing areas are social media, content, video, influence, blogging, e-commerce, SEO, email marketing, paid traffic, data, consulting, digital production, affiliation, AI automation and CRO. Each one calls for a different set of skills.
1. Social media
Social media management involves an editorial calendar, content planning and engagement actions. Social networks are the marketing channel most used by Brazilian companies, according to the RD Station Panoramas 2026. You need to know the metrics of each channel and adapt the language to the audience.
2. Content production
Content production creates texts, scripts and materials for social media, blogs, websites, emails and educational materials. Anyone working in it needs to master copywriting, storytelling and SEO, and practice constantly.
3. YouTuber
Anyone who feels comfortable in front of the camera can create a YouTube channel. With useful content for the audience, the channel builds authority and can generate income from ads, brand partnerships and sales of your own products.
4. Digital influencer
The digital influencer produces content about a topic they know well and builds an audience that trusts their opinion. With visibility come brand partnerships and the chance to sell your own products.
5. Blogger
A blog with useful content and a good SEO strategy attracts visitors for a long time. Choose your topics before you start a blog and focus on attracting and engaging readers.
6. E-commerce
Whoever works in e-commerce takes care of the marketing of online stores: storefront, campaigns, emails and online sales metrics. You can work in your own store or serve other companies’ stores.
7. SEO (search engine optimization)
The SEO professional helps websites show up in Google searches and in AI tools. They follow search engine updates, optimize content and contribute to the business’s organic growth.
8. Email marketing
Whoever works in email marketing creates campaigns and automated flows to nurture contacts until the purchase. The channel is still relevant: in RD Station data, automation flow emails had a click-to-open rate of 12%, versus 8% for one-off campaigns.
9. Paid traffic
The traffic manager plans and optimizes ads on platforms such as Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads. It is an analytical, in-demand area because media costs have gone up: at Hotmart Fire 2026, Hotmart, the all-in-one platform for creators and affiliates who sell digital products, pointed to a 143% rise in the price per click, according to a report by Propmark.
10. Data marketing
Data marketing uses user information to personalize strategies and improve results. It is the area for those who enjoy analyzing numbers, building reports and finding patterns.
11. Digital marketing consultant
Those who already have experience can provide consulting to entrepreneurs and companies that know how important digital marketing strategies are but don’t know where to start.
12. Digital producer
The digital producer uses marketing to sell their own knowledge in formats such as ebooks, online courses and mentoring. Learn what digital products are and how to choose a format.
13. Affiliate for digital products
The affiliate promotes other people’s products and earns a commission on every sale made through their link. It is a common way to start earning extra income without creating a product, but it requires building authority in your niche so people trust your recommendations. See how to promote products online.
14. Automation and artificial intelligence
This area builds automated flows for email, WhatsApp and lead qualification, and uses AI to produce and analyze at scale. There is plenty of room: 74% of marketing teams already use AI, but usage is still concentrated on content creation, according to the RD Station Panoramas 2026.
15. CRO and martech
The CRO (conversion rate optimization) and martech analyst takes care of the tools and tests that turn more visitors into customers, such as pages, forms, integrations and A/B experiments. In Robert Half’s 2026 Salary Guide, the median for this role in São Paulo sits above that of the digital marketing analyst.
How much do people who work in digital marketing earn?
Income in digital marketing varies with the work model, the area, the experience and the size of the company. For salaried jobs, one reference is Robert Half’s 2026 Salary Guide, which lists salary ranges for digital marketing roles at small and mid-sized companies in São Paulo, Brazil:
| Role (small and mid-sized company, São Paulo) | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Marketing Analyst | R$ 6,050 | R$ 9,000 | R$ 11,000 |
| CRO/Martech Analyst | R$ 7,000 | R$ 10,500 | R$ 12,500 |
| Digital Marketing Coordinator | R$ 11,000 | R$ 13,000 | R$ 16,000 |
| Digital Marketing Manager | R$ 14,000 | R$ 20,000 | R$ 22,500 |
Source: Robert Half, 2026 Salary Guide (links in the roles column). Robert Half describes the 25th percentile as a professional new to the role, with little or no experience in it; the 50th as a professional experienced enough to meet the main responsibilities; and the 75th as someone with distinctive qualifications and specializations.
What this means for beginners: “new to the role” is not the same as new to the market. These figures are a reference for analyst roles and above, in São Paulo. Internships and assistant roles pay less, and salaries vary a lot between cities. For freelancers and affiliates there is no fixed salary: income depends on the number of clients or sales and tends to be low and irregular in the first months, until the work gains consistency.
What skills do you need to work in digital marketing?
The most important skills are adaptability, constant learning, analytical thinking, creativity, command of marketing concepts, AI use and clarity about your goal. Check each one and find out whether this career suits you.
Ability to adapt
To keep up with digital transformation, you need to adapt easily to new scenarios and routines. On the internet everything changes fast, and anyone who doesn’t keep up ends up investing in outdated strategies.
Staying connected to the digital world
You will need to keep up with new social media features, trending topics, consumer trends and newly released technologies. Subscribe to newsletters, follow experts and know where to find reliable information about your niche.
Analytical thinking
Digital marketing professionals deal with a lot of data and need to interpret it critically. Analytical thinking helps you read digital marketing indicators and make decisions aligned with the business strategy.
Being creative
The competition for the audience’s attention is fierce, and creativity helps you stand out. Look for references, new ideas and new ways to catch your audience’s attention.
