Among the positions in the marketing industry, digital marketing specialist is a job that not everyone can take on because of the high job requirements.
Yet, if you have solid experience and suitable qualifications, the opportunity to reach the position of digital marketing specialist is always open.
What are the responsibilities of this profession? What are the educational and skill requirements? What are the salary and job prospects?
Let’s clear these queries with valuable information here!
Job Description
What is a Digital Marketing Specialist?
A Digital Marketer, or Digital Marketing Specialist, is responsible for maintaining a brand by working on some marketing campaigns.
Their duties include strategizing with marketing pros, doing market research, and making content to contribute to the success of marketing campaigns.
These specialists usually work for marketing corporations and firms to deliver creative solutions for brands.
They will also work closely with the marketing department to determine ways to spread awareness about their business and boost product sales.
Duties and Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of these professionals will include the following:
- Researching advertising trends.
- Researching competitors’ products and pricing.
- Deciding on the appropriate placement of ads.
- Determining what content can reach customers effectively.
- Publishing digital marketing content online.
- Developing projects to make content.
- Measuring digital traffic.
- Monitoring project budget and status.
- Scaling campaigns to maximize ROI.
- Implementing email marketing campaigns.
- Monitoring social media & Google Analytics.
- Optimizing paid advertising campaigns using SEO or other tools.
- Reporting on the growth and analysis of campaigns to stakeholders.
- Conducting market research to inform campaigns.
- Monitoring project status and budget.
- Brainstorming and implementing experiments and conversion tests.
Where do Digital Marketing Specialists work?
As a Digital marketing specialist, you can work for agencies with an in-house team or start your firm. You can also work as a digital sales executive, Internet marketing specialist, SEO (search engine optimization) marketing specialist, digital marketing director, and other options.
Education
Education and Training Requirements
To become a digital marketing specialist, you must have a bachelor’s degree.
Preferably, your degree will enable you to get into the content-creation field with business savvy, an idea of sales techniques, and a working knowledge of digital resources, content-creation software, and English composition.
You should know how to organize yourself and keep an eye on competitors’ products and sales points. Research experience gained during your college education can help.
Experience Requirements
Excellent digital marketing specialists have previous experience researching and promoting services and products online via social media, websites, and blogs.
These professionals may have handled email campaigns and done sales-related research as well as writing. They understand how to mesh with a team, train freelancers or subordinates, and organize big digital sales projects.
Depending on experience, digital marketers can lead their business’s advertising program or join a writer team in a junior position.
Essential Skills
Some skills listed below are essential for a successful digital marketing specialist.
HTML & CSS
HTML & CSS are mark-up languages utilized to format the content that appears on web pages.
Digital marketers who understand these languages are very valuable as they can make changes to websites, perform and customize content experiments, design landing pages, and more.
Website CMS
To fulfill the content publishing and web administration responsibilities, these specialists should be experts in web content management systems, especially WordPress or the CMS utilized by nearly a third of all websites.
Digital PR
It is an area of marketing focusing on increasing and developing an online presence via press releases, high-quality backlink generation, guest posting, and more to raise status and brand exposure online. Digital marketers are expected to promote their firms utilizing Digital PR methods and tactics.
Content Marketing
As a digital marketing specialist, you should master content marketing and how to create memorable content that is useful, shareable, and genuine engagement from audiences.
Social Media Marketing
Digital marketers should be experts in growing followers and building engagement across the main social channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Email Marketing
Digital marketing specialists may design email marketing campaigns, then write newsletters and lead nurturing emails that keep potential customers until they are prepared to purchase.
Data Analysis
Digital marketers can use data analytics to measure, report, and analyze campaign performance. Analytics skills are essential for creating accurate insights and creating data-driven marketing decisions.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
These specialists utilize CRO to optimize marketing funnels and enhance landing page conversion rates. It is an essential skill for improving campaign performance and boosting overall profitability.
PPC (Pay-per-click Advertising)
Digital marketers are expected to offer profitable PPC campaigns across various ad networks, such as Microsoft Ads, Google Ads, and Paid social advertising.
SEO (Search engine optimization)
As a digital marketing specialist, you must possess advanced knowledge of SEO and can make and manage organic search campaigns.
Communication Skills
As a digital marketer, effective communication means a compelling story to clients and concise and clear plans you need to explain to a team of staff members and customers. And this skill is a must-have to get promoted to marketing manager.
Essential Tools
Here are some essential digital marketing tools:
Social Selling Tools.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
- Vidyard.
- Loom.
Content Management Tools.
- MishGuru.
- Oroson.
- CrowdRiff.
Video Marketing Tools.
- CapCut.
- Animoto.
UX and Design Tools.
- Google Optimize.
- Microsoft Clarity.
- Infogram.
- HotJar.
- Canva.
Marketing Management Tools.
- Slack.
- Trello.
- Asana.
- Teamwork.
Digital Strategy Tools.
- Miro.
- Connect Mór.
Data & Analytics Tools.
- Google Data Studio.
- Data Boards.
- Whatagraph.
