Class of 2020: How to successfully market yourself

Dr Imran Maqbool Khan, Course Leader in Marketing Management & Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing in the University of Wolverhampton Business School offers Class of 2020 some 'self marketing' tips.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has transformed industry. One of the main reasons are the increasing barriers when accessing face-to-face business.

Students are graduating in unprecedented times as businesses adapt and evolve to meet the changes brought on by a pandemic that has changed the face of how the nation works.

Class of 2020 can take steps to ensure that they continue to upskill and market themselves to potential employers.

Here are 5 tips for Class of 2020 students to stand out:

1. Personal Digital Brand

First things first, students need to create an excellent Digital presence/Digital face. This presence is imperative for communication and brand building. Students can use different online platforms to start with, such as social media websites, CMS etc. I would suggest LinkedIn as a starting point. LinkedIn is a professional social media website and crucial for industry link building.

Moreover, students can conduct skills analysis, competitors analysis and influencers analysis to refine digital brand. These analyses will help to find the right keywords to use in in their profiles and to attract the right people from industry. 

2. Certifications and Courses

Knowledge is the key to success. Students should put emphasis on learning new skills. There are many free certification and courses available online to boost your knowledge. Before staring new courses, you can conduct competitors and influencers analysis to see if you are on track. Through influencers analysis you can see what is trending. These certificates not only increase your knowledge but also look impressive in your profiles.

3. Freelancing Services

While you are studying, you can start selling your your skills on Freelancing platforms such as fiverr, upwork etc. Some of the benefits of this would be:

• You can put your knowledge into practice.
• You can start earning (maybe you will struggle in the beginning but you will earn eventually).
• You can understand skills trending in the industry.
• You will refine your online personal brand.

4. Attend Conferences and Seminars/Webinars

You should definitely attend conferences and seminars (many are available for free) for link building. These days due to COVID-19, events are mostly happening online. These events will help you find international, national, local influencers in your industry. You will build your confidence. Most importantly you will also find many opportunities.

You can find free conferences and webinars using goole search. If you have developed good links on social media then you will see many people offering free webinars. You can also join relevant communities on social media.

5. Blogging

Finally, you should start writing blogs or you can do video blogging (Vlog). This will help develop links with like-minded people in the industry. This will also help you learn the use of keywords in the right places. You will also learn the use of internal and external links to drive more traffic. Blogging with help you understand the use of multimedia in the blogs such as images, videos etc.

You can use free CMS tools to start writing such as www.wordpress.com. These platforms will guide you with regards to keywords usage, SEO score and will readability score your blog. You can also see metrics such engagement level once you have shared the blog with your audience.

This blog was first published on LinkedIn for Digital Marketing students: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-tips-digital-marketing-students-dr-imran-maqbool-khan/