The digital marketing industry is booming, and professionals with skills in digital marketing are in high demand. A 2018 survey by LinkedIn reported a shortage of 230,000 people with marketing skills in the 20 largest metro areas polled. So, what are the top jobs in digital marketing, and what should you know if considering this career path?
Not only are there plenty of jobs for digital marketers, but the work also benefits those who do it. According to a list compiled by Glassdoor, which relies on employee feedback, six of the top 25 best jobs for work-life balance were digital marketing-related. This is significant because it’s the most of any field other than information technology careers.
Content produced in collaboration with UWA Online.
Here are some of the most in-demand jobs in digital marketing for 2019 and beyond
Content Strategist
Content marketers create content such as articles, ebooks, infographics and blog posts in order to raise brand awareness. Content marketers focus on increasing traffic to company websites in order to generate leads for the sales that will hopefully turn into new customers. Content strategists help plan the promotion of content via channels like social media or email. Developing a cohesive brand voice and then making sure all resultant content uses that voice is one of the main objectives of content marketers.
Digital Content Writer
Content writers create the messaging developed by content strategists, whether it’s blog posts, ebooks, white papers, or even social media posts. They often work closely with editors who oversee their work, making sure it both meets the needs of the client and remains consistent with the brand voice. 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.
Digital Marketing Analyst
Marketing analysts are data scientists who read and interpret digital data to help a business invest in marketing that drives return on investment. 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 informed decisions about their marketing. Marketing analysts help businesses understand their customers and competition as well as the market and price structures.
Email Marketer
As millennials and Gen Z increasingly eschew traditional mail in favor of online communication, businesses often hire those who specialize in creating promotional emails to reach a broader audience than direct mail might attract. 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 encourage action in customers: share the newsletter, visit the website, order a product, visit the business and more.
Paid Search Analyst
When a business buys a sponsored ad on a search engine, such as Google, what they are really paying for is the chance to rank high on search engine results pages based on keywords. The business pays a predetermined 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 money any time someone clicks on the ad.
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 3.5 billion searches on Google, which means that where a company appears on a search result list matters. That’s what makes SEO analysts so important. They put together a strategy to ensure that websites or content ranks high on search engines, ensuring that more potential consumers see it and click on links.
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.
These are just a few of the digital marketing jobs that are currently sought after by many top businesses. As the industry continues to grow and evolve, so does the demand for these positions, and new roles emerge every day.
A career in digital marketing is perfect for those who are tech-savvy and ready to leverage those skills to meet consumer demand, and many of these jobs are available even without advanced business degrees. In the industry, a bachelor’s degree is often all a potential digital marketer needs to start their career. Once you’ve built up experience working in digital marketing, an online MBA or advanced certification can help you land management or science-driven analytic positions not available at entry level.
The field of digital marketing is challenging because it is ever-evolving, but for those who love the fast-paced nature of the online world, digital marketing could very well be a great fit.
For further reading, check out “A quick guide to digital marketing careers.”