Top 10 Digital Marketers to Improve Your Marketing Campaigns

Let's face it: the digital marketing landscape is constantly in flux. Between ever-changing algorithms and the pressure to stay ahead of the curve, it's easy for even the most seasoned business owner to feel lost. But what if there was a way to tap into the expertise of a seasoned digital professional without the hefty overhead of a full-time marketing team? Enter the freelance digital marketing expert.

Below, we showcase the top 10 digital marketing freelancers who can inject fresh strategies and cutting-edge tactics into your campaigns. From SEO gurus to social media ninjas, these specialists can be your secret weapon for boosting brand awareness, driving leads, and ultimately, skyrocketing your sales.

Our top picks of the best digital marketers to hire

1. Barbara H. - Best overall

2. Alex M. - Best for enhancing digital marketing performance

3. Pawel K. - Best for digital marketing content

4. Sherisse W. - Best social media digital marketer

5. John M. - Best for email marketing

6. Matthew S. - Best for digital marketing SEO

7. Anthony P. - Best for paid advertising

8. Shreyas S. - Best affiliate marketer

9. Nicolas G. - Best digital marketing designer

10. Alesandro P. - Best digital marketer for eCommerce

What is a digital marketer?

A digital marketer is a specialist who helps businesses leverage the power of the Internet to achieve their marketing goals. They wear many hats, from crafting compelling social media marketing plans and managing search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns to analyzing website traffic and creating email marketing strategies. In essence, digital marketers are the navigators of the digital world, ensuring a business reaches its target audience and establishes a strong online presence.

What does a digital marketer do? 

A digital marketer is someone who uses various digital platforms to advertise a company's product or service. At the core, it's someone who knows how to plan and successfully execute marketing campaigns through: 

• Social media marketing: Publishing content on several social media channels, creating a social media strategy, and working with influencers and external partners.
• Content marketing: Creating different types of content (blog posts, white papers, landing pages) for the entire funnel, developing a content strategy, and optimizing existing content for search engines.
• Email marketing: Nurturing leads that come through a variety of digital marketing channels, segmenting audiences, and creating personalized data-based campaigns and automated flows.
• Data analysis: Using Google Analytics or the equivalent to analyze site traffic, track key performance indicators, and A/B test hypotheses.
• SEO: Search marketing is organic acquisition that involves on-page (keyword optimization) and off-page optimization like guest posts and backlink campaigns.
• Affiliate marketing: Getting traffic through partnerships with influencers, bloggers, and online publishers.
• Paid advertising: Launching paid advertising campaigns on social channels, advertising platforms, and search engines. 
• Graphic design: A digital marketing expert should have a good grasp of design, as any strategy will require great visual content to entice the user.

Digital marketing is very broad, and there are many different disciplines within that spectrum. You need to know exactly what you're looking for before you start the hiring process.

If you're looking for a marketing manager or someone who could manage an entire team, then you'll probably need a full-stack marketer or someone who has the creative chops, tech skills, and a good understanding of sales best practices to create the best messaging for your target audience.

When should you hire a digital marketer? 

Here are different scenarios that require a marketing expert: 

Your first marketer hire

If you have a good product and are just starting out then it's a great time to hire an internet marketer. You need someone to create a strategy, pick the right channels and marketing efforts to focus on, and build your customer base.

Launching a new product

If you have a new product or are about to target a new audience then you may need someone that has experience with that target persona or niche as well as running influencer campaigns, brand partnerships, and establishing relationships with content creators, sellers, or marketplaces in your niche.

Expanding to a new marketing channel

You may need a digital marketing consultant to advise you on the best ways to maximize your marketing spending. 

Improving your marketing strategy

You've built a digital marketing team, and they're firing on all cylinders, but you're not happy with the results. Something doesn't seem to be working, and you're not sure what. That's when you hire a marketing leader who's grown the specific channels you're working on and could advise you on what to change.

Running a team

Sometimes, you hire several employees to do different tasks, and as your business grows, you don't have the time to manage them all. That's when you should hire a digital marketing manager to take the reigns and lead the team.

How to hire the top digital marketers

Write a job description

First, determine your goals and write down all the tasks you want your marketer to manage. Are you looking for a freelancer or a full-time employee? What kinds of digital marketing campaigns would they be running? Break down each channel by task and decide if you want them to plan and manage the strategy and delegate the execution to someone else or do everything themselves. For example:

• Social media: Would they be creating social media posts, working with influencers, or getting customers to create UGC? And which social media platforms should they be experienced with?
• Content creation: Long-form? Social content? Video content? Would they be conducting content optimization or working on broader content marketing efforts (like white papers + lead magnets)? Would they have a content team? 
• SEO: Would they take direction from an external SEO expert or create their own SEO strategies? Would they be doing on-page or off-page optimization? 
• Paid ads: Would they manage the campaigns themselves? Is it going to be social media ads or video ads? Would they manage an external digital marketing agency?
• Tech skills: Which tools and platforms should they know how to use? It could be Google Analytics, SEO tools, content tools, social media management tools, or ad optimization platforms. Look at similar jobs to get some ideas of what's required.

Post the job and ask your network

Once you outline the job description, it's time to publish your job post and ask your network. You should reach out to current and past partners, ask your colleagues for recommendations, and post on relevant Slack and Facebook groups. 

Work with Mayple 

If you want to skip the mediocre candidates and go straight for the gold then you should source your marketing talent from Mayple's expert community. We have 600+ of the world's top experts, and we'll match you with someone who has proven experience in your niche and a successful track record working with similar brands.

Interview 

Now that you've got a few potential candidates, it's time to interview them. Asking the right questions is important. Don't just ask about the candidate's professional experience, make sure to cover all the angles. Here are some great interview questions to include:

• Channel-specific expertise: Do they have what it takes to manage the channel or specific marketing activity you're hiring for?
• Reporting: How well do they report their results? Which tools do they use? Which KPIs would they be tracking?
• Communication: How well do they communicate? If they're an agency or a freelance marketer then how often do they speak with their clients? 
• Overcoming challenges: How have they handled problems in the past? This could be communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, or marketing failures.
• Future ambitions: Where do they see themselves in 5-10 years? What's their ideal job? 
• Culture fit: Do they fit your company culture? Give them a personality test to see whether they would work well with other team members.

Test project 

The interview is a crucial part of the process, but most brands get stuck there. To really vet your candidate, you need to give them a test assignment. You can make it paid or non-paid (depending on the requirements and scope). 

You could ask them to create a digital marketing strategy for your project, a few designs or ideas for your social media channels, or write an article for your blog.  

Say farewell to marketing FOMO

The world of digital marketing is brimming with opportunity, but navigating it solo can be daunting. By collaborating with a freelance digital marketer, you gain access to specialized expertise without the long-term commitment of a full-time hire. They become your strategic partner, constantly learning and adapting their approach to ensure your campaigns stay ahead of the curve.

So, ditch the "fear of missing out" (FOMO) and embrace the freelance advantage. Consider this your first step towards a thriving online presence and a marketing strategy that ignites real results.