Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprentice Archives

Succeed in your digital marketing apprenticeship with these skills!

November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 by Charlie Rodgers

digital marketing apprentices discussing ad spend in a meeting. showing what skills are necessary to be successful in your digital marketing apprenticeship?

Here’s how to succeed in your digital marketing apprenticeship. Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field and having a successful career as a digital marketing apprentice requires more than just a knack for the latest trends. So, to truly excel in a digital marketing apprenticeship, you need to develop a set of skills that will prepare you for a future in this field.

Necessary skills for Digital Marketing Apprentices:

Analytics

Firstly, being able to track and analyse the performance of digital marketing campaigns is essential to success in the field. Therefore, knowing how to interpret the data and draw out meaningful insights will help you make the best decisions possible for your campaigns.

SEO

Secondly, understanding the basics of SEO is essential for any digital marketer. For instance, knowing how to optimize content for search engines will help you create campaigns that are more effective and reach a larger audience.

Social Media Management

Thirdly, social media is a major part of any digital marketing strategy and learning how to effectively manage social media accounts is key. Specifically knowing how to create content, engaging with followers, and running ads.

Video Production

Generally, using video is a great way to engage with an audience and learning how to create videos for digital marketing campaigns is a great skill to have. Knowing how to produce videos that are both visually appealing and optimized for the web will help you take your campaigns to the next level.

Copywriting

Crafting effective copy is a must for any digital marketer. Knowing how to write copy that is persuasive, engaging, and optimized for search engines will help you create campaigns that are more effective.

Design

Creating eye-catching visuals for digital marketing campaigns is a great way to grab the attention of potential customers. Learning how to use design software such as Photoshop or InDesign is a great skill to have for any digital marketer.

Networking

Developing relationships with other professionals in the digital marketing field is essential. Having a strong network of contacts can help you get the most out of your campaigns.

Project Management

Equally, being able to effectively manage digital marketing projects is a must. This includes knowing how to set realistic goals, manage timelines, and stay organized.

Creativity

Additionally, thinking outside the box is essential in the digital marketing field. Nonetheless, having the ability to come up with unique and creative ideas will help you stand out from the competition.

Evidently, developing these skills is necessary to succeed in your digital marketing apprenticeship. Balanced against the right training and some hard work – you can become a top-notch digital marketer in no time!

Above all, This can lead to a variety of career paths, including content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and more.

Future career opportunities in Digital Marketing

Firstly, Content marketing is a great option for those who want to create engaging content that will attract and engage an audience. With content marketing, you’ll create blog posts, videos, infographics, and other types of content to promote a company’s products or services.

SEO is another great option for those who want to help businesses rank higher in search engine results pages. SEO involves researching keywords and optimizing content to rank higher in organic search engine results.

Social media marketing is also a great option for those with digital marketing apprenticeships. Social media marketing involves creating content and campaigns to engage an audience and build an online presence. With social media marketing, you’ll create content, run ads, and engage with followers to increase brand visibility and reach.

Email marketing is another popular option for those with digital marketing apprenticeships. Email marketing involves creating campaigns to target specific audiences and encourage them to engage with a company’s website or products.

Digital marketing apprenticeships can also lead to more specialized roles, such as web design and development, analytics, and digital advertising.

Web design and development involves creating and maintaining websites, while analytics involves analysing data to understand customer behaviour and identify trends.

Digital advertising is a great option for those who want to create campaigns to reach a specific audience. Digital advertising involves creating ads, targeting specific audiences, and optimizing campaigns to increase click-through rates and conversions.

Overall, digital marketing apprenticeships can lead to a variety of exciting careers. With the right experience and training, you can become a successful digital marketer and help businesses reach their goals.

More tips and tricks for Digital Marketing apprenticeships

What is involved in a Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship?

October 18, 2022October 18, 2022 by Rikhil Lakhani

Do you have a strong interest in Digital Marketing? Are you eager to learn about the digital world? Do you have a passion for online marketing including social media, the promotion of helping brands grow online? Then this is the right qualification for you!

Why is Digital Marketing so important?

Digital marketing is a critical part of the survival of a businesses online presence. It allows businesses to connect with their customers online through SEO and PPC via social media on email marketing (which is something you will learn in this apprenticeship)! Here a few things that you should know about this Level 3 Qualification in Digital Marketing:

Duration

This is an 18 months Level 3 Apprenticeship in Digital Marketing.

