Digital Marketing Specialist: Complete Career Guide for 2024 [Skills, Salary, Growth]

“If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.” – Bill Gates once gave this popular statement. But what’s the meaning behind it? Many local boutiques and home-based businesses use Instagram stories and social media platforms to showcase their products. Indirectly, they advertise their products to extend the reach of their businesses. What a brilliant idea—isn’t it? This is digital marketing, advertising, and making your product available online. Polls, countdowns, comments, and swipe-up-like features help get real-time feedback from users.

Furthermore, social media platforms help you find the right audience and customers by using hashtags. In the upcoming days, the digital marketing specialist role would become more dynamic. As large-scale businesses continue to market online, digital marketing has become a forever business trend. With this digital marketing specialist career guide, we shall discover intriguing facts and figures about digital marketing specialists. It shall cover their skills, salary, and growth prospects.

Who is a Digital Marketing Specialist

“Digital Marketing is not the art of selling a product. It is the art of making people buy the product that you sell.” – Hecate Strategy

A digital marketing specialist implements marketing strategies to promote a product on digital platforms through online channels. You plan and execute effective marketing campaigns and track them across different digital platforms. Your foremost goal is to generate leads for your business and increase sales.

DM specialists support businesses digitally with exceptional communication, advertisement, and sales skills. In fact, according to a BLS report, the overall jobs in the marketing sector are estimated to increase by 10% by 2026. Being a digital marketing specialist, you need to perform numerous tasks. These tasks help support the marketing of your business, such as:

• Researching the potential customer needs

• Tracking customer records and feedback

• Promoting digital campaigns

• Advertise products on various digital channels

• Email marketing

Also Read: Want To Become A Digital Marketing Specialist? Learn All The Secrets

Check List: 11 Career Benefits of Becoming a DM Specialist

Digital marketing is an emerging career that would peak in the coming era. As the world is becoming more digital, the need for businesses to go digital has increased. Digital marketing would be the perfect career for next-generation marketers. Moreover, this career offers a range of benefits, including:

1. It’s one of the fastest-growing fields; hence, your career is bright.

2. Skilled digital marketing specialists are in high demand among employers worldwide.

3. Offers you multiple versatile roles to select from, such as:

   1. PPC Specialist

   2. SEO Specialist

   3. Digital Marketing Specialist

   4. Social Media Specialist

4. Even entry-level jobs compensate you well with decent salary ranges.

5. Handsome payscale for skilled and experienced professionals.

6. Offers you a lot of career advancement opportunities.

7. With an entrepreneurial spirit, you could even build your career.

8. Provides you with various skills and allows you to leverage them for multiple purposes.

9. No limitations on expanding your creativity or innovation skills.

10. Allow you to work remotely.

11. It is one of the best careers, allowing you to manage your work-life balance.

How to Become a Digital Marketing Specialist: Quick Steps

You need to follow a specific roadmap to become a digital marketing specialist. From learning basics to getting placed securely, there are some phases you need to go through. The following are the quick and easy steps to become a digital marketing specialist. Let’s go through it:

1. Learn the fundamentals of Digital Marketing: The first stage of digital marketing starts with its fundamentals. Digital Marketing has a range of concepts; you must begin with the basics to build your foundation. Some of the core concepts you need to get a hang of include:

   • SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

   • Social Media Marketing

   • Email Marketing

   • PPC (Pay Per Click)

   • Data Analytics

2. Earn Certifications: Nowadays, various online platforms and colleges offer short courses in digital marketing. Often ranging from 3 months to a year, these courses are solely based on digital marketing concepts. Certifications in these courses help you advance as a digital marketing specialist quickly. Some popular platforms include:

   • Google

   • HubSpot

   • LinkedIn

3. Gain Practical Experience: You can participate in DM workshops and start doing internships. It shall help you earn hands-on experience. Moreover, you can create your blogs to apply what you have learned.

4. Master the Key Tools and Skills: You gain unique skills in digital marketing. Numerous tools and distinct skills are essential to become a digital marketing specialist. Here are the essential tools that you must gain expertise in:

   • Google Analytics

   • SEMrush

   • WordPress

   • Facebook Ads Manager

   • Canva

5. Build Your Portfolio: Having a portfolio is essential nowadays. It showcases your determination for your career and qualifications. You can showcase your personal projects, campaign results, and creative work in a portfolio. It helps you attract clients and jobs.

6. Stay Updated on Trends: Digital Marketing is all about trends. With the change in trends, your strategies for marketing also change. Therefore, you can participate in webinars and online/offline communities to stay up-to-date with trends.

7. Expand Your Professional Network: A decent professional network is a plus in the corporate realm. Having a solid network could drive more career opportunities for you. You could try the following to expand your network:

   • Join digital marketing groups on LinkedIn

   • Attend webinars

   • Engage with communities

8. Secure a Job: After months of hard work, it’s finally time to secure a job. You must apply in bulk for DM specialist jobs. It increases your chances of getting placed. Once experienced, you can switch jobs to advance as a digital marketing specialist.

