- Rebecca Strehlow
- Jul 23
- 14 min read
Updated: Aug 14
Ready to let your work shine? Build your portfolio →
Portfolios aren’t just for artists. In marketing, they’re one of the most useful tools you can have. A good portfolio shows your work, your skills and how you think. About 82% of hiring managers prefer candidates with online portfolios. It helps them quickly understand what you’ve done and how you solve problems.
Instead of collecting files or sending PDFs, build a portfolio website (see the best portfolio website builders). This guide shows you what to include in your marketing portfolio, plus examples of portfolio websites and web portfolios to inspire you.
Showcasing your talent should be easy. With Wix’s portfolio builder, you can create a professional, eye-catching portfolio that shows your best work in just a few clicks. Wix’s customizable templates and easy-to-use tools let you present your skills with confidence–leaving a lasting impression on anyone who visits your site.
TL;DR: how to create a marketing portfolio
A marketing portfolio gives people a clear look at your skills, your results and how you approach problems. Include a short bio, resume, contact info and a few strong work samples with explanations, data and testimonials. Even if you’re just starting, mock projects, volunteer work or freelance gigs can help you build a solid foundation.
Use a portfolio builder like Wix to create a clean, professional site fast. You’ll get customizable templates, mobile-friendly layouts and AI tools to help organize your work. Make your homepage clear, keep the layout easy to navigate and update your site as your experience grows. Focus on quality over quantity, tailor it to your audience and make it easy for people to reach out.
What should a marketing portfolio look like
Portfolio basics | How to do it | Pro tip |
|---|---|---|
Short bio | Write 2–3 sentences about your background, interests and what drives your work | Add a mission statement that reflects your values and focus |
Resume | Include a clear, updated resume with key roles, skills and achievements | Highlight results using numbers and outcomes |
Contact info | Add a contact page, email address, social links and a simple contact form | Make it easy to find—also include it on your About page and footer |
Work samples | Pick 3–5 of your best projects with strong visuals and real results | Prioritize work with measurable impact or creative solutions |
Process explanations | For each project, explain the goals, your role, the strategy and the results | Use bullet points or short paragraphs to keep it scannable |
Testimonials | Ask past clients or team members for 1–2 sentence quotes about working with you | Place next to relevant work to build trust |
Awards and recognition | List any industry awards, press mentions or certifications | Use logos or badges to make it visual |
Printable version | Create a simplified PDF with a cover page, resume and top work samples | Keep it short and brand it with your logo or personal style |
What is a marketing portfolio?
A marketing portfolio is a collection of work samples that showcase a marketer's skills, experience and accomplishments. It can be used to apply for new jobs, attract new clients or simply demonstrate one's expertise in the field.
Why you need a marketing portfolio
As Hani Safe, product lead (Showcase) at Wix puts it:
"Portfolios are ideal for professionals, individuals or businesses who want to showcase their work in a visually engaging manner to attract clients or enhance their online presence."
A marketing portfolio is a powerful tool for any marketer wanting to highlight skills and achievements. Paired with a strong resume, it can give your career a serious boost. A resume tells what you do, but a portfolio shows how you do it. That makes your experience more convincing to recruiters and clients.
People are more interested when you back up your claims with real results. Whether your focus is SEO, advertising, social media or any other marketing area, your portfolio is where you prove your expertise.
Putting your professional portfolio online shows you mean business and builds trust in your skills. Beyond showcasing your work, a marketing portfolio inspires potential clients or employers. When they see clear, compelling examples, they can picture the impact you’ll bring to their projects.
How to create a marketing portfolio
Here’s how to build a marketing portfolio—the type of website that presents your work in the best light and captures the attention of your audience:
01. Choose an online platform
Pick an online platform that lets your marketing portfolio look sharp and professional without extra hassle. Choose one with customizable free website themes designed for marketers, so you can easily showcase projects, results and skills in a clear, organized layout. Make sure it loads fast and works smoothly on phones, tablets and desktops, so visitors get a great experience every time.
A convenient way to get started with your online portfolio is to create a website using Wix. The entire process of learning how to build a website, from inception to publication, is completely free, and there’s a wide selection of portfolio templates that you can customize according to your needs. You've also got AI-powered portfolio tools, including an AI website builder and tools for auto-arranging your photos into projects.
Test drive the AI website builder.
Building a portfolio with Wix includes a domain name, secure web hosting and robust security infrastructure.
02. Create a compelling homepage
As you build your portfolio website, remember your homepage sets the tone. It’s the first impression people get of your work, so it needs to communicate who you are and what you do in just a sentence or two. Think of it like a professional model portfolio—immediate impact, no fluff. Check out these web design portfolio examples to get a feel for how others introduce themselves clearly and confidently.
