How to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer: Your 2025 Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Discover what a freelance digital marketer does and how you can become one.

[Featured Image] A digital marketer sits by a window working on a laptop computer.

Freelance digital marketers help clients create, execute, and measure campaigns that promote their products or services. To begin a career in freelance digital marketing, you’ll need to follow several steps, including building an audience and connecting with brands.

Learn more about these steps and gain insight into freelance digital marketing, typical earnings, helpful tech, and how to get started.

Ready to become a digital marketer?

If you're ready to explore a career in digital marketing, start by taking Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce. You can complete this course, which is part of the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate, in 18 hours. A subscription to Coursera Plus is free for your first seven days.

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What is freelance digital marketing?

Freelance digital marketing refers to a self-employed contractor who assists one or more companies, organizations, or other clients with their marketing needs, usually remotely. You clients will specify your job duties. A few standard tasks can include: 

  • Creation of various content like videos, blogs, podcasts, or social media posts

  • Social media marketing strategy and planning

  • Email marketing campaigns

  • Maintenance of websites, blogs, and social channels

  • Search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and implementation

Definition of freelance

Freelancers complete specific tasks for a company or client as needed. Your time commitment will vary. You can devote as little as a few hours or work many hours as part of an ongoing gig. Freelancers often earn pay per project or hourly and are not traditional employees.

Definition of digital marketing

Digital marketing promotes a brand and its products or services to a tailored online audience. Its purpose is to elevate brand awareness and engage with customers in hopes of making long-term customer connections through digital channels, including blogs, emails, or socially shared videos. 

Salary and job outlook

According to Indeed, the average annual salary of a freelance digital marketer in Canada is $58,337 CAD [1]. The Government of Canada expects the field of digital marketing to experience a balance of available labour and openings through 2031.

How to become a freelance digital marketer

Becoming a freelance digital marketer involves several steps, including building your skills, marketing yourself, and finding clients. More specifically, if you're interested in a freelance digital marketing career, the following steps can help you begin. 

1. Select specialties that align with your skills.

Digital marketing has many niches within it. To succeed, consider narrowing your freelance services to one or two specific areas that correlate with your strongest skills. If, for example, you enjoy the strategy and creation of ads, you could specialize in social media advertising. Marketing niches could include: 

  • Content

  • Social media

  • Email

  • Search engine optimization (SEO)

  • Mobile 

  • Affiliate marketing

  • Pay-per-click (PPC)

  • Marketing analytics

  • Video

  • Virtual reality

2. Develop your skill set.

Consider building your skill set through online courses, video tutorials, or local workshops. For example, the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate on Coursera can help you go from a beginner to someone with job-ready skills in less than six months.  

Certificates often reassure clients that you have the necessary skills to complete marketing tasks efficiently. Certificates also signal your commitment to continued education and a desire to stay on top of changing trends.    

You could also consider online certifications, bootcamps, or even pursue a degree in the field. If you're interested in a bachelor's degree, you could major in marketing, advertising, marketing management, or business administration with a concentration in digital or social media management. You can also consider digital marketing degrees that you can earn online with similar concentrations and majors. 

3. Build an online presence with a portfolio.

To become a freelance digital marketer, you need to market yourself. Ideally, you'll create a website that offers a biography, work examples, and a way for potential clients to reach out. 

In your "About Me" section or biography, include a brief history of your work experience, mention relevant degrees or certifications, and describe your personality and hobbies. Keep it short, but make it professional and insightful. 

Freelancers typically display work samples in a portfolio. In your portfolio, highlight the type of work you do so that clients know what they can hire you for. Keep it visually pleasing with straightforward formatting. 

Include a contact page that's visible from your home page. Include an email and phone number and offer links to your professional social media channels, such as LinkedIn. 

4. Set your pricing.

To become a self-employed digital marketer, you'll create a pricing structure, which can either be hourly, project-based, per day, by a retainer, or a mixture of more than one. Many freelancers set hourly rates. To start, determine the amount that you'd like to make annually, the number of hours you plan to work in a week, and the number of weeks you plan to work in a year:

1. Suppose you'd like to make $60,000 CAD a year and plan to work 40 hours a week for 49 weeks of the year, giving you three weeks of vacation. 

2. Multiply the number of hours you plan to work by the number of weeks.

  • 40 hours x 49 weeks = 1,960 working hours.