- Kissmetrics.
- Google Analytics.
Paid Search & Social Tools.
- Revealbot.
- AdEspresso.
- Wordstream.
- AdZooma.
- Bing Ads Editor.
- Google Ads Editor.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Tools.
- Moz.
- Ahrefs.
- Screaming Frog.
- SEMrush.
Email Marketing/Marketing Automation Tools.
- GetResponse.
- HubSpot.
- MailChimp.
- Campaign Monitor.
Influencer Marketing Tools
- Upfluence.
- NinjaOutreach.
- Strawberry Socials & Melody Socials.
Social Media Marketing Tools
- BuzzSumo.
- Hootsuite.
- Meet Edgar.
- Hashtagify.me.
- Falcon.io.
- SkedSocial.
Job Outlook
According to the BLS, the group of occupations that include promotions, advertising, and marketing managers is expected to see a ten percent growth in the ten years from 2020 to 2030. That growth is higher than the average for all occupations taken together.
Salary
The average salary for a digital marketing specialist in the United States is $55,016 per year, $1,058 per week, and $4,584 per month.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Pros
- Good salary.
- Always in high demand.
- Teleworking is possible.
- Can work for many different companies.
- Never gets bored.
- Excellent future job prospects.
- Work indoors.
Cons
- Can be stressful
- Need a college degree.
- Sit in front of a computer all day long.
- You have to learn and educate yourself.
FAQs
SEO vs. Digital Marketing Specialist: What Is the Difference?
The difference between SEO Specialists and Digital Marketing Specialists is that Digital Marketers have much broader job responsibilities, and one of them may include the creation of SEO-optimized content.
Contrastly, SEO Specialists just focus on helping individuals and businesses optimize their webs and other forms of web content, such as social media blogs, posts, and articles.
Who Does a Digital Marketer Report To?
Digital Marketing Specialists typically report to a Digital Marketing Manager. Those pros oversee the digital marketing team and assign them to particular projects or tasks.
Digital Markers may also report to the Marketing Director or Vice President of Marketing if a Digital Marketing Manager role is unavailable.
How To Become a Digital Marketer?
Step 1: Get a bachelor’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree in advertising, communication, journalism, or marketing may help lay the foundation you’ll need in a role as a digital marketer.
It is okay to complete a course in digital marketing areas, but a bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field will allow you to approach a structured program that teaches you digital marketing fundamentals or look for a specialty.
According to the U.S BLS, a bachelor’s degree is needed for marketing positions, including promotions, advertising, and marketing management positions.
Regarding advertising management positions, several employers prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree in journalism or advertising.
It might be possible to work in the digital marketing field with an unrelated degree. The U.S BLS recommends the following courses:
- Math.
- Finance.
- Statistics.
- Economics.
- Management.
- Business law.
- Computer Science.
Step 2. Learn important skills.
Digital marketing involves more than compiling images and words to boost sales.
So as a digital marketer, you may want to master various skills to enable your clients to make informed decisions and build marketing campaigns with the highest likelihood of converting clients to clients.
Step 3. Consider boot certifications and courses.
You may consider joining a digital marketing course or Bootcamp along the journey to become a digital marketer.
Bootcamps are typically fast and cover big volumes of information in a fairly short duration. Digital marketing Bootcamps commonly focus on specialized skills dedicated to a specific niche – digital marketing.
Rather than covering a vast scope, those Bootcamps will aim to cover a specific aspect or topic thoroughly. They may include hands-on and practical components, providing opportunities for real-life experience while learning.
On the other hand, digital marketing courses allow for specialization with several fundamental coursework thrown in. Those courses will be helpful for entry-level candidates since they cover the relevant coursework.
But you may also find more specialized and advanced digital marketing courses. Some courses may give you a shareable certificate on completion.
Step 4. Gain the first entry-level job.
There are various roles in digital marketing that are available to entry-level workers. An essential part of applying for an entry-level digital marketing job is separating you from other candidates. It could be gaining valuable and unique skills or completing a course and Bootcamp.
You may consider delivering your services for free in exchange for testimonials and building a proven track record. Then, you may use it as a portfolio to showcase your success in running digital marketing campaigns.
Entry-level positions in digital marketing may include marketing analysts, specialists, and coordinators.
Step 5: Earn a master’s degree.
A master’s degree may be helpful, but unnecessary to get into digital marketing. Master’s degrees in the digital marketing field differ broadly in their focus. Here are some digital marketing degrees you can consider:
- Marketing Analytics.
- Global Digital Marketing.
- Digital Marketing Strategy.
- Digital Marketing and Design.
- Digital and Social Marketing.
- Digital Marketing Communication.
Career Advice
Digital marketing specialists have a bright future, at least for the next ten years or so. With an attractive salary and high demand, becoming a digital marketer is a good idea.
You will need to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field. In addition, there are dozens of skills that you need to master to be successful.
Having a master’s degree in digital marketing can set you apart from other applicants in terms of academic knowledge in this field. However, it is essential to stay up to date with the latest technologies and keep learning.
