Digital marketing jobs for new and experienced applicants

Digital marketing has a lot of promise as a career path. Every business needs marketing to some degree, and many customers use the internet and other digital technology in every part of their lives.

Let’s break down some of the best digital marketing jobs and what makes them special. We’ll start with opportunities that require a few years of experience and then look at the best entry-level DM jobs. We’ll also discuss digital marketing certifications, whether you need them, and which ones to consider.

Best digital marketing jobs if you have experience

Content strategist

A content strategist is similar to a content manager, with a national average salary of $92,255 per year. They may be in charge of online marketing and social media content and managing a team of writers and designers. On the strategy side, they’ll probably form an effective calendar and hold their team to meeting deadlines. You’ll need to be able to coordinate with others and handle communication between different departments, alongside having strong marketing skills like:

• Writing
• Editing
• SEO
• Social media marketing
• Data analysis
• Audience analysis
• Quality assurance

Virtual reality specialist

The national average salary for a virtual reality specialist is $118,413 per year, and it’s easy to see why. VR use for businesses grew massively during the last few years and hasn’t slowed down. Through games, virtual shopping or tours, and more, virtual reality presents new marketing mediums to engage customers. A person can walk through and interact with an experience that a virtual reality expert helped create.

Many VR specialist jobs come from a game or electronic entertainment design background. Programming is a fitting entry point, but with experience working on a VR project, you could move upward to a VR specialist job. You probably need a few years of experience at a reputable company already using VR in a position that involves that development, such as a tester or editor. Many of the same things could be said for augmented reality specialist jobs.

Artificial intelligence specialist

As the world becomes more automated and new possibilities arise in artificial intelligence, anyone who can use AI in marketing will have a valuable role to play. Overall, the point of artificial intelligence in digital marketing is to personalize an advertising message. An expert in data analytics might have the biggest impact on an AI-based marketing campaign’s success.

Another area of AI to specialize in is machine learning, or the study of creating artificial intelligence that can predict outcomes and learn on its own. Artificial intelligence machine learning jobs pay an average salary of $124,359 per year.

The best entry-level digital marketing jobs

Now is a better time than ever to get into this rapidly growing industry. Even if you’re new to it, you can specialize based on the limited experience that fits certain jobs. Take a look at the best entry-level digital marketing jobs below.

SEO specialist

A search engine optimization specialist has an up-to-date knowledge of relevant search engines and is looking to improve a marketing campaign’s return on investment. You could be in charge of improving ads, like making them appear more frequently to the best possible customers.

The main challenge with these roles is that search engine algorithms fluctuate, so retraining and new research will be important.

Someone who can keep up with the state of the SEO landscape and who also has digital knowledge or marketing skills could earn $70,786 a year on average. The key is to go beyond the mere certifications and functional knowledge of how to use pay-per-click platforms or tools. A few examples are the ability to:

• Create or outline SEO content strategies for a business
• Oversee the improvement of a business SEO strategy
• Teach team members to produce more search-engine-friendly content

Social media manager

Social media managers make a national average salary of $82,154 per year. These professionals are responsible for a lot more than posting and commenting on a brand’s social profiles. A valuable social media manager will have a strategy to engage with a brand’s present social media followers, building them into a diverse and organically growing audience.

A social media manager also works closely with everyone who helps produce and share a business’ social content. The ultimate goal is to attract new customers and increase the passion and engagement of each customer. It’s possible for a brand’s social media manager to also have a community manager role, such as managing a customer discussion forum on the company website. Good writing skills and knowledge of design software like Photoshop are useful for creating or tweaking content. The job might also encompass email marketing, such as making sure potential customers get email alerts for more frequent sales.

Digital marketing assistant

Often a solid line of remote work, there are also plenty of in-person positions for digital marketing assistants. Online marketing jobs earn a national average salary of $78,943 per year. This type of job involves handling important tasks related to digital marketing, mainly administrative or record keeping. You might have a role that involves coming up with ideas for content, such as for social media, if not producing content on your own.

Apart from the options above and many more, there will always be digital marketing internships and work-study opportunities out there. The old cliche of needing experience to get experience doesn’t apply to the digital marketing field. If you’re looking to broaden your skills and demonstrate expertise, study your way through some digital marketing courses to earn certifications.

Where to get digital marketing certifications

Sometimes all it takes is a few certifications in specific digital marketing skills relevant to you to help you get the job you want. The wide variety of digital marketing certifications out there, many of them free, means you can build a set of niche DM skills that strengthen your resume.

Take a look at these digital marketing certification opportunities:

Google Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

This digital marketing course is part of Google’s Interactive Advertising Bureau-accredited course. The videos are bite-sized, and you finish up with a 40-question certification exam.

American Marketing Association certifications

The AMA offers a certification program as part of a partnership with the Digital Marketing Institute. Their Digital Marketing Pro course is 30 hours and can be taken at your own pace. They also offer courses on Google Analytics, digital marketing strategy, and SEO.

Google Ads certifications

Once called Google AdWords Certifications for the platform they teach, there are several certifications you can take related to this paid advertising platform.

SEMrush social media courses

If you’re looking to get into social media marketing, SEMrush offers SMM courses as short as four hours, taken at your own pace.

You’ll find plenty of free resources to get you started as you seek your first or next digital marketing job. Whether you prefer the technical, creative, or even management side of digital marketing, be sure to highlight it in your resume and first interview.

More tips to get a digital marketing job:

Have a glance at a marketing manager sample resume.

Try your own version of this sample cover letter for marketing professionals.

See if you can use remote work to take the next step in your career.

Follow the seven best ways to prepare for a virtual interview.

See if you have the best certifications for today’s jobs.