So how do you create a winning digital marketing portfolio? We\u2019ll show you how. Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll cover:<\/span><\/p>\n If you want to get straight to the how-to part, use the clickable menu to skip to section five.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First up:<\/strong> What is a marketing portfolio and why do you need one?<\/span><\/p>\n A marketing portfolio is a website or web page that showcases your best work for potential employers or clients. The portfolio should give a brief introduction to your professional background, and should house at least three strong case studies showing your marketing skills<\/a>. The website itself is also a portfolio piece demonstrating your use of digital media, copy, and design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You might think that portfolios are just for designers\u2014and you can certainly take <\/span>inspiration from UX and UI design portfolios<\/span><\/a> when it comes to building your own\u2014but they are just as important in the marketing field. Whether you\u2019re a designer or a marketer, the end goal is the same: to showcase your value, skills, and expertise to potential clients or employers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So who might need a marketing portfolio?<\/strong> You guessed it\u2014anyone who\u2019s working in, or aspiring to work in, digital marketing. That includes students, career changers, and those interested in freelance work. If you\u2019re searching for job opportunities or gig work, a marketing portfolio is a must-have for potential employers or clients to view your skills and work before calling you for an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n In a nutshell, then: Your marketing portfolio is your own website which showcases what you can bring to the table as a digital marketer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at the components that actually make up a digital marketing portfolio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All digital marketing portfolios should include three basic components: An \u201cAbout\u201d section, work samples, and contact information.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Your \u201cAbout\u201d section should provide a snapshot of who you are and the value you bring, including an overview of your professional background and credentials. Employers or clients also like to get a preview of your personality here. Do you have an interesting hobby or pet? Give a few details about yourself outside of work that demonstrate your creativity or work ethic (for example, mentioning that you run ultramarathons).<\/span><\/p>\n Also,\u00a0 consider including a high-quality photo of yourself to help website visitors make a connection with you. Depending on the role and industry you are seeking, a formal head shot or a lifestyle photo could be appropriate. It doesn\u2019t need to be taken by a professional, but it should have good lighting and not be blurry or pixelated.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Work samples and case studies are the most important part of your marketing portfolio; website visitors may skip to this section without even reading your bio. We\u2019ll show you how to\u00a0 create powerful work samples for your portfolio in our step-by-step guide in section five.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s important to have a clear, easily-findable section which provides your contact details. After all, that\u2019s what you want people to do! This section should include an email address where you will respond quickly, or a form field created through your website builder that will forward emails to you. Your phone number and city are optional\u2014but don\u2019t list your home address.<\/span><\/p>\n Other components that you may want to include depending on your goals are a resume<\/a>, blog, testimonials, or a services page if you offer freelance services, and links to your social media accounts. In marketing, it\u2019s important to demonstrate that you can use different kinds of social media. However, only link to accounts that are public and have content appropriate for a professional context.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t held a job in marketing yet, it\u2019s still possible to create an impressive marketing portfolio. <\/span><\/p>\n If you take a digital marketing course, capstone projects can form the basis of your portfolio. Likewise, if you\u2019ve done a <\/span>digital marketing internship<\/span><\/a>, you can use this as a case study. For a good example of this, check out Adelina Ortega’s Green Gatherings Campaign Project<\/a>. This was the safety advisor-turned-digital marketer’s capstone project for the CareerFoundry Digital Marketing Program<\/a>, where she built out a marketing campaign for a Berlin-based eco-startup.<\/span><\/p>\n You can also look for volunteer projects at a local nonprofit or association, or create a hypothetical marketing campaign<\/strong>. This is where you create your own project (perhaps using a real brand or service) in order to show your process and how you\u2019d use your digital marketing know-how if you were to work with this brand. <\/span><\/p>\n If you do this, just be clear about the nature of the projects you include<\/strong>; you\u2019ll need to explicitly state that it\u2019s a hypothetical project and that you weren\u2019t hired by the company to complete it.<\/span><\/p>\n And remember: your marketing portfolio website is a project in itself<\/strong>.\u00a0 It should showcase your writing and design skills, as well as your ability to connect with an audience. Strong portfolio design and content can compensate for some lack of experience, and could at least get you in front of a hiring manager to make your case.<\/span><\/p>\n We now know what a marketing portfolio is, but what might it look like in action? Here are two examples of marketing portfolios to give you some inspiration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What to look for:<\/b> crisp design and a custom logo, clear case studies with descriptions in-line with project images.<\/span><\/p>\n What to look for:<\/b> good use of white space, logos of clients for a clean visual statement, and a unique use of videos to showcase her projects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For more inspiration, be sure to check out another CareerFoundry alum, Haleigh Peck. Her Pineapple Record Co. project<\/a> is a great example of devising and presenting a social media campaign, from user personas all the way to sample Instagram posts.<\/p>\n Hungry for even more inspiration? Have a look at this hand-picked curation of some of the best marketing portfolio examples from around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n Creating a marketing portfolio takes considerable time and hands-on work, but it\u2019s a smart investment in yourself and your career. If you take a digital marketing certification program or course<\/a>, you’ll likely get help with building your portfolio. Otherwise, the following steps will walk you through how to build a marketing portfolio for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n First, you\u2019ll need to decide where to host your marketing portfolio website. While some marketers have the skills to develop a custom website, most starting out will look for a hosting platform with design templates to get started. Here is an overview of four popular content management systems for portfolios:<\/span><\/p>\n All of these options allow for users to create a basic free or low-cost website with a subdomain (example: yourname.wix.com), which users can upgrade later if needed. Do you need to purchase a custom domain name? It depends on your goals. A custom domain name, usually with your name for a portfolio website, makes a website appear more polished and professional, though for a job seeker it isn\u2019t mandatory.