Let’s be honest, traditional marketing is almost dead now.
I still remember when my first client told me, “Let’s just put an ad in the newspaper.” I told him, no one reads that anymore. Today, if your business is not on Instagram, Google, and YouTube, you literally don’t exist.
Digital marketing is not just an option anymore, it’s survival. Whether you want to grow on Instagram, get traffic to your website, or get real leads that pay you – you need it.
But the question everyone asks me is – “Brother, what does it take to become a good digital marketer?”
And I always say, it’s not just about knowing how to run ads.
When I started, I thought digital marketing is just about learning tools. Like, I learned SEO, I know Canva, I ran Meta ads so I became a marketer. But that’s the biggest mistake.
A great digital marketer needs 3 things:
1. You need to understand people, not just algorithms.
Algorithms change every day. Till yesterday Reels were working, today it’s something else. But human psychology is the same. Why do people click? Why do they trust? If you understand this, you can win on any platform.
2. You need to be okay with failure.
I lost money in my first 4 campaigns. Not a single lead came. I felt like quitting. But the 5th one worked. Digital marketing is all about testing. You have to test everything – headline, image, audience. Whoever is scared of this, cannot survive in this field.
3. And you need to keep learning.
In this field yesterday’s knowledge doesn’t work today. Google brings updates daily. Instagram’s algorithm changes every month. If you stop learning, you are finished.
So, degree? Course? It’s important, but not that much. I have seen BBA boys who cannot run a single ad, and 12th pass boys who are earning 2 lakh per month from freelancing.
The only difference is – one read books, the other did the work.
If you really want to become a digital marketer, start with one small business. Maybe your friend’s shop. Offer to handle his Instagram for free for one month. Do the work. Fail. Learn. That’s how you become great.
*And here are 7 more things I learned the hard way:*
4. Content is Not King, Useful Content is King.
In the beginning I made 3-4 beautiful posts daily, not a single like came. Then one day I made a simple post – “One mistake that is ruining your website’s SEO”. It got 50 comments. I understood, people don’t want knowledge, they want a solution.
5. Learn to Look at Data, Working on Feeling Will Not Work.
Earlier I used to say “I feel this ad will work”. It never worked. Now I open analytics every morning. At what time are people clicking more? From which city are cheap leads coming? Data never lies.
6. Master One Platform.
I also made this mistake, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube all together. I was nowhere. Then I focused only on Instagram for 6 months. All my clients came from there. Win at one place, then go to the next.
7. Explaining to the Client is Also a Skill.
My 2 clients left because I was explaining CTR, CPM to them. They don’t care about that. They only want to hear – “How many customers will come?” Learn to talk in their language.
8. Show Your Face, People Connect With People.
Till the time I used my company logo, no one trusted me. From the day I started posting my own videos, told my failure story, people started messaging me. Personal branding is everything in 2026.
9. SEO is Slow, But It Pays The Most.
Ads stop then leads stop. But the blog I wrote 1 year ago, it still gives me 4-5 leads every month, for free. Give 30 minutes daily to SEO, consider it as saving for your future.
10. Consistency is The Biggest Thing.
More talented people than me quit in 2 months. I was average, but I posted daily, I learned one thing daily. Today that same consistency is paying me. Being regular is more important than being smart.