Ever since the first recorded leasing of a street billboard in 1867 and the first paid radio ad in 1922, marketing has been an integral part of doing business. In fact, it quickly became inconceivable for a company to be successful on the market without marketing. As Steuart Henderson Britt famously put it back in the 1960s, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” Once the Internet became more accessible in the 1990s and extremely popular in the 2000s, it seemed quite obvious that the web is the best platform for efficient marketing. Incidentally, the first mass e-mail was sent as long ago as 1978 via the ARPANET. Its author, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation, has claimed that this single e-mail resulted in 13 million dollars’ worth of sales of products. When the first clickable banner went live in 1993, the marketing game was about to change. Forever.
The advantages of digital marketing, as opposed to offline marketing, are pretty much obvious: faster spread, better reach and targeting, reduced cost, live feedback, easier access to data and analytics, and last but not least, the use of the latest technology available to marketers – artificial intelligence, extended reality, web3 marketing, big data, and so on. But is it a good idea to get a digital marketing job in the digital world? Should you invest in a digital marketing career? We took a closer look at the latest official statistics and forecasts, as well as insights from experts at job aggregator Jooble, to give you the following important facts to consider:
Digital Marketing will be taking over all marketing
In the words of Jeff Bezos himself, “it’s hard to find things that won’t sell online.” The past couple of decades have seen products and services move from the local market to the digital world. Nowadays, any successful business, regardless of scope and scale, has a strong online presence, with digital marketing campaigns to boot. Here are some important stats to consider:
- In 2022, 21% of global retail sales happened online, with at least 75% of global consumers shopping online at least once a month.
- The global digital marketing industry is projected to reach almost 800 billion dollars by 2026.
- Over 75% of marketers are now using digital marketing channels to both increase brand awareness and build business trust.
- 39% of surveyed customers say that they would try a business for the first time because of a mail ad, while 49% of consumers say that they have made a purchase after seeing a social media ad.
- As of 2023, there are already over 25 million active business accounts on Instagram.
Based on these facts alone, it is becoming quite clear that digital marketing will gradually become the main medium for marketing in the future. Needless to say, if you want to become a marketing professional, then this is the only sensible way for your career to grow and evolve.
Employment in Digital Marketing is on the rise
According to LinkedIn, digital marketing specialists rank in the top ten most in-demand jobs as of 2023, with a reported shortage of 230 thousand professionals in the US alone. This hardly comes as a surprise, considering the fact that most businesses plan on increasing their spending on online marketing, as well as diversifying their digital marketing efforts. If you decide on building a career in this field, you will likely have little trouble landing your next job or gig.
Getting started is easy, fun and… free!
A successful career in digital marketing does not require any considerable investment, other than your time and energy. At least, not at the very beginning. The Internet is filled to the brim with free digital marketing courses, tutorials and helper tools. You can kickstart your learning path by research, trial and error, and by listening to the advice of online marketing gurus.
Obviously, advancing your career will require professional courses or even a degree at some point in the future. However, you can certainly start on your first jobs without those. Plus, by the time you will need them for advancement, you will already be earning income. Or even better, you will be working for an employer willing to pay for your professional education. Which brings us to our next fact.
The pay is good and top employers are amazing
Glassdoor estimates that the current median salary for a Digital Marketing specialist in the United States is around 59,000 dollars per year. In the UK, figures are comparable, with an average yearly salary of 43,000 pound sterling. But wait, it gets even better.
If you are lucky and skilled enough to land a job with one of the top employers in digital marketing – think Meta, Google, Adobe, nVidia, BlackRock, Cisco, Microsoft, Atlassian, Intel – expect your salary to be almost double that, up to 100,000 dollars a year. Furthermore, these figures do not take into account all the bonuses and non-monetary incentives, which can be quite amazing at these companies. All the more reason to invest in your professional development and career progression.
Jobs are diverse and there is always potential for growth
Up to this point, for the purpose of simplicity, we have talked about generic roles like “digital marketing specialist”. However, what you need to know is that there are a lot of different roles and specializations in digital marketing. The top job profiles in online marketing include:
- Digital Marketing Manager;
- Social Media Manager;
- SEO Specialist;
- Content Writer / Creator;
- SEM Analyst;
- PPC Specialist;
- Content Marketing Specialist;
- Digital Marketing Strategist;
- Digital Marketing Project Manager
- Graphic Designer.
As you have undoubtedly noticed, there are many ways in which you can become part of the industry. This means that you can easily find a role that fits your skillset like a glove, at any point of your career. But more than that, it also means that you will have a career path that can branch out into multiple directions and fields. It is entirely up to you where it will go, but it’s always a good idea to keep your options open.
Closing Thoughts
Digital marketing is one of the most dynamic, fastest-moving and exciting industries of today and tomorrow. Entry-level jobs in digital marketing are quite accessible and, more importantly, they come with a potential of career development and growth, while also bringing the promise of hefty paychecks in the future. If you are currently planning your first (or next) career – a digital marketing role is certainly one of the top contenders.