Keep the layout clean. Avoid walls of text, jarring color combinations or too many visuals competing for attention. Your homepage isn’t where you show everything—it’s where you point people in the right direction. Make sure it links clearly to your portfolio page and work samples.
You’ll also want to guide visitors with simple calls-to-action near the top of the page. A button like “Contact me” or “See my work” helps turn curiosity into connection. A good homepage doesn’t beg for attention—it channels it.
03. Design a strong About page
Don’t forget to include an About page as well. This is where you can place your professional bio, resume and links to your LinkedIn page and other relevant social media profiles.
This page should summarize your professional experience and highlight your achievements in a way that sets you apart from others in the field. Ideally, it will explain how you got to where you are today and the purpose behind your work.
You can also include a handful of customer testimonials to add credibility to your claims and to show that you stand behind your professional values.
04. Showcase your best samples
Here comes the meat of your marketing portfolio: your work samples. Begin by creating a separate page titled Portfolio or Work. This will be the canvas for presenting your most successful projects.
Most likely, you’ll have several projects to choose from. Rather than attempt to showcase all of them, carefully select the ones that best represent what you’re capable of. Remember, quality is better than quantity here. First, site visitors won’t want to sift through dozens of samples in search of your best work. Second, an in-depth analysis of 5 projects is far more compelling than a minimal commentary on 50.
If you’re stuck on which samples to include, consider the following:
Prioritize examples with great results: As you scan examples of past projects, begin by selecting the ones that yielded the most success. Whether you coordinated a campaign for a large company or built a startup’s digital marketing strategy from the ground up, choose examples with measurable data and impressive metrics.
Showcase your most innovative ideas: Perhaps you helped orchestrate a project launch, managed a successful rebrand, or introduced a new marketing channel to a client. Providing such an example in your portfolio can emphasize your creativity, outside-the-box thinking and project management skills.
Highlight an integrated marketing campaign: If you’ve successfully pulled off a complex digital marketing project—for instance, a campaign that integrated website content, social media content, email marketing and more—you should absolutely highlight that in your marketing portfolio. This will show that you are a strategic thinker and know how to target different audiences across a wide range of channels.
05. Explain your work process
Selecting your work samples might be the trickiest part of creating your marketing portfolio, but it’s not the final step. To do justice to your experience, you’ll need to explain the context behind each project. You can place these explanations side-by-side examples of your work, or share case studies and other insights on your website’s blog.
As you explain your work process, be sure to include the following elements:
The goals behind each project
Your role and responsibilities
The challenges you faced and how you overcame them
An overview of the process from start to finish
The final outputs and results
06. Make yourself easy to contact
Finally, encourage visitors to reach out by placing your contact details in various places across the site. Anticipate where people might look for your contact details, and place the information there. This includes the website’s footer and the About page, as well as a dedicated Contact page.
It’s also important to include a contact form on your site. This way, visitors won’t need to copy and paste your email address on a separate tab, but can instead send a message directly through your website.
07. Regularly update your marketing portfolio
Your marketing portfolio should grow with your career. As you take on new projects and build your expertise, make it a habit to update your portfolio regularly. This keeps your work relevant and highlights your current skills.
Every time you complete a project or hit a major milestone, add it to your portfolio. On the flip side, if older projects no longer reflect your abilities, remove or refresh them. Regular updates keep your portfolio relevant and ready to impress potential clients or employers whenever opportunity knocks.
By consistently refining and improving your portfolio, you'll ensure it remains a true representation of who you are as a marketing professional and what you can achieve.
What to include in a marketing portfolio
As you start to piece together your marketing portfolio, here’s a quick checklist of the elements you should include:
Short bio
Your bio is often the first real impression people get, so keep it sharp and personal. Write a short paragraph that explains what kind of marketing you do, who you do it for and why it matters to you. This is your chance to position yourself—not just as someone with experience but as someone with a clear point of view. If you specialize in branding for wellness startups or drive paid growth for eCommerce brands, say it.
Add a mission statement if it fits your style. For example, “I help purpose-driven brands turn values into results through clear messaging and targeted campaigns.” A strong bio works like the intro on a professional model portfolio: it sets the tone and helps people understand who they’re dealing with.
Resume
Instead of linking to a static PDF, turn your resume into an interactive section of your site. Highlight roles that connect directly to your best work and explain the value you brought to each one. Include your job titles, the companies or clients you worked with and 1–2 outcome-based bullets for each.
