A Quick Guide to Digital Marketing Careers

As we spend increasingly more time interacting with screens, marketers have reacted by shifting from traditional means of marketing to online resources. This shift has created digital marketing, which is the use of “digital tactics and channels” to connect with potential customers online. Within digital marketing, there are multiple subsections, including content marketing, social media marketing and e-mail marketing.

Industry professionals with skills in digital marketing are in high demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job outlook for advertising, promotions and marketing professionals is expected to grow 8 percent from 2023 to 2033. Not only are there plenty of jobs for digital marketers, but the work also benefits those who do it. According to a study done by Balance the Grind, 88 percent of employees they interviewed said their companies supported flexible work-from-home hours.

These employees worked in roles such as:

• Chief Marketing Officer
• Content Marketing Strategist
• Digital Marketing Manager
• Head of Digital
• Head of Marketing
• Marketing Manager
• Product Marketing Manager
• Senior Communications & Marketing Coordinator

Online marketing is crucial for businesses because of how consumer spending habits have changed. A report from Capital One Shopping Research found that global online shopping sales are projected to reach $9.1 trillion by 2030. A significant portion of online shopping is done on mobile devices. According to Statista in 2024, smartphones made up 78 percent of global retail site traffic and resulted in 68 percent of online shopping orders. Since most people carry their smartphones with them at all times, this data presents a compelling argument for the importance of online marketing.

This trend can be seen in consumer groups that were previously reached through traditional means. A Mintel report discovered that 75 percent of users surveyed in this generation (which is categorized as people born between 1946 and 1964) made at least one online purchase per month. They also found that about a quarter of those surveyed said they were likely to sign up for a brand’s online rewards program.

A Statista report from 2024 found that money spent on mobile ads in the U.S. had surpassed money spent on traditional television ads. They estimated a total of $85 billion spent on digital video ads versus only $59 billion spent on television ads. This highlights a recent trend toward online marketing that includes ads on streaming platforms, social media and smartphone apps.

They estimated a total of $85 billion spent on digital video ads versus only $59 billion spent on television ads.

Who Makes Up a Digital Marketing Department?

Teams within an online marketing department will vary based on a company’s needs. Sometimes, marketers are called upon to play multiple roles. These jobs are very interconnected, so for any career in the field, teamwork is valued.

Content Strategist

Content marketing involves the creation of content that helps raise brand awareness, increase traffic or generate leads or customers. This content can come in many forms, including articles, e-books, infographics or blog posts. This content is then promoted, often via social media or email. It’s meant to give a brand a “voice.” Content marketing materials are meant to convey a brand’s expertise or understanding and make the reader want to engage with it.

The annual salary for content strategists is $71,937, according to Payscale.

Digital Content Writer

Content writers create written content meant to engage the reader and encourage action. They often juggle many projects at a time. Their work is subject to editing both by their team and potentially their client. They need to research the content, the client and the customers they’re trying to sway. Some tones suit certain clients better than others. Content writers have to be versatile; they may write on many diverse subjects, and they may be writing for different types of content for a variety of media.

The annual salary for a content writer is $56,259, according to Payscale.

Digital Marketing Analyst

Marketing analysts are data scientists who read and interpret digital data to help a business make effective marketing decisions. Marketing analysts conduct data analysis on everything from a business’s marketing plan to the business itself and industry trends in order to help the team make strategic decisions about their marketing. Marketing analysts help businesses understand their customers, the market, their competition and current price structures.

The annual salary for a digital marketing analyst is $62,350, according to Payscale.

Email Marketer

Email marketing has replaced direct mail for many businesses. Businesses can email customers to promote content, offer discounts, announce sales and promote events. Newsletters, like we used to get in the mailbox, are popular content for marketing emails. These emails should incite action in customers: share the newsletter, visit the website, order a product, visit the business and more.

The annual salary for email marketers is $58,016, according to Payscale.

Statista has reported an estimated 4.89 billion global email users by 2027.

Paid Search Analyst

Paid search is when a business buys the chance to rank high on search engine result pages based on keywords. The business pays a pre-determined amount of money any time a potential customer clicks on the link to its site. The more popular the keywords, the more money a company has to bid for those clicks.

