Navigating the Digital Marketing Landscape: Best Practices, Trends, & Tips

An overview of the Digital Marketing Webinar Series

Digital Marketing is an essential component of any business, & participating in a Digital Marketing Webinar Series can assist students like me & working professionals in learning new marketing techniques & strategies. The Webinar series was organized by Wendy Greenwood who’s a professor at George Brown College, which included several sessions spread out over a span of 10-12 weeks. The Webinar covered a wide range of topics that included Paid Media Marketing & AI, Digital Marketing & Insights, Content Marketing, Public Sector Marketing & many more.

All the speakers were experts in their respective fields, they shared their personal life experiences which kept me motivated to continue my journey in the Digital Media Marketing Industry, they also shared practical insights & real-world experiences that helped us to understand the nitty gritty of the Marketing World. While attending such webinars, there is always the possibility that one speaker will st& out from the crowd & for me it was Elle M. Dhahani. She is a Digital Content Creator at her own creative boutique “ELLE MARIE CREATIVE SERVICES”. I found her session to be insightful, inspirational & relatable. What I really liked about her was the passion she has for photography & tattoos, as I share the same passion. Along with that, whatever she has learned & put them into practice has come from years of grit, amazing experiences, & self-teaching. She made a living by following her passion & area of interest which is really inspiring & motivating for students like me who have such goals & ambitions. Elle is the only speaker with whom I connected instantly through LinkedIn as soon as I knew how to reach out to her. We had a good conversation about my career goals, & she was very welcoming & supportive while advising me about the same.

Keeping in mind all the valuable lessons I learned from the respected speakers throughout the series really helped me start my networking journey. When it comes to networking, I have always reached out to industry experts, clients, & other digital marketers. Being a part of the digital marketing industry, it’s obvious to connect with people & follow companies that are experts in the industry. I was very fortunate that all my requests were accepted by the people I reached out to. After connecting with them on LinkedIn, most of them advised me to join various communities & follow certain pages & people. Along with that, they also suggested I attend webinars, seminars, or any other events that will help me build a stronger networking base. These suggestions encouraged me to attend events, one of which was a webinar about “Digital Media Marketing & its Future.“, This webinar was insightful & also helped me increase my network base.

There are many groups, pages, & communities I joined on LinkedIn & Facebook following the suggestions given by my network. To name a few, “Digital Marketing: Social Media, Search, Mobile, & More,“, “Marketing Communication: Digital Advertising Online SEO/SEM” on LinkedIn, “Social Media Marketing”, “Social Media Marketing & Advertising Tips & Tricks” on Facebook, & a lot more pages & groups. Volunteering & participating in such webinars, seminars, events, & groups hosted by knowledgeable professionals gives a student like me the chance to increase my networking base & gain more confidence while reaching out to such industry experts. I volunteered for a few webinars by sending emails to attendees, which in a way helped me improve my communication skills & build connections.

Well, the next step after making connections & contacts is to utilize them to their fullest. Now, when I say utilize them, I mean using connections to find a relevant job opportunity. There are a lot of sources available in the market that can be used for job hunting, such as LinkedIn, Job Postings on a School’s Website, Recruiting Agencies, Company Career Pages, & most importantly, connections made through LinkedIn. Personally, I think the most important tool for job hunting is LinkedIn & using the connections that one has already built over time. I feel this is the best way, as it really helped me apply for various job opportunities offered to me on LinkedIn. After applying for various jobs, I got called for interviews, which went well as I followed the tips & tricks given by the webinar series speakers as well as my connections that I made through LinkedIn. It’s also very important to keep in touch with all these connections as you never know how these connections might help you in the future. This will in a way help me to get placed in a desired company on a full-time role basis.

Networking can be a great way to find a Co-Op position. Building relationships with experts in my area of interest will help me learn about job openings, postings, & positions that aren’t publicly advertised. Networking also helped me to gain industry insights, learn more about the skills & experiences that employers are looking for. Finding a Co-op for any student is a herculean task in Canada as there are a lot of students looking for it, but the availability of co-ops is very limited. I personally feel that if one has good contacts & connections, he or she can easily get a co-op. I am still looking for one, & I am following the invaluable tips, tricks, & hacks given by the notable speakers of the webinar series, which are as follows: 1. Never say “NO” to opportunities thrown at you, even if they're not in your area of interest, as you never know what’s in store for you. 2. Don’t burn bridges by holding on to grudges with anyone, as you never know who’s going to be your guiding angel. 3. Always follow the job posting rules in order to get a reply from the employer. 4. Don’t be afraid to contact a potential connection. These are some of the things I have been keeping in mind while applying for co-ops or any other job opportunities.

In conclusion, attending a Digital Marketing Webinar Series can be an excellent way to learn new marketing techniques & strategies, making connections with professionals from the same industry never goes in vain. If you ever get an opportunity to attend such a series, I recommend taking advantage of it.