Creating a digital marketing portfolio for yourself would be great for showcasing your skills and qualifications to potential employers or clients. If you’re planning on creating a career in marketing, be it full-time or freelancing, having a portfolio would be a bonus.
What is a marketing portfolio?
A marketing portfolio reflects a visual representation of your work and achievements. Portfolios are often associated with jobs in design, architecture, or photography. However, regardless of your profession, having a portfolio will give you an advantage over other candidates.
Online portfolios can be a nifty weapon for marketing managers, coordinators, analysts, and digital marketers. However, it can be used by trainees and beginners as an indication to highlight their potential.
You’ll find several portfolio websites on the web today. These websites typically provide templates and tools that make designing and organizing your portfolio easy. Thus, we have tried highlighting the best websites you can refer to while building your portfolio, along with a few examples.
A digital portfolio is much better than printing your work samples in a folder. Keep reading to learn more about some of the best marketing portfolio examples and how to build one yourself.
What are the steps to create a good marketing portfolio?
Creating a digital portfolio is easier said than done. However, with our 5 basic steps, you can create the type of portfolio you envisioned for yourself.
Step 1: Gather all the information
Information can range from education details, work experience, achievements, and certifications to references and testimonials. Adding everything to your online portfolio doesn’t make sense, so research well and include your best work examples.
Step 2: Organize all the information
Organization of your projects can be done chronologically or category-wise. You can choose whatever method works best for you. Some portfolios even order their projects in an industry-specific format.
Step 3: Choose the format
Portfolios can be online or offline. In online mode, they can be a Google drive link, a word document, a website, etc. The best option for a marketing portfolio would be an online website.
Step 4: Keep updating the portfolio
Simply creating a portfolio is not enough. You need regularly update it as your career advances. When you’re done creating your portfolio, set periodic reminders ahead of time to update it.
Step 5: Fill the gaps and leave no spaces
If you feel like you’re at a loss of information when creating your portfolio, develop mock pieces. For example, if you’re beginning your career as a content writer and you do not have many work examples to include, you could start writing a few blogs only to add to your portfolio. This shows your employer that you’re invested in building your personal brand.
Once you have all the information you need, you have to place it in a way to make it look visually appealing. The most advisable method is to build a website as your portfolio using a website builder that lets you customize and optimize your portfolio per your requirements.
To learn the above steps in detail and understand all the elements of building a portfolio, read: All About Work Portfolio: Build Your Own In 5 Steps
Now, let us glimpse how each step works toward building a functional and appealing portfolio.
Choose a platform
The best way to create a marketing portfolio would be through a website. Here are 5 easy-to-use platforms to create your online portfolio.
Don’t worry. It’s the 21st century. You don’t need to know how to code or write programs to develop your website. Hosting platforms offer a wide range of templates for your website design.
- Free Trial: Yes
- Pricing: $16/mo
- Free Trial: Yes
- Pricing: $16/mo
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- Pricing: $10/mo
- Free Trial: No
- Pricing: $6.99/mo
- Free Trial: Yes
- Pricing: $4/mo
After you’re done choosing the platform, it’s time you work on it and plan it in a way that is navigational and informational at the same time.
You don’t have to be a graphic designer or UX designer to design your site. Things might seem black and white initially, but as you start inserting information and building the website, you’ll have more clarity and ideas.
Know exactly what to include in your portfolio: Secrets To Writing The Best Portfolio Table of Contents
To help you further, here are a few examples of the best portfolio websites in the marketing field. Don’t hesitate to steal ideas to include in your digital marketing portfolio.
3 Impressive Marketing Portfolio Examples
Denise has expertise in content marketing and brand strategy. Her website is simple and easy to navigate. Her choice of colors on the website gives it a calming look.
The portfolio website highlights the key skills and specialties in every field she works in. She has a “My Work” section highlighting her best examples.
Let’s skip to the best part
She has occupied one section on the homepage with the industries she has worked in. This is a great way to showcase your versatility and adaptability to different kinds of work.
Antolak has set a good example for a minimalistic website that showcases his design skills. As a designer, he has created a logo for himself, which is an excellent way to show off. Apart from using his website as his design portfolio, he has also used it to showcase his writing skills in the “Blog” section.
How he has designed the website throws light on his marketing skills and how to grab the user’s attention. This is a great way to impress your potential clients.
Let’s skip to the best part
Antolak did not just attach images of his previous work examples. He added short paragraphs describing the work too. He has almost shown off his work as case studies about what his clients required, and he was able to fulfill their needs.
Invest time in your contact page. Your complete contact information, including your LinkedIn profile, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, should be easily accessible on the website.
The homepage of your online portfolio is like deciding your outfit for an interview. It’s the first page your employer or client will land on. Hence, spend some time making it impressive so that they want to explore it further.
Elizabeth has utilized her homepage well by highlighting her services in a horizontal listicle. As a social media strategist, she has described throughout the website how her services could help you grow your business.
Apart from showcasing her skills and competencies, she has also used the “Blog” section to write about various social media topics. This further complements her expertise in social media.
Let’s skip to the best part
Elizabeth realizes the power of testimonials from former clients and employers. Highlighting testimonials in your portfolio is a great way to win the trust of your potential clients.
In fact, she has included an additional page on her website with the title “Kind words from my clients,” showcasing all that her clients have to say about her.
If you’re at the beginning of your career and do not have client testimonials, you can always ask your mentors, tutors, colleagues, or former managers to write you short testimonials. They are a great way to bring credibility to your portfolio.
Browse through our collection of blogs focussing on various portfolios:
Summing Up
Before creating your own digital marketing portfolio, go through several examples to get an idea of how your portfolio looks. Spend an ample amount of time planning the portfolio, as this is going to be a long-term project.
There is no expiration date for your portfolio. You can keep updating it as your career advances. Hence, try to do it once and for right. Creating the portfolio could be a task for one of your professional development goals.
Developing an online portfolio especially becomes important for you if you’re into marketing, as this field has several sectors to it. Content marketing, email marketing, design, SEO, and brand strategy are some marketing sectors. A portfolio will allow you to feature your skills in your specialized sector.
So, take the time to curate your best work and make it shine because, as they say, "Your portfolio is your silent salesman. Let it do the talking". Remember, a great portfolio reflects not only your skills but also your ability to market yourself effectively. Happy creating!
To give yourself an extra push, learn more about the benefits of having a portfolio. Read: How does a portfolio help you?
This article has been written by Pansy Thakuria. She works as a Content Marketing Specialist at Vantage Lens. Her areas of interest include marketing, mental well-being, travel, and digital tech. When she’s not writing, she’s usually planning trips to remote locations and stalking animals on social media.