Paid search analysts manage and develop pay-per-click (PPC) strategies for their company. PPC is when a company has placed an advertisement on a search engine, including Google, Yahoo and Bing, and pays that search engine any time someone clicks on the ad.

Payscale has reported that paid search analysts average $57,356 a year.

Search Engine Optimization Analyst

In simple terms, search engine optimization (SEO) analysts ensure that a website is vetted for the best keywords and phrases that will show up in search engines. Every day, people make roughly  8.5 billion searches matters. That’s what makes SEO analysts so important. They put together a strategy to ensure that websites and content rank higher on search engines, increasing interaction with more potential consumers.

An SEO analyst position is technical and data-driven, and it requires specialized training on tracking, evaluating and improving the performance of online content. They also research keywords to see what the potential customers are searching for and then incorporate those keywords into the marketing strategy. New tools and practices change or update frequently, so these analysts must keep up-to-date on industry news and trends.

According to Payscale, the average salary for an SEO analyst is $57,356.

According to a study by Research and Markets, the global market for SEO is projected to reach $143.9 billion by 2030.

Social Media Specialist

Social media specialists must have a deep knowledge of multiple social media platforms, stay up to date on the latest trends, and use marketing tactics to raise awareness of their company’s products or services. They interact and communicate with the public via online platforms that allow users to share content, such as images, text or video, that helps to promote the brand by engaging users. Engagement techniques can include hashtag campaigns and having followers create user-generated content that companies can use to promote their own products.

Specialists are at their best when they’re “inspiring others to publish content” about their company, according to Anna Kassoway, chief marketing officer at Crowdtap, a company that connects consumers to brands through word of mouth.

According to Payscale, the median pay for a social media specialist is $52,283. Due to social media’s ever-increasing popularity, there’s a solid demand for employees with social media experience, good communication skills and the ability to think on their feet.

UX Designer

Design for the User Experience (UX) is the process involving designing products that “provide meaningful and relevant experiences” to consumers. UX designers consider the consumers when designing websites, mobile apps or other digital media to ensure consumers enjoy their time and want to come back in the future.

In a small company, a sole UX designer may do all the UX work, but in large companies with many UX designers there may be teams that work on a project together. In that case, designing the product would be broken up between team members. The process may involve many tasks, like setting up a wireframe for a website, testing the product with potential customers and getting feedback, or evaluating the performance of a product already on the market to find out how to make changes to the next iteration.

The average salary for a UX designer, according to Payscale, is $80,048.

AI Specialist

One of the fastest growing fields in digital marketing is artificial intelligence. As large language models (LLM) become more prevalent in online searches, digital marketers need to understand how to best utilize them to get more traffic to their websites.

Artificial intelligence specialists can do anything from creating AI models to analyzing data. They also perform thorough research on how LLMs are advancing and how they will affect the future of online advertising. Their skills help them make advanced plans to meet the needs of their businesses.

According to Payscale, the average salary for AI specialists is $136,869.

Why Become a Digital Marketer?

The field of digital marketing continues to grow and evolve, changing to meet consumer preferences and needs.

Working in this fast-paced, yet flexible field provides marketing professionals with terrific work-life balance, including opportunities to work remotely, and leverages digital skills into creating engagement opportunities between consumers and companies.

The future of digital marketing is bright. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that there will be about 36,600 managerial job opportunities over the decade, overseeing countless marketing professionals working in the positions referenced above. The BLS stated the positive growth will come as organizations look to “maintain and expand market share.”

While some jobs require more advanced degrees, it’s common that a bachelor’s degree is sufficient for a digital marketing career. Once you’ve built up experience working in digital marketing, an MBA or advanced certification can help you land management or science-driven analytic positions not available at the entry level.

Start your path to becoming a digital marketing star with the University of West Alabama’s fully online bachelors in integrated marketing communications. Our degree program will help you develop skills and knowledge in graphic design, photography, web design, social media, news writing and social science, while also gaining expertise in marketing theory and media law. We also offer an online Master of Arts in Integrated Marketing Communication.

When you decide to advance your career and increase your earning potential, consider our accredited online MBA. Our MBA can be completed in as little as one year, allowing you to move up the ladder at your company in a short amount of time.