3. Next, divide your target income by the number of working hours to get your hourly rate.

  • $60,000 CAD/1,960 hours  = $30.61CAD/hour

Keep in mind that only some of your working hours will be billable. Non-billable tasks include answering emails, marketing yourself, and invoicing. If you expect to bill only 60 per cent of your hours worked, you’ll have to make up for that loss by adjusting your hourly rate:

4. Remove 40 per cent of your hours spent, which accounts for non-billable chores. 

  • 1,960 hours x .40 = 784 non-billable hours

  • 1,960 hours - 784 non-billable hours = 1,176 billable hours

5. When you remove 40 per cent of your hours spent, it brings your hours down to 1,176. Now, divide your target revenue by the new number of hours to get a more accurate hourly rate.

  • $60,000 CAD/ 1,176 billable hours = $51.02 CAD/hour

5. Find clients.

To find new clients, consider looking for opportunities on popular freelance websites. You can apply for specific jobs on these sites and use these experiences to build your portfolio. Consider contacting local businesses, or even businesses run by family or friends, to discuss their marketing needs. 

You might also add a lead magnet to your website. For example, you could offer an ebook in exchange for an email address. As you collect contacts, send a personalized email to start a conversation about marketing and your services. 

Some other sources freelancers can use to find work include: 

  • Previous clients

  • Friends and family

  • Social media

  • Professional contacts

  • Online ads

  • Online job boards

  • Previous employers 

  • Sharing economy (peer-to-peer) websites or apps

  • Local newspapers

  • Employment agencies

Examples of clients that hire freelance marketers

Just about every company uses digital marketing to reach customers, but some of the common industries that hire freelance digital marketers are: 

  • Consulting 

  • Finance 

  • Insurance 

  • Education 

  • Advertising and public relations

What skills or knowledge do you need to get into freelance digital marketing?

You only sometimes need an official degree to become a freelance digital marketer, but cultivating specific skills will help you succeed. Digital marketing encompasses many niches and usually involves juggling a handful of clients. With that in mind, the following skills or knowledge are helpful as you pursue a career as a freelance digital marketer:

  • Organization

  • Time management

  • Communication

  • Copywriting

  • SEO

  • Teamwork

  • Willingness to learn new tools and platforms

Digital certifications

Along with increasing your skill set through the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate on Coursera, you can also consider certifications to elevate your knowledge on the subject matter. The Canadian Marketing Association offers online certificate courses on topics like digital marketing strategy and digital analytics.

What tools or technology does an aspiring freelance digital marketer need?

Throughout your digital marketing career, you'll likely use various tools. Clients may request that you use the company's tools, or you might deploy your own set of tools to manage your freelance business. Consider these tools key to your freelance digital marketing career:

  • Communication tools: Google Workspace, Slack

  • Scheduling tools: Calendly, MeetFox

  • Project management tools: Trello, Asana, Airtable

  • Finance software: Quickbooks, Wave

  • Time management software: Toggl, Clockify

  • Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms: Hubspot, Salesforce, Zoho

  • Writing tools: Grammarly, Hemingway App, Evernote

  • Search engine optimization (SEO) tools: Semrush, Ubersuggest

Tasks and responsibilities of a freelancer marketing professional

Freelancers pursuing this profession will have tasks and responsibilities corresponding to various marketing goals. Some of your daily tasks may include the following:

  • Communicate with clients and set up a plan for each project.

  • Plan or expand promotional campaigns.

  • Develop content for the company website, blog, and social channels.

  • Set up content calendars.

  • Create and manage social media ads.

  • Create and send email marketing campaigns.

  • Grow brand awareness through planned events.

  • Watch and report campaign metrics.

Build valuable skills for your career as a freelance digital marketer

Build your skill set and learn how to promote yourself to enjoy a successful career as a freelance digital marketer. If you're ready to pursue this career, consider enroling in the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate on Coursera. After completing this beginner-friendly course, you’ll gain a grasp on the fundamentals of marketing, how to create, execute, and measure campaigns, and build an e-commerce store in less than six months.

Article sources

  1. Indeed. “Digital Marketer Salary in Canada, https://ca.indeed.com/career/digital-marketer/salaries.” Accessed September 9, 2024.

Updated on
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Coursera Staff

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