The most important thing you need to get a job in digital marketing is a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and most importantly getting the work experience that companies are asking for in their job description. Many entry-level jobs will require you to learn on the job, but in order to get hired in the first place, you’ll want to gain some work experience in Digital Marketing first and we’ll discuss down below just how you can do that so you can start your career as easily as possible.
Digital marketing is one of the most popular and in-demand career paths today. And it’s no wonder why – the industry is expected to grow by 10% each year from now until 2026 and the ability to set your own hours and work remotely has only given people more reasons to begin a career in Digital Marketing.
If you’re looking for an entry-level digital marketing job, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about digital marketing jobs.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have a good understanding of what digital marketing jobs are available to you, what skills and qualifications you need, and how to get started in your career.
So, without further ado, let’s jump in!
What is Digital Marketing?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of entry-level digital marketing jobs, let’s first take a step back and define what digital marketing is.
Digital marketing is the process of using online channels to promote or market products and services. This can be done through a variety of online activities including content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing.
Digital marketing is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of job titles and responsibilities. And because it’s such a popular career path, there are plenty of entry-level digital marketing jobs available for those with the right skills, qualifications, and most importantly work experience.
Digital marketing specialists usually start their careers in one of two categories: those with no experience, and those with some experience.
Those with no experience typically enter the field by working as an intern or assistant to a more experienced digital marketer. They typically won’t have a Marketing job title but might be more in more of an admin role and on the side of their regular duties, they can gain a bit of experience with the marketing side of things. This is certainly the much harder and long-term route in getting your marketing career started as you won’t be able to gain much work experience this way which is your ultimate goal as this is how you’ll get hired for a true digital marketing job. At the end of the day, your goal should always be trying to gain as much relevant Marketing work experience as possible as that’s what’s really going to help you start your Digital Marketing career. So, always keep your efforts on that as this is what’s going to help you get hired as a Digital Marketer in the least amount of time possible as hiring managers typically only hire people that have the work experience they are asking for in their job descriptions.
On the other hand, those with some experience may have worked in a different field where they received good Digital Marketing experience before entering a full-time digital marketing role, or may have gained their digital marketing work experience through working in an entry-level position within a digital marketing agency.
In either case, digital marketing specialists with some work experience typically have a much better understanding of how to create and implement effective digital marketing campaigns, so it will be much easier for them to prove to hiring managers during their interviews that they’ll be able to take on more responsibility within a digital marketing team which is what hiring managers are seeking.
The median wage of entry-level digital marketing experts.
The average salary of entry-level digital marketing specialists ranges from $45,000 – $55,000 with little experience. This figure can vary quite a bit though depending on the company, geographic location, and other factors such as how much work experience you have. However, this is a good starting point for those considering a career in digital marketing. With experience and additional training, digital marketing specialists can expect to earn a lot more money. According to Payscale, Glassdoor, and Salary.com, you can expect to make the below in base pay throughout your career which doesn’t include bonuses which is often a big part of your compensation package when in the marketing industry.
- Mid-Level: $65k – $121K Base Pay
- Senior Level: $92k – $133K Base Pay
- Director Level: $103k – $163K Base Pay
- VP Level: $143k – $179k Base Pay
What are the Different Types of Digital Marketing Jobs?
There are many different types of digital marketing jobs available, each with its own set of responsibilities. Here are some of the most popular job titles in the industry:
Content marketing manager: A content marketing manager is responsible for planning, creating, and managing all forms of content (e.g. blog posts, eBooks, infographics, etc.) to promote a company’s products or services.
When searching for entry-level content marketing experts, employers use a variety of titles. The most popular ones are:
- Content Specialist
- Junior Content Specialist
- Digital Content Specialist
- Web Content Specialist
- Content Writer
- eCommerce Writer
Average Salary
The average salary for a content specialist ranges pretty significantly from $35,000 to $139,000 per year, depending on experience and position. Content specialists who are just starting out in their careers can expect to earn on the lower end of this spectrum but obviously the more work experience you have, the more you’ll be on the $139,000 per year side of things.