Portfolio

During your 18 months completing this course, you will need to document your work and this should be done through creating a portfolio which shows evidence of the things that you have worked on and completed throughout the apprenticeship. Your portfolio will be assessed towards the end of the apprenticeship by an end point assessor to see if you have met all your competencies. A competency is a skill and you should be able to show that you have demonstrated this through your work. The overall aim of this is to showcase what you have learnt and how you have applied it in an everyday scenario.

Trainings

Eventually you will undergo training with your training provider in order to ensure you are learning the relevant skills as a part of your apprenticeship. Then you will go over content that is relevant for your exams and the world of digital marketing.

What is OTJ?

OTJ (Off the Job Training) is something that you must complete in order to gain your qualification at the end of the apprenticeship. As an apprentice, you will work for your employer 80% of the time and the other 20% of the time will go towards training, exams, completing your portfolio and essentially any learning and development. Off the job training must be directly relevant to your qualification. These can include:

Attending events relating to your industry
Getting inspired by stories & articles
Signing yourself up for programs that will develop you personally and professionally
Work shadowing
Online resources e.g. ted talks, YouTube videos or podcasts
Spending time working on your coursework/portfolio
Coach or line manager meetings (this shows personal growth and development)
Networking (virtually or in-person)
Workplace training

Exams

You will need to complete three exams in order to receive your qualification at the end. These include:

Level 3 Digital Marketer in Marketing Principles
Level 3 Digital Marketer in Principles of Coding
Google Analytics Individual Qualification

End Point Assessment

Your end point assessment will consist of a few things:

Gateway
A completed portfolio
Passing all 3 exams
Synoptic Project
EPA (End Point Assessment) Interview

What is Gateway?

Gateway is a meeting where you hand in all the relevant documents that are required for completing the apprenticeship. You will have your line manager and digital marketing coach in the meeting where you will sign the employer reference, upload your exam certificates and portfolio.

What is a Synoptic Project?

The synoptic project plays an important role in your end point assessment. This project is designed for you to show evidence of completing competencies in the apprenticeship standard. You will begin this project a minimum of 5 days after your gateway meeting. You have four working days to complete this which should be completed in a controlled environment, usually away from work and during this time you shouldn’t complete any work-related tasks.

Once you have completed Gateway and Synoptic Project, you have to submit your synoptic project and you will have your EPA Interview 10 days within submission of your project.

What is the EPA Interview?

The EPA interview consists of a 1.5-2 hour professional discussion about your portfolio and synoptic project.

Conclusion

As someone who is personally coming towards the end of their apprenticeship, If you are interested in all the things that I mentioned, then I believe that this would be a great opportunity to build the foundations of your career in Digital Marketing. Feel free to refer to the Digital Marketer Standard where you will learn more in-depth about the skills and knowledge this course has to offer.

If you have any questions or queries regarding this apprenticeship or any others, feel free to reach out to us via our LinkedIn, Twitter or Website!

A Beginners Guide to the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

August 3, 2022August 3, 2022 by Ciara Lafferty-Mathieson

Looking to or have chosen the Level 3 Digital Marketing apprenticeship? Well this article is for you. With all the basics you need to know when making the first steps towards your career.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the use of digital channels including online video, display ads, search engine marketing, paid social ads and social media posts. It is the promotion of brands to connect them with consumers using different forms of digital communication. There is no doubt that with it’s real time results and direct impact that it has grown rapidly against ‘traditional marketing’ which includes TV, magazine ads, billboards and direct mail.

What is a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship?

As all apprenticeships, you will be learning whilst earning. You will study alongside your job role, working towards a qualification recognised by your industry. A digital marketing apprenticeship can be used in a variety of different industries from fashion to media to law. You will gain many transferrable skills during your time within the apprenticeship which can lead to even more opportunities within your career path.

What do Digital Marketing Apprenticeships involve?

This will vary by the company you are working for and the apprenticeship you choose, however typically you will cover the following topics:

Market Research
SEO
Communication and Customer Service
Social Media Marketing Management
Planning and Budgeting Digital Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing Campaigns
Content Marketing Campaigns

Throughout the apprenticeship you will gain an understanding of the below technical skills, this will be beneficial not only for your employer but for your final grade in your apprenticeship as you will demonstrate these competencies within your portfolio.

