7 Digital Marketing Careers for Making Money Online in Nigeria
I get asked a lot about digital marketing when it comes to making money online or getting a job online.
In fact, if I get paid every single time someone asks me about starting a career in digital marketing or getting a digital marketing job, I would have earned over $1,000.
This should tell you that this is a high-interest career field in Nigeria, just like tech, which has been getting a lot of entrants in recent years.
The reason why a lot of people are interested in digital marketing is due to its low barrier to entry and easier learning curve.
More so, digital marketing is niche agnostic and can be applied to many digital and tech fields.
I dare say that if you want a digital career that gives you almost limitless opportunities to make money and work across several niches, then digital marketing is what I would recommend.
That is why in this post, I’ll be discussing the top 7 digital marketing careers you can start in Nigeria.
Hopefully, you'll pick interest in one of the careers and kickstart your journey to making money online.
Let's get right into it.
Social Media Influencing
This is probably the easiest and most popular digital marketing career in Nigeria.
It involves building social media audiences for specific niches via social media groups and pages, and then monetizing them via brand ads.
If you've ever followed a popular personality on social media because you enjoy their content or agree with their views on issues, then you've probably followed a social media influencer.
The good thing about becoming a social media influencer is that you have an audience that trusts you and are willing to patronize products or services that you recommend.
And that is why big brands love social media influencers, and are willing to pay good money to leverage their audiences.
Even though most social media influencers in Nigeria are niche agnostic, they usually start out from a particular niche and then expand the scope of their content overtime.
Information Marketing
The first time I came about information marketing in Nigeria was in the days of the popular Akin Alabi, who is now a Nigerian politician by the way.
He was very popular on Nigeria's foremost online forum, Nairaland, and he would talk enthusiastically about hidden business ideas that everyone would be interested to know about.
The first thing I noticed about Akin Alabi and many other information marketers in that time was that they were good copywriters.
They wrote very convincing copies that sold them thousands, if not millions of eBook copies.
Akin Alabi has gone on to build Nairabet, which is one of the top sports betting companies in Nigeria, and is now very involved in Nigerian politics.
My point here is, information marketing is an entirely different ball game than social media influencing. It's literally a step up and requires some special skills, without which you cannot succeed.
You must know your onions and be able to clearly communicate it via enticing sales copies.
In fact, it was after following these information marketers that I decided I wanted to go into digital marketing, and had to brush up my copywriting skills.
Another skill that is important to learn if you want to become an information marketer is research.
You must be a voracious reader and an intricate researcher who knows how to browse through a web of misinformation to find the most helpful information for your audience.
Affiliate Marketing
Almost every digital marketer I know today has done affiliate marketing at one point in their career.
I've also tried affiliate marketing via niche sites and made some money, although I encountered the usual issues with Nigerian affiliate programs and their dubious nature, but that's by the way.
If you want to become an affiliate marketer, you need to be skilled in building niche audience platforms that can be monetized.
These platforms can include:
- Product websites
- Information blogs
- Squeeze pages
- WhatsApp groups
- Facebook groups
- Mobile apps
The good thing with affiliate marketing is that although many affiliate programs are conducted online, you could organize your affiliate marketing business offline or whatever way you can, and funnel those sales to the online platform.
As long as you're able to get the referral link or invite code to the customer, and they make a qualifying purchase, you'll earn a commission.
The task is then, how to design effective affiliate marketing sales funnels that can either be easily replicated or automated.
Multi Level Marketing (MLM)
Most MLM programs in Nigeria are not entirely online, but they have been able to gather a lot of interest over the years.
To be honest, many of the MLM jobs in Nigeria are not genuine, but you cannot take away the fact that the industry is thriving and there is money to be made.
Over the years, many MLM programs that used to be conducted entirely offline have started leveraging online channels to recruit new members and market their products.
But as exciting as a career in MLM is, there are a few drawbacks for new entrants, which includes hefty registration fees and cost of inventory. This makes it probably the most expensive digital marketing career to start.
New members would have to think twice and consider the significant capital needed to start their MLM career, as well as the risk of incurring losses.
Prospects who are risk averse might be discouraged, especially with products known to be overpriced.
Over the years, I've spoken with a few MLM agents about the nature of the business, and they made me understand that MLM is a business and every member is considered an independent business partner in the system, and should be able to manage the risk of running a business.
So, if you're looking for an online job for making money without risk, MLM might not be ideal for you.
Viral Product Marketing
This is a highly skilled digital marketing career where marketers attempt to make a brand go viral, especially on social media platforms.
This is quite different from social media influencing, as most viral campaigns involve groups of influencers that are employing a mix of strategies to make a product or brand go viral.
Viral marketers usually own systems or funnels that are designed to make products popular, and they periodically rent out these systems or funnels to brand for a fee.
The thing with being a viral marketer is that you first have to become a social media influencer, and then connect with other influencers to create the network effect or system needed to make products go viral.
Thankfully, social media influencing has a much less learning curve for beginners who are looking to acquire the skills and create the required network needed to become viral marketers.
CPA Marketing
Cost per action (CPA) marketing is similar to affiliate marketing but is a step behind in the sales process.
While affiliate marketers are required to complete a sale to be able to earn a commission, CPA marketers make money when users perform specific required actions.
For example, a CPA marketer can be paid to get new users to sign up on a website, while an affiliate marketer will be required to get a new user to sign up and follow through by making a purchase after signing up.
CPA marketers, like affiliate marketers, must be skilled in building niche audience platforms that they can leverage for CPA tasks, but CPA marketing might involve a more complex tracking mechanism to track specific user actions than affiliate marketing where users are tracked via referral links and invite codes, which are authenticated during sign up.
CPA marketers will usually work hand in hand with other digital marketers in digital marketing campaigns, such as viral marketing campaigns where many users are required to perform specific actions simultaneously.
Lead Marketing
Lead marketing is a specialized aspect of digital marketing where marketers are required to pre-qualify and funnel users for specific ad campaigns.
Lead marketers have to be skilled in designing online forms, quizzes, and contents that generate leads or pre-qualify prospects for specific product offers.
They create forms that collect prospects’ data for targeted ad campaigns, or utilize niche content to attract and direct them to different offer pages according to their interest.
Lead marketing is usually required at the start of ad campaigns to sort prospects in the sales funnel, and serve them with relatable ads in order to increase conversion rate.
To become a lead marketer, you have to be skilled in using lead generation software, tools or platforms. There are many of them such as Leadpages, OptinMonster, Hubspot, Salesforce, etc.
If you already have a formal job and are looking to upskill in the digital marketing space or even gradually transition into marketing in tech, then this is where you're likely to have the most success.
Related Posts:
25 Small Business Tips Your Mentor Never Gave You
7 Business Models to Quickly Multiply your Income
7 Things I Learned from Freelancing on Fiverr in the Last 7 Years
10 Cool Ways to Make Money with Your Phone in Nigeria (2024)
7 Best Business Niches to Invest & Grow Your Wealth in 2024
20 Fast Moving Small Businesses to Start in Nigeria (2024)
10 Female Businesses for Women to Work from Home in Nigeria
10 Most Popular YouTube Niches for Making Money in 2024
10 Best Business Ideas for New Graduates in Nigeria (2024)
20 Profitable Businesses to Start with 100k in Nigeria (2024)