<\/span><\/p>\n Before you start writing and building your work samples, take a moment to outline your site map, including your page titles. Most portfolio websites have a simple site structure with just three to five pages.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re using a content management system, the easiest way to do this is to start with a template. Browse templates by searching for \u201cportfolios\u201d or \u201cmarketing portfolios\u201d to find a design that compels you. Remember, a template is yours to customize\u2014you aren\u2019t locked into page titles or layouts\u2014but you\u2019ll save yourself time by starting with something close to what you want.<\/span><\/p>\n For your intro section, you have one shot to draw the reader in with clear, compelling copy and a power statement that depicts your skills and accomplishments. The words that you choose for this section are just as important as the experience you do or don\u2019t have. For best results, be concise,<\/span> choose active verbs<\/span><\/a>, and<\/span> avoid adverbs<\/span><\/a> and hyperbole.<\/span><\/p>\n For your portfolio section, choose at least three project showcases that represent your best work and a diversity of skills. Depending on your specialty area, this could include:<\/span><\/p>\n Each project example should include an image, usually of the campaign collateral or an image of campaign analytics. Make sure that the images can be enlarged enough for the user to read the content. For web content or campaigns that are live, you can link out to the campaign; just keep in mind that digital marketing content is updated often, so you\u2019ll need to do a regular check for broken links.<\/span><\/p>\n Write a description of your role with each project and describe your process and results in a concise manner. For the greatest impact, select portfolio projects that you can frame within the STAR acronym: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. For your results, use specific numbers when possible.<\/span><\/p>\n For example<\/b>: The social media campaign resulted in 150% more impressions than the previous month and 75 clicks through to the website. CareerFoundry grad Dani Rodriguez does this eloquently in her Hotel 5280 portfolio project<\/a>, highlighting the stats of every social media post of the campaign:<\/span><\/p>\n By using each of these four points to frame your case studies, you\u2019ll tell a story of your specific role and actions you took to address the challenge, as well as measurable results that will speak to your knowledge of strategy and analytics.<\/span><\/p>\n Before you publish your site, solicit <\/span>user testing<\/span><\/a> from a handful of people invested in your success. <\/span><\/p>\n Share your test site link with a mentor, a peer, and several people working in the marketing industry. Don\u2019t forget to ask them to review the site from a mobile device as well as desktop. Ask for specific feedback; \u201cLooks great!\u201d won\u2019t help you make it better. You can send specific questions or ask one person to proofread in detail. <\/span><\/p>\n Incorporate the feedback and iterate on your website until you have resolved as much of the feedback as you can.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hitting the \u201cPublish\u201d button is a scary moment for any first-time marketing portfolio creator, but it\u2019s a moment to celebrate. Fight the urge to wait until your portfolio is perfect to publish. While it should be polished and free of errors, it will be a living document that you continue to update and improve over time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once it\u2019s published, share it widely with your networks on LinkedIn, Twitter, or other social media platforms. Add the link to your profiles and email signature for increased exposure. Set up Google Analytics or use your CMS\u2019s analytics to track how users are interacting with your website.<\/span><\/p>\n Now you know how to create a digital marketing portfolio, let\u2019s finish off with some tips and best practices. Our two golden rules are:<\/span><\/p>\n Learning how to talk about yourself and your skills is one of the hardest things you can do as an emerging professional. Creating a marketing portfolio will help you hone your message and demonstrate that you can communicate in a digital space with images, words, and design. Having a strong portfolio will help you to not only think about the value you offer, but also to demonstrate it quickly and with high impact. Remember to link to your marketing portfolio from your marketing resume<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n Your marketing portfolio is just one step towards a successful career in the field. If you’re interested in pursuing a career in digital marketing, why not check out our free, 5-day short course<\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n For more career advice, we can recommend the following guides:<\/span><\/p>\n Do you really need a marketing portfolio? Yes. Can you create one if you don’t have any experience? Yes! Learn how in this step-by-step guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":9452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing"],"acf":{"homepage_category_featured":false},"modified_by":"Matthew Deery","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32190,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449\/revisions\/32190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
1. What exactly is a marketing portfolio and why do you need one?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n2. What should be included in your digital marketing portfolio?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Your \u201cAbout\u201d section<\/span><\/h3>\n
Work samples and case studies<\/span><\/h3>\n
Contact information<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n3. How can you build a marketing portfolio if you don\u2019t yet have any experience in the field?<\/span><\/h2>\n
4. Marketing portfolio examples<\/span><\/h2>\n
Michael Antolak \u2013 Brand Development and Graphic Design Portfolio<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Marketing-portfolio-Michael-Antolak.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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Dayana Mayfield \u2013 Copywriting Portfolio<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Marketing-portfolio-examples.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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<\/p>\n5. How to create a marketing portfolio: A step-by-step guide<\/span><\/h2>\n
Step 1. Choose a hosting platform<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Step 2. Outline your content<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 3. Write your content<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Step 4. Get feedback<\/span><\/h3>\n
Step 5. Publish and publicize<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"An](\"http:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Creating-a-marketing-portfolio-website.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n6. Tips and best practices for an effective marketing portfolio<\/span><\/h2>\n
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7. Key takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n
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