For instance, “Launched paid media campaigns for a boutique fashion brand, increasing clickthrough rates by 47%.” Mention tools you’re comfortable with (like Google Ads, Klaviyo or Webflow) and certifications that help validate your skills. A downloadable PDF is still a good backup—especially for recruiters—but let the live version do the talking first.
Contact details
Make it easy for people to reach you no matter where they are on your site. A contact page is a must—it should include your name, email, a short message form and links to relevant platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.
If your work is visual or campaign-focused, an Instagram feed can be just as compelling as a project gallery. You can also add a simple contact bar or sticky footer to every page with a “Let’s talk” button.
Samples of your best work
This section is where your portfolio earns its keep. Create a dedicated Work or Projects page with 3 to 5 strong samples. Each project should include visuals, a short intro and a breakdown of the challenge, strategy and results.
For example, one marketer might show how they led a rebrand for a local gym chain, developing new messaging and a social media rollout that grew membership by 25% in two months. Another might highlight a lead-generation funnel that turned a cold email sequence into a 10% conversion rate.
Use performance data wherever possible and keep each story focused. Visitors should be able to understand what you did and why it worked—fast.
Testimonials
Social proof is one of the strongest assets on a portfolio site. Include short, specific quotes from clients, collaborators or past managers. A testimonial like “They helped us pivot our digital strategy mid-campaign and still hit our KPIs” is far more powerful than generic praise.
Place testimonials alongside the projects they relate to or give them their own section with names, roles and photos if you can. If you’ve done work for recognizable brands say so. It builds trust fast and adds weight to your story.
Awards and recognition
Awards, certifications and press mentions reinforce your authority without you having to say much. If you’ve earned a HubSpot certificate, completed Meta Blueprint or been featured in a marketing roundup, include those here. Visuals like badges or logos make this section easier to scan and remember.
You can also add quick blurbs like, “Named Top Freelancer on Upwork in 2023” or “Featured in DesignRush’s top 10 portfolio websites.” Just like in a professional model portfolio, where brands or editorials add instant credibility, these elements do the same for marketers.
Cover page and table of contents
For interviews, proposals or client meetings, a downloadable version of your portfolio can still be useful. Create a clean cover page with your business name, role, website and optional logo. Then include a simple, clickable table of contents linking to each section or project.
This works well for people who prefer PDFs or need something they can review offline. It also shows that you’ve thought about how your work gets presented—not just online but across different formats. In short, it says you’re organized, professional and ready to pitch.
Marketing portfolio examples
Once you've selected the elements to include in your marketing portfolio, take a look at these examples to jumpstart your inspiration:
This social media portfolio example from Adapting Social displays work from a wide range of services. Their portfolio page titled "What We Do" is divided by category, including media creation, email marketing, lead generation campaigns and more. Visitors can then view projects within each category, depending on their interests.
This graphic design and branding studio builds meaningful brands through design. To generate immediate interest in their work, they place images of their projects front and center on the homepage. Using their online marketing portfolio, they’re able to increase the visibility of their brand and capture the attention of their clients.
Looking to start a marketing business? Our guide has you covered.
Creating a marketing portfolio without experience
If you don't have any experience in marketing, you can still build a marketing portfolio. Here are a few tips:
Start with personal projects. If you don't have any experience working with clients, you can start by creating marketing materials for yourself or your friends and family. This could include designing a website, creating social media content or writing blog posts. Looking for inspiration? Think about exploring these gestalt principles to get started.
Create mock projects: Mock projects are hypothetical campaigns or strategies designed to showcase your skills and creativity. For example, create a branding campaign for a known company or a content strategy for a fictional business. Label them as mock projects to stay transparent while highlighting your abilities.
Volunteer your services. Many nonprofits and small businesses are looking for volunteers to help with their marketing efforts, which helps you gain experience and build your portfolio.
Take on freelance projects. Once you have some experience, you can start to take on freelance marketing projects. This gives you the opportunity to work with different clients and build a more diverse portfolio.
Contribute to open-source projects. There are many open-source marketing projects that you can contribute to. This is a great way to gain experience working on real-world projects and to collaborate with other marketers.
Participate in marketing competitions. There are many marketing competitions that you can participate in, helping you test your skills and get feedback from other marketers.
Marketing portfolio best practices
Here are some best practices for creating a marketing portfolio:
Tailor your portfolio to your target audience: What skills and experience are they looking for? What types of work samples would they find most impressive?
Choose high-quality work samples: Your portfolio should only include your best work. Take the time to edit and polish your work samples before you add them to your portfolio.