SEO specialist: An SEO specialist is responsible for optimizing a website and its content to improve search engine ranking and visibility. This includes tasks like keyword research, link building, and on-page optimization.
The following job titles are used by employers or clients wanting to employ entry-level SEO professionals on the numerous employment websites.:
- Junior SEO Consultant,
- SEO Consultant for Google, Bing and other search engines
- SEO marketer
Average Salary
The average starting salary of a SEO specialists is about $57,000 per year in the United States (not including any performance bonuses).
Senior SEO specialists with more work experience can make upwards of $130,000 per year before their performance bonuses.
PPC manager: A PPC manager is responsible for planning, executing, and managing pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. This includes tasks like keyword research, ad copywriting, and bid management. A PPC manager should have experience with all aspects of PPC, from campaign setup to optimization and reporting.
The following are some job names that are associated with PPC specialists.
- -Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Specialist
- -Pay Per Click (PPC) Manager
- -Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist
- -Internet Marketing Specialist
- -Digital Marketing Specialist
- -Web Marketing Specialist
- Junior Associate, Paid Search
- Junior Online Advertising Specialist
Average Salary
The average salary for an entry-level Search Engine Marketing Specialist is $60,000 per year. For professionals with more years of work experience, like with other digital marketing positions, the salary increases to well over $100,000 per year before any performance based bonuses.
Social media manager: A social media manager is responsible for creating and managing social media content (e.g. posts, images, videos, etc.) across all social media platforms. The social media manager works closely with the digital marketing and content marketing managers to ensure that all social media content is aligned with the company’s overall marketing strategy.
As a social media manager, you will need to be highly organized and have excellent communication skills. You should also be comfortable working with a variety of different social media platforms such as Meta, Instagram, and Linkedin.
Companies searching to hire junior social media managers, use these job titles when posting a job:
- Social Media Specialist
- Junior Social Media Managers
- Social Media Manager
Social Media Coordinator, or Social Media Community Manager. They all manage the company’s social media accounts and create content to post.
Additionally, a social media manager may also be responsible for monitoring the company’s social media accounts for comments or messages, and responding accordingly. This may require some customer service experience. A social media manager should also be able to track analytics, such as how many people are reached by a particular post, or how much traffic is driven to the company’s website from social media.
Some companies may require that a social media manager have a degree in marketing, communications, or business. However, more and more companies are starting to focus much more on hiring those that have work experience in Social Media and a good understanding of how to use various social media platforms than simply gaining a college degree.
The most important skills for a social media manager are excellent written and verbal communication, creativity, strong organizational skills, and the ability to multitask.
Average Salary
The national average salary for a new social media manager is $55,000 and salaries can go up drastically well above $100,000 with experience and proof of results under your belt.
The job market for social media managers is expected to grow by 22% in the next ten years as more and more people are spending their time on social media platforms.
Email marketing manager: An email marketing manager is responsible for planning and executing email marketing campaigns. This includes tasks like designing email templates, segmenting lists, and writing email copy.
Look for job advertisements that include the following phrases if you’re interested in becoming an Email marketing manager:
- Email Marketing Specialist,
- Email Marketer,
- Digital Marketing Manager, or even just plain old “Marketing Manager.”
Average Salary
Email Marketing Manager Average Salary
The average salary for an entry-level email marketer is $58,000 per year. Email marketing managers of course will earn a much higher salary and the easiest ways to command higher pay is by working for a larger company or, once again, by gaining more work experience.
Affiliate Marketing Manager: An affiliate marketing manager is responsible for managing the online affiliate marketing program of a company. The role includes recruiting affiliates, negotiating terms with them, and ensuring that they comply with the program’s rules. They also work with other departments within the company to ensure that the affiliate program is integrated into the overall marketing strategy.