Written Communication – is able to apply a good level of written communication for a range of audiences across different digital platforms.
Research – is able to analyse and contribute to short term and long term strategies of campaigns.
Technologies – is able to demonstrate and apply effective use of digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives.
Data – is able to review, monitor and analyse online activity and provide recommendations and insights.
Customer Service – responds efficiently to enquiries using online platforms.
Problem Solving – is able to apply structured techniques to problem solving, and analyses problems and resolves issues across a variety of digital platforms.
Analysis – is able to understand analytical data and use the appropriate tools.
Implementation – is able to build and implement digital campaigns across a variety of digital media platforms.
Knowledge within Specialist Areas – SEO, PPC, E-Mail marketing, web analytics and metrics.
Digital Tools – is able to apply and understand the latest and most effective tools to use in campaigns.
Interprets and Follows – has knowledge and use of the latest news and trends in digital.

Entry Requirements

You will typically need to be over the age of 16 years old and have completed and passed your Math and English GCSE or equivalent. More information on this can be found on the .gov website.

Conclusion

The digital landscape is an ever-changing field and therefore so is digital marketing. The industry is dynamic; consumers, technology and competitors are constantly evolving. Embracing, understanding, and adapting to that change continuously presents exciting career opportunities. You can find more information from our current and previous apprenticeships on our website or can browse our apprenticeships here.

You can also sign up below to subscribe to download our Digital Apprenticeship EPA Interview Tips eBook.

Must Do’s when creating Social Media Strategies

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021 by Nora Rodriguez

Tips for L3 Digital Marketer Apprentices

A social media strategy is a plan of action for using your social media platforms as a marketing tool. As a Level 3 Digital Marketing apprentice, being able to create and implement social media strategies is a key factor.

The objectives of any strategy are to increase brand awareness, build brand recognition and create brand loyalty.

The 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix on Social Media

Social media marketing strategies are typically executed by the following four P’s:

Product: What is being sold? Is it a product, service, idea or information?
Place: Where should it be sold? Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?
Promotion: How should it be promoted on the platform? E.g. sponsored posts or ads on Instagram
Patience: How long will it take before reach goals are met?

Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing Strategies

We have gathered a guide listing the best practices, and things to do and to avoid when it comes to social media marketing strategies.

Social media marketing, when done right, can be a powerful tool. But many companies make mistakes in their approach to it. This section explores the common mistakes made by companies when they use social media in their campaigns and how to avoid these things when starting a campaign of your own.

Must Do’s of Social Media Marketing for businesses:

1) Have complete and updated profiles and pages on each platform. The saying “first impressions are everything” certainly rings true on the Internet. People might be meeting the company for the first time via these social media accounts and it’s vital that you depict the company in a positive way from the very start. If you want people to trust what you’re advertising, make sure your profiles are fully-fledged (completed), professional looking and that you upload high quality profile and cover pictures.

2) Post regularly. Make sure to engage with your community at least once or twice a week. Post too sparsely and you risk missing opportunities to drive awareness of your brand, but post too frequently and you might annoy your followers instead!

3) Nurture your followers by interacting with them. It’s important to show your audience that you’re active in social media. Not only active posting content, but also active listening to them, and caring for them. 1-2-1 genuine interactions can increase not only the engagement rate on your posts, but also the number of shares and even reach.

4) Post original content. The content you post must always be owned by you/your company. Not only that, but if it’s too similar and many ways to other content from competitors and other accounts, apart from plagiarism and copyright issues, you will be facing a bored audience who will lose trust. The reason for many people to follow an account is to see what original content they share.

5) Create a content calendar. This will save you tons of time and headaches. You can either use your own spreadsheets, or some more sophisticated ones, such as this HubSpot’s Downloadable Template for Excel.

Things to avoid on Social Media Marketing for businesses:

1) Using automated tools that promote your content and grow your audience. It’s tempting to use tools that do this for you but the problem is that the followers they create for you are not interested in what you have to say and will unfollow after a few days.

2) Posting irrelevant content. Always try to post content on social media platforms which are relevant to your business or industry. If your company is an app development company, don’t talk about how much weight people lost over the past year!

3) Posting uninspiring content without any call-to-action. Often times, marketers just post an image or video without explaining what they want their audience members to do.

Conclusion: Keep the Basics in Mind

As a Level 3 Digital Marketer apprentice, you will find yourself working on social media marketing strategies many times throughout your journey.