Tell a story with your portfolio: Each work sample should tell the story of a successful marketing campaign or project. Be sure to explain the goals of the project, the strategies you used and the results you achieved.
Use visuals: Use visuals to make your portfolio more engaging and easy to skim. Add images, videos, infographics and intentional color combinations to bring your work to life and show your creative range. Tip: Include images in WebP file format for better website performance.
Make it easy to navigate: Your portfolio should be easy to navigate and use. Visitors should be able to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for.
Keep it up-to-date: Be sure to update your portfolio regularly with new work samples and accomplishments.
Make it mobile-friendly: Design your portfolio with mobile users in mind. With so many people browsing on their smartphones, a responsive, mobile-friendly layout is essential for accessibility and a smooth user experience.
Types of marketing portfolios
Building your marketing portfolio is all about finding the best way to share what you bring to the table. The format you choose can make a big impact. This chart breaks down different types of marketing portfolios, what they include and who they're great for. Use it to craft a portfolio that truly reflects your skills and gets you noticed:
Portfolio type | What it includes | Perfect for |
|---|---|---|
Personal marketing | Brings personal achievements to life with case studies, testimonials, certifications or individual projects | Freelancers and independent marketers |
Agency | Showcases a range of client campaigns featuring results, client feedback and industry highlights | Marketing or creative agencies |
Creative | Features standout visuals and written work like ad designs, videos and social media content | Graphic designers, content creators or ad specialists |
Social media | Spotlights posts, campaigns, performance insights and audience engagement across platforms | Social media managers or strategists |
Content marketing | Highlights articles, blogs, SEO performance and project calendars for a content-rich portfolio | Writers, bloggers and content strategists |
Product marketing | Includes product details, launch strategies and connections with target audiences | Product marketers |
Event marketing | Shares event imagery, participant numbers, collaborations and media coverage | Event marketers |
Performance-driven | Breaks down numbers with metrics, growth statistics and ROI from analytics, paid ads or SEO efforts | Marketers who focus on analytics or performance strategy |
How to create a marketing portfolio FAQ
Is a marketing portfolio really necessary?
In most cases, a marketing portfolio is crucial. It showcases your skills, accomplishments and creativity to potential employers or clients. A well-designed and planned portfolio demonstrates practical application of marketing strategies, campaigns and results, giving credibility to your capabilities. It's a powerful tool for highlighting your unique marketing approach and making a memorable impression in a competitive job landscape.
How to create a content marketing portfolio?
To create a compelling content marketing portfolio, build up a diverse range of writing projects to fully showcase your writing, strategy and results. Include case studies with measurable outcomes, highlight your ability to engage audiences and emphasize your understanding of various platforms such as social media. Use clear visuals, concise descriptions and provide context for each project. Check your portfolio reflects your storytelling ability and capacity to drive meaningful marketing results through strategic content creation.
How to make a digital marketing portfolio?
Build a standout digital marketing portfolio by featuring diverse campaigns and results that you've had a had in. Showcase your expertise in SEO, social media, email and analytics. Include case studies with measurable metrics and highlight skills in campaign planning, execution and optimization. Use a visually appealing format, incorporate visuals and data and demonstrate a deep understanding of digital platforms for marketing. Provide clear project descriptions and outcomes to illustrate your impact in the dynamic digital marketing landscape.
How to make a marketing portfolio for beginners?
Start with a portfolio builder, like Wix. Select the right portfolio template and get creating. Portfolio builders take care of all of your hosting and domain needs, as well as site security and reliability.
How many pages should a marketing portfolio have?
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how many pages a marketing portfolio should have. The optimal length depends on several factors:
Experience level: if you're an entry-level marketer, 1-3 concise pages of your best work should be enough. If you're at a mid-management level, consider 3-5 pages to demonstrate your experience. For a director or senior executive, 5-7 pages should be able to represent the impact you can make.
Position type: if you're a specialist with a focus marketing niche, you'll want a few pages to really show off your skills. As a general market, you'll generally need a page per marketing discipline you have experience in. For example, one page to demonstrating your social media experience, another to show your SEO work.
Prioritize focusing on the quality and impact of your work rather than sheer number of pages in your marketing portfolio. Each page should tell a compelling story and showcase your value contribution to past projects or campaigns regardless of how may you include.
How much does it cost to create a marketing portfolio?
You can create a portfolio for free, with a portfolio builder like Wix. Or opt for a paid plan, starting from $17 a month including domain name registration. If you choose to build a portfolio with a web developer or designer it can cost from several hundred dollars to several thousands not including hosting and domain name registration.
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