Knowing and mastering marketing concepts
Theoretical knowledge helps you choose the best approach for each situation. Well-regarded marketing books are a good way to learn the sector’s concepts, techniques and best practices.
Knowing how to use artificial intelligence
AI is already part of the routine of most marketing teams, mainly for creating content (51%) and analyzing data (31%), according to the RD Station Panoramas 2026. Knowing how to use these tools, and review what they produce, has become a basic skill.
Having a why
Knowing what motivates you helps you keep going when difficulties arise.
“Starting with why is not just a nice idea, it is strategic, it will make you sell more. If your why is bigger than all the difficulties your business will face, you are guaranteeing the quality of your business. If you don’t have a why, at the first difficulty you will stop, and then your business will die and you won’t reach the success you dreamed of,” said Bettina Rudolph, CEO and founder of BR Marketing and digital entrepreneur.
If you are thinking about starting out on the internet and building your online business, define first what you are looking for with it.
Do you need a college degree to work in digital marketing?
No. There is no degree requirement to work in digital marketing, and a good part of the skills can be learned through courses, practice and certifications. That is why the field welcomes people changing careers from very different backgrounds. If you are weighing other options, see these jobs without a degree.
A degree in areas such as Advertising, Marketing, Business Administration or Communication helps with the theoretical foundation and can weigh in hiring processes at larger companies and in leadership roles. For freelancers and for those with their own business, a portfolio and results usually count for more than a diploma.
Can you work in digital marketing from your phone?
You can start from your phone, mainly in producing content for social media, handling customers on WhatsApp and promoting as an affiliate. For tasks such as data analysis, ad management and page creation, a computer makes the work much easier.
In any case, the first step is to know your audience and your business goal so you can choose the channel where your audience is.
Affiliate marketing
With affiliate marketing, you promote other people’s products and receive a commission on every sale. It doesn’t require a big initial investment, but it is important to rely on a trustworthy platform with many products, such as Hotmart.
Facebook is a very visual network, so it is worth using an image editing app to create posts that catch the eye. Groups and targeted ads are still useful for reaching specific audiences. See also how to sell on Facebook.
With WhatsApp, you talk to customers, send news and answer questions. WhatsApp Business lets you create a business profile, automatic messages and labels to organize your contacts.
YouTube
Videos are essential in digital marketing, and many people build their careers on YouTube. To record with your phone, take care of the light, the sound and the background. Recording horizontally makes it easier to adapt the content later to Shorts’ vertical format.
On Instagram, you can sell products, promote partner brands and offer services. Keep a good posting frequency, use stories and reply to messages to strengthen the relationship with your audience. Learn more about selling on social media.
TikTok
TikTok goes far beyond entertainment and is widely used for educational content. Understand how your persona uses the network and look into ways to make money on it.
Apps that help you work from your phone
Some apps help you organize and produce without leaving your phone:
- Canva: to create graphics and edit photos;
- InShot and CapCut: to edit videos;
- Evernote: to jot down ideas and organize documents;
- Trello: to manage tasks and track deliverables;
- Speechnotes: to turn audio into text;
- Hotmart Send: Hotmart’s email marketing tool, to organize your leads and keep in touch with your audience throughout the buying journey.
How to work in digital marketing at Hotmart?
At Hotmart, you can work in digital marketing in three ways: as an affiliate, as a producer or by providing services to those who sell digital products. Signing up is free, and the platform takes care of payment, delivery and commissions.
As an affiliate
The affiliate picks products in the Hotmart Marketplace, generates their link and earns a commission when someone buys through it. The commission percentage is set by whoever created the product. Hotmart’s affiliate program has more than 920,000 members, according to figures presented at Hotmart Fire 2026, in a Propmark report.
To take your first steps, see how to become an affiliate and the Hotmart affiliate program.
As a digital producer
The producer creates their own course, ebook, mentoring program or community and uses digital marketing to sell. At Hotmart, you register your product with no monthly fee and have a members area, checkout and affiliate program to promote it.
Providing services to those who sell digital products
Those who sell digital products need traffic managers, copywriters, social media managers and launch strategists. Serving these businesses is a way to gain experience with measurable sales results, which enrich your portfolio.
Ready to start in digital marketing?
Working in digital marketing is possible with little investment, but it takes study, practice and consistency. Pick the model that suits you, start with one area, practice on real projects and record the results.
If your path is your own business, Hotmart is a good starting point to begin as an affiliate or with your own digital product. Create your free account and take the first step.
How do I start working in digital marketing with no experience?
Start by picking an area, take free courses, such as the ones from Google Skillshop, and practice on a project of your own to build a portfolio. With examples of your work in hand, it is easier to land an internship, a junior role or your first clients.
Can you work in digital marketing from home?
Yes. A good part of the activities can be done remotely, such as content production, social media management, paid traffic and affiliation. Many companies also offer hybrid or remote openings in the field.
Which digital marketing area pays the most?
Leadership roles, such as digital marketing manager and coordinator, have the highest ranges. Among analysts, the CRO and martech median sits above that of the digital marketing analyst in Robert Half's 2026 Salary Guide.
Do I need to invest money to work in digital marketing?
Not necessarily. You can start with free courses, tools with a free plan and a project of your own. The investment grows if you want to run ads, buy paid tools or take specialization courses.
Affiliate or producer: which path should I choose to start?
It depends on what you already have. As an affiliate, you start without creating a product and learn to sell with offers that already exist. As a producer, you need to create the course or ebook, but you set the price and can count on affiliates to promote it.