Also Read: MBA in Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

Digital Marketing Specialist: Premium Skills

As a digital marketing specialist, you would require a range of skills. Digital marketing is an ever-evolving and trend-centric field. Your strategies must change according to customers’ needs. Therefore, you must be adaptive to new trends and challenges. You would gain a plethora of distinctive skills to advance in this career. Some of the premium skills that you need as a digital marketing specialist are listed below:

Eligibility Criteria: You could be the One

Every business has different marketing niches. However, digital marketing strategies are often similar for many organisations. The rest depends on your creativity and problem-solving skills. Here are the least eligibility criteria to become a digital marketing specialist.

• You must have a bachelor’s degree in marketing or any business-associated field.

• You may require a digital marketing certification.

• You would require proficiency in communication and an understanding of the targeted audience.

• You must have the ability to lead and work with the team.

Explore the Roles & Responsibilities of a Digital Marketing Specialist

You would be responsible for numerous everyday tasks as a digital marketing specialist. Depending on your skills and seniority levels, your few tasks might differ from others. The following are the common roles and responsibilities of a digital marketing specialist.

• Developing and implementing marketing campaigns on various digital platforms such as:

  1. Instagram

  2. Facebook

  3. LinkedIn

  4. Twitter

  5. Google

  6. Snapchat

  7. Yahoo

  8. Buffer

  9. HubSpot

• Optimising content to increase SEO to enhance website ranking and visibility.

• Managing different social media accounts for the business.

• Scheduling different posts on different platforms.

• Engaging with followers.

• Analysing companies’ website and campaigning data to track performance and ROI.

• Conducting thorough keyword research to identify trends and opportunities.

• Staying up-to-date with digital marketing trends and the best industrial practices.

• Collaborating with content creators to promote their brand.

• Planning and running campaigns through email marketing.

• Implementing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) strategies to drive significant traffic.

• Overseeing the activities of competitors to adjust strategies according to needs.

Salary Prospects: Plenty of Wealth

By 2026, companies are estimated to spend $876 billion globally on digital advertising. Digital marketing is a field taking a quantum jump. According to Zippia (2024), the jobs for digital marketing specialists are projected to grow by 19% from 2018-28. Nearly 150,300 new jobs will be added globally over the next few years.

Since the job outlook is astonishing, the salary must also be amusing. Did you know that in the past five years, the salary of digital marketing specialists has increased by 5%? Digital marketing specialists with 1-8 years of experience can earn up to INR 11.4 LPA in India.

Industries like education, healthcare, and entertainment need digital marketing specialists the most. As a fresher, you can earn around INR 2-3 LPA. However, as a senior digital marketer, companies offer INR 10-12 LPA packages.

Top 10 Recruiters Across the Globe

Nowadays, digital marketing is becoming one of the most sought-after fields. Whether small or large, businesses are adopting digital marketing to increase their sales rapidly. Therefore, digital marketing specialists are in high demand among top recruiters worldwide. Below are the top 10 leading global recruiters hiring digital marketing specialists.

1. Accenture

2. Google

3. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

4. Cognizant Technology Solutions

5. Amazon

6. Wipro

7. UpGrad

8. Infosys

9. IBM

10. ABC

Source: Glassdoor

Top Tier I Colleges to Become a Digital Marketing Specialist

Your college has a great impact on your career and salary prospects. You might not have to seek jobs outside if you have a degree from a renowned institute. Tier I Colleges often provide on-campus placement facilities to their students. Also, you could easily find numerous opportunities outside the campus.

Furthermore, numerous colleges provide you with digital marketing courses nowadays. Choosing the best-in-class college for yourself is essential. Here are the top 10 tier I colleges that offer digital marketing degrees and courses. Take a look at them:

• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune

• Amity University, Noida

• Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

• Xavier Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai

• IIKM Business School, Chennai

• RVS Institute of Management and Research, Coimbatore

• Thakur College of Science & Commerce, Mumbai

• MICA, Ahmedabad

• Parul University, Vadodara

• Indian School of Business Management and Administration (ISBM), Bangalore

Logging Out

As a digital marketing specialist, you can picture yourself as the mastermind behind every viral content. You would create catchy ads and engaging Instagram stories that go viral. However, your journey wouldn’t end here. Whether it’s crafting memes, setting up midnight flash sales, or promoting brands, your road would be full of exciting challenges.

However, you must master PPC, SEO, and SMM skills to become a DM specialist. All you need to do is to obtain a degree, get certified, and then be placed. Digital marketing is a robust dynamic career that could be your chance to make your stars shine.

Resources

Digital Marketing Specialist – Coursera

Digital Marketing Careers – Directive Consulting

Best Colleges for Digital Marketing in India – IIDE