Digital Marketer Salary:

One of the main draws of a career in digital marketing is the salary. In the United States, Digital Marketers earn between $55,000 and $89,000 annually, plus benefits. These figures are based on voluntary reports of salaries, which fluctuate according to level of education, years of experience, industry, location, and specialization. As you gain experience in digital marketing, you can get hired to jobs with more responsibility and higher pay, and it is also possible to specialize in areas of digital marketing like data analytics or SEO to earn more. 

What is a Digital Marketer?

Over half the world’s population uses the internet, and businesses have noticed. Most companies and organizations have a website and use digital marketing to reach potential customers or clients. Digital Marketers use social media platforms, website content, email campaigns, paid and unpaid advertising, and video marketing to promote goods and services to a target audience.

Digital Marketers use data analytics to identify an audience likely to be interested in the products or services they sell. Next, they create a detailed description of that audience, focusing on the pain points and problems the product will solve. Then, Digital Marketers set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the marketing campaign's performance. Common KPIs are sales goals or increasing traffic to a website.

After setting goals and determining strategy, Digital Marketers create high-quality content to engage the audience and place it near the top of search engine pages. After posting the content on social media, Digital Marketers use tools like Google Analytics, SEMRush, or Moz to analyze its performance. Digital Marketers also interact with followers on social media in the company’s brand voice. 

Some Digital Marketers work for agencies and take care of many accounts, while others work for one company. Some are employed in-house, while others work remotely. Digital Marketers in agencies and larger companies often work as part of a team. They may only be responsible for one part of the workload, such as content marketing, SEO, or data analytics. Many people start their careers as freelance Digital Marketers working at home by themselves or in small startups.

Read more about what a Digital Marketer does.

What Affects Your Pay as a Digital Marketer

Several factors can affect your Digital Marketer salary. These include education, experience, industry, location, and specialization.

Education

Many employers prefer applicants for a Digital Marketer job to have a bachelor’s degree with a major in business or marketing. For higher-level jobs like Digital Marketing Manager or Marketing Director, companies are looking for someone with a Master of Business Administration or a master’s degree in marketing or advertising. Even though many firms are looking for people with degrees, it is possible to get a job as a Digital Marketer without a college degree. Digital marketing is a field where results and experience are valued higher than degrees, so you can get a digital marketing job with a high school diploma or associate’s degree by taking professional training classes. If you have successful digital marketing experience, that can get you a job, too.

Experience

Your amount of experience in digital marketing affects your salary, too. This doesn’t have to be paid work. It can include on-the-job experience as well as freelance and volunteer work relevant to digital marketing. If you don’t have a lot of experience in the field yet, be sure to include freelance and volunteer projects in your portfolio.

Industry

Digital Marketers who work for large companies usually earn more than those who work for small businesses and startups, and a large tech firm will likely pay more than a small nonprofit. Freelancers set their own rates, but will work primarily with small-to-medium businesses and nonprofits and will need to accommodate those budgets. Companies in the technology and financial industries pay the most, with health care, engineering, law, and real estate rounding out the list. 

Location

Where you live can affect your salary, too. Major metropolitan areas usually pay higher salaries, with the biggest numbers found out West in Seattle and San Francisco. The downside is that the cost of living is also higher in those areas. Remote work is very common in digital marketing, so where you live doesn’t have as much effect on pay as it used to.

Specialization

Employment websites Indeed.com Career Explorer and Glassdoor Discover Salaries report an average base salary of about $58,000 for Digital Marketers. This figure does not include benefits which add $15,000 to $20,000 to the figure. Digital Marketers in the financial industry can expect to make $10,000 to $20,000 more than their colleagues in other industries.

Digital Marketers who have learned an in-demand specialized skill are often rewarded for their expertise. Digital Data Analysts earn an average of $75,000 a year, Web Optimization Specialists make $67,000 annually, and SEO Managers get an average of $79,000 a year.

Pay Range for Digital Marketers

The range of salaries for Digital Marketers as reported to Glassdoor goes from $45,000 up to $110,000. The most likely range is between $55,000 and $89,000. Glassdoor lists the average Digital Marketer salary as $69,000 a year. This figure is composed of a base salary of $54,000 a year plus $16,000 in benefits.

Highest-Earning Job Titles for Digital Marketers

The highest-earning digital marketing job titles are at the management or executive level. According to employment site RobertHalf.com, a Digital Media Manager has a salary range from $63,000 to $90,000, a Content Marketing Manager gets between $80,000 and $115,000, and an ecommerce Specialist earns between $90,000 and $126,000. A Chief Marketing Officer makes between $94,000 and $342,000, and a Creative Director gets between $85,000 and $201,000.

Learn the Skills to Become a Digital Marketer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers many digital marketing courses that teach skills to help you switch to a career in digital marketing. Small class sizes and expert instructors help you learn digital marketing in in-person or live online classes. Plus, you can take a course over again for free at any time during the following year. 

Noble Desktop offers many bootcamps in digital marketing like Facebook Marketing, email marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs & Twitter, and Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube. You can also choose the Digital Marketing Certificate or a Social Media Marketing Certificate course. Other Noble Desktop resources that can help prepare for a career in digital marketing include the digital marketing blog with valuable articles about social media marketing, SEO, and other essential tools for digital marketers.

Key Takeaways

• Digital marketing is an in-demand career path that offers competitive salaries across most job titles.
• While pay will depend on factors such as industry experience and location, a Digital Marketer can expect to make around $69,000 dollars a year or more.
• More specialized digital marketing positions, such as Digital Media Managers or ecommerce Specialists will regularly make over $100,000 a year.
• You can learn the skills necessary to qualify for these positions in any of Noble Desktop’s in-person or live online digital marketing courses.