It’s important you always keep some basic guidelines in mind, and stick to them, breaking them only when you know it will work. The rules are made to be broken, but only with a study and research behind, that supports those decisions. Ideally, you should stick to the best practices, which have been proven to work.

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Acing the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship portfolio

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021 by Hayley Flanagan

A Digital Marketing apprenticeship is a great way to kickstart your career in the tech industry, and you can find one near you today. Upon completion you will gain a Level 3 qualification, and we have constructed the ultimate guide to acing your apprenticeship portfolio and getting a Distinction grade.

The core components of the Digital Marketing apprenticeship

There are 4 main components to passing your 15 month long Digital Marketing apprenticeship:

The 3 exams – Principles of coding, Marketing principles & Google Analytics Individual Qualification
Your summative portfolio – This will serve as a summary of all the work you have completed throughout your apprenticeship, and provide evidence that you have met a certain list of competencies which we will explore more below
A synoptic project – A 4 day project where you receive a marketing brief and work to complete it to display the knowledge you have gained over the course of the apprenticeship
The end point assessment – An interview with a governing body to discuss what you have worked on over the past 15 months

In this article we will explore the portfolio component of the apprenticeship and teach you how to produce it to the highest standard.

What is the summative portfolio?

The summative portfolio is a way for you to document all the amazing work you do throughout your apprenticeship, and plays a big part in the grade you receive. In the Digital Marketing apprenticeship there are 19 competencies you have to provide evidence for in your portfolio, across 3 different criteria:

The What

Written communication – applies a good level of written communication skills for a range of audiences and digital platforms and with regard to the sensitivity of communication
Research – analyses and contributes information on the digital environment to inform short and long term digital communications strategies and campaigns
Technologies – recommends and applies effective, secure and appropriate solution using a wide variety of digital technologies and tools over a range of platforms and user interfaces to achieve marketing objectives
Data – reviews, monitors and analyses online activity and provides recommendations and insights to others
Customer service – responds efficiently to enquiries using online and social media platforms
Problem solving – applies structured techniques to problem solving, and analyses problems and resolves issues across a variety of digital platforms
Analysis – understands and creates basic analytical dashboards using appropriate digital tools
Implementation – builds and implements digital campaigns across a variety of digital media platforms
Specialist areas – search marketing, search engine optimisation and Pay-Per-Click, email marketing, web analytics and metrics, mobile apps
Digital Tools – uses digital tools effectively
Digital Analytics – measures and evaluates the success of digital marketing activities
Interprets and follows – latest developments in digital media technologies and trends, marketing briefs and plans, company defined ‘customer standards’ or industry good practice for marketing company, team or client approaches to continuous integration
Operate – can operate effectively in their own business, their customers’ and the industry’s environments

The How

Demonstrating skills – can demonstrate the full range of skills, knowledge and behaviours required to fulfil their job role
Business objectives – can demonstrate how they contribute to the wider business objectives and show an understanding of the wider business environments
Creative and logical thinking skills – can demonstrate the ability to use both logical and creative thinking skills when undertaking work tasks, recognising and applying techniques from both
Problem solving – can show that they recognise problems inherent in, or emerging during, work tasks and can tackle them effectively

The With Whom

Managing relationships -apprentices can manage relationships with work colleagues, including those in more senior roles, customers/clients and other stakeholders, internal or external and as appropriate to their roles, so as to gain their confidence, keep them involved and maintain their support for the task/project in hand. Apprentices can establish and maintain productive working relationships, and can use a range of different techniques for doing so
Communication – apprentices can communicate effectively with a range of people at work, one-to-one and in groups, in different situations and using a variety of methods. apprentices can demonstrate various methods of communication, with an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of these

Digital Marketing image — Digital Marketing

Advice for creating a Distinction summative portfolio

In order to maximise your chances of getting a top grade in your Digital Marketing apprenticeship, we have put together our top tips for creating a great portfolio:

Screenshot your evidence from the beginning – This one is the most important! Make sure you screenshot your work as you progress with the projects you are working on so that when it comes to the assessment, it is easy to see where you have hit the competencies
Keep your formatting consistent – To make the portfolio readable, try to stick to a consistent format throughout
Write as much as you can – The more detail the better in this instance, it is your time to shine so make sure you include all the work you have done
Add in 20% projects – If you have any projects outside of your core work you can include these too – they may help you hit a competency you are otherwise missing
Work on it over time – The portfolio is something you should be adding to throughout the course of the apprenticeship, and not at the very last minute – being consistent will save you stress in the future

Conclusion

A portfolio is not only a great way to demonstrate the work you have done in your end point assessment, it can also be used to show future employers the impact you have had on the business you work for – try to make it as reflective of your great work as possible.