The demand for affiliate marketing managers is not as high as for other digital marketing jobs, but the salary is good, especially for growing affiliate programs.
If you’re interested in a career as an affiliate marketing manager, look for job postings that have titles such as “Affiliate Marketing Manager,” “Affiliate Manager,” or “Affiliate Program Manager.” You can also search for these job titles on job boards such as Indeed.com or Monster.com.
Average Salary
As an affiliate marketing associate, you can expect to start off around $56,000 per year before any performance bonuses. With experience, as with other digital marketing job titles, you can expect to make 6 figures here as well.
What Skills and Qualifications Do You Need?
The skills and qualifications needed for a digital marketing job will vary depending on the position you’re applying for. The most important thing is you need to make sure that you’re giving the company the work experience they are asking for in the job description as this is what will ultimately determine if you’ll get job offers or not. However, there are some general skills and qualifications that are common across all digital marketing jobs, including:
A bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, or a related field (although having the right work experience the company is asking for is meaning more an more to companies over having a degree)
- Marketing work experience in a marketing or advertising role
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Creativity and innovation
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Project management skills
- Basic SEO and digital marketing tools knowledge is expected.
In general, the distinction between a digital marketing specialist and other entry-level marketers is that he or she must have basic abilities in several digital marketing fields rather than specializing in one.
What is the Career Path for a Digital Marketer?
The career path for a digital marketer will vary depending on the job title. However, most digital marketing jobs follow a similar progression, starting with entry-level positions and moving up to senior-level positions as they gain more and more work experience and improve their results. Here’s a general overview of the digital marketing career path:
Entry-level positions: Entry-level digital marketing jobs include positions like digital marketing coordinator, social media manager, and content marketing manager. These positions typically require 1-3 years of experience in a marketing or advertising role but JobPrepped obviously gets you by this requirement through JobPrepped’s Digtial Marketing Training + Get You Hired Program.
Mid-level positions: Mid-level digital marketing jobs include positions like SEO specialist, PPC manager, and email marketing manager. These positions typically require 3-5 years of experience in a marketing or advertising role.
Senior-level positions: Senior-level digital marketing jobs include positions like director of digital marketing, vice president of digital marketing, and chief marketing officer (CMO). These positions typically require 5+ years of experience in a marketing or advertising role.
At the end of the day, the more work experience you gain, and the better results you are able to show at your job, the faster you’ll rise in the ranks and the more money you’ll make in your career. What takes some people 20 years to advance their career will take others only 7. At the end of the day, your value will be placed on the results you can bring.
So, how do you get that first Full-Time Marketing job?
You probably already know this, but, if you want to get hired, you have to be able to provide companies the work experience they are asking for in their job description. Getting good work experience can be hard to get, but if you need any help getting the exact work experience you need and want to start your Marketing career much more easily and at better companies, JobPrepped gives you the Digital Marketing Training and Immediately gives you the exact Digital Marketing Work Experience you need to land any entry-level Digital Marketing job we discussed above.
The main reason why 94.3% of JobPrepped students get Marketing Interviews or Job Offers within 3 weeks is because we make sure you’ll finally be able to give companies exactly what they’re asking for line-by-line in their job requirements section (including giving you the exact work experience you need) so of course you’re going to get hired much faster, by better companies, and for a better salary. JobPrepped also gives you all the Digital Marketing training hiring managers want you to have, fix your resume, cover letters, Linkedin/Indeed Profiles, help you in your interviews to make sure you ace them, and we help drive our large network of hiring managers and recruiters to start reaching out to you so you get a lot more job opportunities.
So, if you’re ready to start your marketing career, you now have a much better idea on the most common job roles out there and how to get started! Get the work experience you need and before you know it, you’re going to be able to join one of the fastest growing professions out there that offers great pay, flexibility, and the opportunity to have a lot of freedom such as working remotely.
