By Quincy Smith
Marketing is a timeless skill, and the increased demand for digital marketers has brought more opportunities as well as more competition. This post will look at five different entry-level digital marketing jobs and the skills you need to get your foot in the door and stand out.
What is the average salary of a digital marketer?
According to PayScale, the average salary for an individual working in the field of digital marketing is approximately $50,000 a year. Starting salaries hover around $30,000 a year, and an experienced digital marketer can expect to net upwards of $65,000 per year.
The appeal of digital marketing
Pros
Versatile career options
Almost every company in the world is investing in some form of marketing — and as a digital marketer, you will have a front-row seat to tactics like SEO, content generation, and paid advertising. It’s not uncommon for experienced marketers to be skilled in a variety of tactics which can make you invaluable to any organization, regardless of industry.
High Demand
Even without the recent pandemic, the world is moving online at a rapid pace, and companies are in dire need of talent that can help them navigate their digital strategies. Combine that with an older workforce on the brink of retirement, and the result is a landscape that puts talented marketers in high demand.
Remote
It should come as no surprise that remote work is more popular than ever, but even before the rush to work from home, plenty of digital marketers were already reaping the benefits. The reality is that anytime your work is tied to a computer, you’re going to have an incredible amount of flexibility.
Cons
Competitive
While the need for digital marketers has created an enormous surge in talent, it can still be very difficult to work your way up in the field. Complicating this are marketing agencies, which are a great first step for new hires, but also staffed with numerous people doing the same thing and making it hard to stand out.
Low barrier to entry
One of the appeals of digital marketing is that there are plenty of self-trained individuals in the field. The reality is that more and more companies prefer experience over credentials, and it’s never been easier to call yourself a digital marketer. While skill should always prevail, the low barrier to entry can make it hard to get your foot in the door.
Where should you start your search?
There is no shortcut when it comes to getting entry-level digital marketing jobs — job boards are still very much en vogue, but there are some nuances that can help you find early success:
- Linkedin – perfect for big companies looking for traditional marketers (think 401k + traditional office environment)
- RemoteOK – dedicated job boards like this are more popular for people with skills looking for dedicated remote opportunities.
- Reddit – yes, even the “front page of the internet” has a job board. If you’re looking to build up your skills and don’t want to mess with Upwork (or a resume), start here to either offer cheap services or connect with others looking to hire.
Entry-level digital marketing jobs
Now that we’ve covered the “why” and “how,” let’s look at the “what.” Here are five jobs you can consider if you’re looking to get into digital marketing.
Content creation
Average salary: $49,000
Basic required skills:
- Able to learn new subjects without stress/strain
- Can conduct thoughtful and detailed research
- Writing, proofreading, and editing
- Can collaborate with others across teams
- Attention to detail
- Video editing
- Curious and excited about learning new topics
Content creation is an ideal part of digital marketing for people who are more introverted in nature. The income for content creation, like all parts of digital marketing, has several pathways for you to choose from depending upon what your individual goals are. If you want to make the most amount of income, you can perform freelance writing based on your knowledge and expertise.
Conversely, if you don’t mind a pay cut, ghostwriting for freelancing platforms might be a good avenue to look into. Other avenues you should consider include creating ebooks, white papers for businesses, copywriting, and technical writing.
The skills that are necessary to become a successful content creator include the ability to quickly perform research if need be, the confidence to pitch to clients, and the persistence to push through, even when your workload is low or you have to interact with difficult clients.
Content strategist
Average salary: $70,000
Basic required skills:
- Organization and time management
- Attention to detail for project management
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication
- Able to articulate and defend ideas and recommendations to clients
- Outstanding writing and editing skills across mediums and audiences
- Storytelling and technical writing
- Great communication and interpersonal skills
- Experience with design/layout tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Sketch, Figma, or Powerpoint
A content strategist is someone who performs tasks such as creating editorial calendars, budgeting, managing writers, and researching content topics.
Becoming a content strategist takes content creation a step further: instead of merely performing research and crafting solid articles, a content strategist must also be able to analyze and interpret data, have solid people skills, and have a pulse on society and new trends. A strong understanding of user-end experience and search engine optimization tactics certainly helps as well.
Social media strategist
Average salary: $50,000
Basic required skills:
- Able to prioritize tasks, manage workload, and meet deadlines
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Ability to work in a collaborative team
- Familiarity with channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest
- Ability to report insights or progress in a clear/concise format
- Proficient in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
- Strong attention to detail
- Strategy and creativity
Social media specialists are individuals who are responsible for the implementation and monetization of a social media strategy for a company in order to increase brand recognition. These specialists spend time optimizing and monitoring the media strategies that they implement. To become a social media specialist, you need to be able to communicate with the community in order to build relationships with current and future users, while also keeping up with industry trends and data.
PPC specialist
Average salary: $49,000
Basic required skills:
- Advanced in Microsoft Excel
- Working knowledge of statistics
- Copywriting
- Design ability
- Organization and time management
- Creativity
A PPC specialist creates and implements PPC campaigns, or pay-per-click campaigns. This type of work is more complicated than it sounds, and PPC specialists need to have a certain set of skills in order to create successful advertisements. PPC specialists need to perform thorough keyword research to ensure that an advertisement receives the most amount of attention while testing keywords to see how they perform, and quickly changing what’s not working.
Additionally, as a PPC specialist, you need to create landing pages that reach the heart of the desires or pain of your users. Without a captivating landing page, the rest of the PPC campaign is essentially useless. Lastly, PPC specialists need to keep up with Google’s algorithms and be able to analyze SEO.
If you are interested in becoming a PPC specialist, you should have strong time management skills because you will need to perform several tasks at once. You also need to have an analytical mind and the ability to interpret Google’s complicated and ever-changing algorithm.
Partner/PR specialist
Average salary: $63,000
Basic required skills:
- Advanced written communication skills
- Able to communicate ideas clearly
- Understanding of social media
- Creativity and ability to problem-solve
- Basic knowledge of various media such as Photoshop, Youtube, SEO, or coding
A PR marketing specialist collaborates with both internal and external sources to facilitate and execute a marketing strategy. PR specialists, as the name suggests, maximize customer engagement through creating lead generating programs and increasing revenue. They focus on customer acquisition through training, trade shows, business meetings, and more.
As a PR specialist, you should have a firm understanding of how to use direct sales leads and several marketing distribution channels to effectively promote products and gain customers’ trust.
Generally speaking, as a PR specialist, you will not be able to work as remotely as other digital marketing jobs. To be an effective partner specialist, you need to be willing to travel to business meetings with other partners in the community. You will also have to possess other skills, such as presentation skills and the ability to easily form strong relationships with other partners. Many job listings for partner specialists require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, which is something you should keep in mind when applying to any job postings.
Wrapping up
While it’s hard to argue the appeal of a digital marketing job, don’t forget that there are almost certainly other people competing for the same job, and skills/experience can help set you apart. To stand out, consider free certifications, hands-on experience with your own projects, or in-depth courses led by experts.
Quincy Smith
Quincy is a former English teacher and the cofounder of Test Prep Nerds, a site that helps students prepare for standardized tests. Currently based in Shanghai, he’s passionate about strong coffee, solo travel, and his dog, Johnny.