If you would like to learn more about Digital Marketing, check out our other articles here.

Top Tips for Optimising Instagram’s Tools to Grow Your Business

November 25, 2021November 25, 2021 by Maddison Haddow-Self

Engage and grow with your social media audience.

Instagram is a versatile platform used by many businesses to help improve their online presence and engage with their audience. But are you making the most out of all of Instagram’s tools and features? Not only does Instagram have incredible marketing tools on its own, but there are also platforms to help step up your social media marketing to an extra level.

With a ‘Professional Instagram Account’ you can:

Learn about your followers – get insights and see how your posts are performing
Reach more people – create promotions on Instagram to help reach more people and build your audience
Receive more contacts – adding contact buttons to your profile makes it easier for people to het in touch with you

The basics of a professional account are tools which most are aware of, but how can you use these tools to improve your online presence and build your Instagram audience even more, and how can the other features of Instagram benefit you?

Instagram app social media marketing essential tools

Posts

The most obvious tool on Instagram is the posting feature. You can select a post, add a filter, add a caption, and share it to your followers. But there are more ways to make the most of this feature:

Canva – a creator tools that will allow you to create specific sized content using templates. Instagram is known for its distinct square posts, and this may cut off some of your content. With Canva you can create content using a blank Instagram post template and view a range of elements or upload your own phots, add text and even animations before saving or posting directly to Instagram from Canva.
Hashtags – like SEO for your Instagram. Users can search specifically for hashtags, and posts using these will appear in the search results (much like a website using keywords). You can research keywords and hashtags associated with your business and be sure to add these hashtags to your future posts and make them more discoverable to users. Be sure to limit yourself to twenty hashtags, going over this will actually damage your discoverability. Do not use hashtags which are not relevant to your business or the post as you will not attract a relevant audience.
Planoly – if you have trouble finding time to sit and post on Instagram every day, you can use Planoly – a free content planner which will automatically post your content for you. Using tools such as Planoly or similar, allows you to plan your content in advance, add captions and hashtags and even tag other Instagram users and then schedule your post for ‘auto-posting’. Just set a time and a date and Planoly will do the rest for you and as a result you can focus on other elements of your job.

Insights

If you know how to use insights correctly then you are on your way to success. But if you just use insights to see how many views you got on your last post, then you can do so much more.
See how many likes, comments, shares, and saves you got on your post as well as the accounts reached, content interactions, profile activity and reach. These figures can help you understand what was successful about your post by comparing to other posts. If you have a really successful post and then a post which did not have the same reactions, notice anything you did different. You can even conduct a form of A/B testing, test which elements of a post you think are successful against other elements.
Account insights – accounts reach, accounts engaged, and number of total followers can be viewed here. You can compare new insights to old insights and see how your account has grown over a set period of time. You can use insights view the overall success of your account as well as specific information such as your top performing post and follower growth.
Set goals – insights are an essential part of setting goals, if you do not know the facts about your account you will not be able to set goals. For example, if you set a goal to increase your followers by 5% in the next 4 weeks, you monitor this goal using insights.

Shop

Instagram shop is a great way to sell your items directly through the platform and highlight some of your best products, but it can also be used to promote sales, products and generally market your merchandise. ‘Shop’ can be a paid promotion of its own and users can purchase products straight from the ad. To learn more about how to start selling on Instagram Shop, click the link:

https://business.instagram.com/blog/introducing-shops-on-instagram?locale=en_GB

Reels, Live, and Videos

Video content is one of the best ways to improve engagement and reach with organic content alone. Instagram users prefer watching video content to still images. Video content can t=come in the form of a reel, live stream or with video posts.

Reels can be up to sixty seconds long and have their own dedicated Instagram section where users can scroll through reels, or they can appear via the explore page or on a home page.
Live streams allow users to stream live content right from their Instagram page. Users can invite others to join in with the live stream or even send notifications out to followers about going live. Live is a brilliant way to engage users in latest content and involve them as part of your brand.
Videos can be posted on your story or on the main grid of your profile and are a fresh way of adding engaging content to your profile.

Use Instagram tools to optimise your social media marketing and go beyond the idea of just follows and likes and make your business shine above the rest.