A digital marketer uses digital channels to reach customers, advertise products and services, and build brand awareness. Digital marketers wear many hats due to the unique blend of planning, creativity, and strategy that their work necessitates. To keep on top of the ever-growing digital media platforms they utilize to build, implement, manage, and track campaigns, they must master a wide range of skills and tools.
Digital marketing is a distinct sector with its own set of requirements that go beyond conventional marketing methods and creative abilities. Understanding the skills necessary and what digital marketers perform is a fantastic place to start if you’re contemplating a career in digital marketing.
In this blog, let’s talk about how to get into digital marketing and what degrees are worth it.
What is the ROI of a Digital Marketing Degree?
Digital Marketing is a growing sector that continues searching for rising talent to fill open positions in various industries. Large corporations such as Google, Microsoft, and even Youtube continue looking for strong digital marketers to take over their creative execution. In order to get these jobs, a college degree can really be a useful training tool. Especially in this day and age, where new graduates are being expected to have experience even before getting a first job, a college degree can be useful in proving that they have enough useful skills to complete the required work.
According to Mondo’s annual Tech and Digital Marketing Salary Guide, digital marketing specialists are in “great demand,” with over a 75 percent rise between 2016 and 2017. According to another research, 71% of respondents said they were having trouble finding creative people qualified to fill their job positions. Companies are also considering increasing their spending on digital marketing in general. According to another recent Mondo research, 80 percent of marketing departments want to raise their digital marketing spending in the coming year.
Of course, a digital marketing degree in the current academic climate can be upwards of 70k for an accredited 4 year undergrad program. For Masters degrees, the price can grow significantly based on the namesake the specific institution holds. Generally, a masters degree in Digital Marketing can cost upwards of 50-60k. Though, again, it is important to remember that the average salary of a digital marketer, according to Salary.com, is $108,375 (mid-career). With a grand six figure salary, it is evident why so many people want a career in the field and why so many more are going to school for it.
So, when wondering whether or not to get a degree in Digital Marketing, look at how the industry is faring in terms of employment growth. As for now, digital marketing is definitely in the green and therefore, it is one of the best times to get collegiate or technical training in the field. You’ll just always need to remember that in order to get a job in digital marketing, you’ll also need to make sure you get the requisite work experience alongside your education as having a degree simply isn’t enough to land a marketing job.
Types of Digital Marketing Degrees
Digital Marketing Bachelor’s Degrees
The typical path into this field is to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing. It assists in laying the groundwork for obtaining employment or future education. You can either study full-time or work part-time during the summer while completing your course.
The following are some of the most popular bachelor’s degrees in digital marketing:
- Bachelor’s degree in social media marketing
- Bachelor of Business Administration (Digital Marketing)
- Business Administration Bachelor’s Degree (Marketing)
Remember, any prospective digital marketer is making a big time financial commitment. It is important to understand what the cost will generate in future revenue or salary. So, before going into this huge commitment, do research on your dream career path as a new grad. Look at whether or not there is a return on your investment! As we noted above, digital marketing is definitely a very promising field to be going into.
Digital Marketing Master’s Degree
Marketing strategies, technologies, and tactics evolve at a rapid pace. As a result, degree programs are sometimes left rushing to keep up. To assist in tackling this challenge, some schools and universities offer a comprehensive digital marketing master’s degree program.
Some of master’s degree programs that you can pursue include:
- Master of Business Administration in Digital Marketing
- Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication
- Master of Science in Digital Marketing and Design
- Master of Science in Social Media Marketing
- Master of Arts in Marketing and Digital Media
Consider what sort of profession you want to pursue while picking a degree subject. Master of Arts (MA) degrees, for example, are more concerned with the creative, aesthetic, and artistic aspects of digital marketing. Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs, on the other hand, are more focused on the business aspect of digital marketing. Masters programs can be quite expensive though. So, think about this one long and hard. What is the real reason you want to get a masters? Is it to get a job? If that’s the case, you’re going to be much better served gaining experience as experience is the #1 thing hiring managers look at when determining who to hire. Simply getting more education won’t lead to more job offers so you want to make sure you truly understand this before spending $50k+ as this will take you quite some time to pay off.
3 Digital Certificates Worth Considering
Social Media Marketing
What you’ll learn:
How to create and manage a cross-platform social media marketing plan that helps you establish your brand and increase visitors.
More than three billion people use social media on a regular basis, with 56 percent of all adults using several platforms on a regular basis and up to 90 percent of all businesses utilizing social media for marketing. Because social media has become mainstream media, now is an excellent moment to sharpen your social media marketing abilities.
SEO/SEM Analytics
What you’ll learn:
How to create and implement a search engine marketing (SEM) strategy and plan.
It’s never a bad idea to improve your SEM abilities, regardless of your degree of marketing expertise. An SEM certificate course may help you get a deeper grasp of the concepts and best practices of overall search marketing, which can then be used to the development of a successful, all-encompassing marketing plan. In its most basic form, this is efficiently utilizing tactics such as SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to increase traffic and lead generation. Most importantly, understanding SEM best practices will assist you in measuring, analyzing, and fine-tuning campaigns.
General Digital Marketing
What you’ll learn:
Get experience with the most cutting-edge digital marketing tools and strategies utilized by experts all around the world.
A digital marketing certificate course may assist professionals in enhancing essential digital skills and stay current in their sector, whether they are marketing beginners or industry veterans. A good digital marketing certification course will generally teach you how to create complete marketing strategies that include social media, search, and email marketing, as well as how to define effective KPIs and how to use cutting-edge technologies and industry best practices.
How to Start Learning Digital Marketing Immediately
Although marketing degrees are the most frequent path pursued, they are by no means required to obtain a career in this sector. Schools are often slow to update their curriculum and that’s where bootcamps really flourish as they are much more adaptable to the fast changes of the digital marketing industry. If you’re looking to launch your marketing career, check out JobPrepped as our Digital Marketing Bootcamp + Immediate Work Experience program has helped 3,000+ people get their first digital marketing job and we’d love to help you too.
Good luck out there!
By Guest Writer,
Aditya A.