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Digital Marketing Manager Career Guide

Are you someone that is obsessed with digital marketing and promoting what you love online? Are you experienced with social media platforms? If so, this may be the perfect fit for you. As a Digital Marketing Manager, you’ll perform all sorts of different tasks. These tasks can include supervising the staff, helping improve online presence and leadership, meeting with other staff to review the company’s budgets, and analyzing new technologies. 

For this job, a bachelor’s degree in marketing is required, as well as five or more years of experience in advertising. You’ll be more likely to be considered for this job if you have qualifications such as a master’s degree in marketing and are certified in Google Ads. 

Sample job description

At [Your Company Name], we rely on our marketing team to create sales opportunities that will allow continued growth and help us rise to the top. As a digital marketing manager, your job will be to drive us forward by strategically managing our marketing team and creating digital marketing campaigns, procedures, guidelines, and strategies that will target these new sales opportunities. These tools will also increase our brand awareness and ultimately maximize our digital exposure. You will also be in charge of assessing which marketing strategies best suit our business model, and how to maximize the growth potential through these individual strategies. You will run regular reports and create ways to track these results so that we can adjust sales and marketing accordingly and add new marketing sources as necessary. If you are one who is willing to take charge and achieve high goals in these regards, then you are likely just the person we are looking for!

Typical duties and responsibilities

  • Keep the company up to date with developments in digital marketing
  • Review new technologies 
  • Be in charge of the development of social media and company website 
  • Improve online presence 
  • Plan and manage all aspects of digital marketing campaigns to adequately promote the company’s products and services
  • Delegating responsibilities to the marketing team
  • Handling strategic online leadership
  • Evaluating online campaigns 
  • Supervise staff
  • Meets with other staff to stay within budget
  • Report and present the published campaign to a leadership team
  • Oversee graphic designer

Education and experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in marketing or related field
  • Five or more years of experience in advertising and digital marketing

Required skills and qualifications

  • Exponential communication skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Team player/team building 
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Social media marketing expertise
  • Knowledge of website metrics and how to track them
  • Experience using performance software to track analytics
  • Strong writing skills
  • Ability to work well under pressure

Preferred qualifications

  • Google Ads certified
  • Familiarity with lead software, Google Search Console, and other analytic software
  • A background in optimization
  • Master’s degree in marketing or another related field

Typical work environment

Marketing managers work in an office setting, sitting at a desk for extended periods of time. They typically have their own office. Marketing managers will usually be provided a company phone and/or laptop in which some work can be done at home after hours. Some companies allow you to telework with a strong internet connection. Occasional travel for meetings will be necessary.

Typical hours

Digital marketing managers work full time with the 8 AM to 5PM traditional hours, Monday through Friday, with the occasional overtime. You generally have a set schedule. Part-time hours are extremely rare but can be an option in this field of work. 

Available certifications

  • Google Certification. This is an online training program created to improve skills in high demand fields like project management, IT support, and data analytics. (Google Ads certification or Google analytics certification)
  • Professional Certified Marketer in digital marketing. This certification created by the AMA certifies you in digital marketing. There are two levels: Pro and Expert. For Pro, there are 30 hours of online training that cover SEO, Social Media, PPC, Email Marketing, and Content Marketing. For Expert, there are 120 hours of online training covering Digital Strategy, Customer Experience, Digital Selling, Leadership and Team Management, and Search Marketing.
  • Professional Certified Marketer in marketing management. This certification proves to employers that you have the ability to be successful in the spectrum of marketing topics. You will need to study, pay the fee, and take an exam. Most people taking this exam will have a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or seven years of experience in the field.
  • HubSpot Content Marketing Certification. HubSpot offers certifications and courses based on research and the latest insights as the business world moves at a fast pace. This is a free certification that anyone can take. It includes six hours of training.

Career path

In order to become a digital marketing manager, you first need to have a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree in marketing or related fields. A master’s degree is not required, but it does set you apart from the other candidates in the field. The more experience you have, the easier it will be to secure a job as a marketing manager. Some jobs do require you to have specific certifications, like some of the ones stated above. Knowledge of marketing automation and lead software is also beneficial in this field. Nonetheless, it is crucial that you continue to learn and grow while staying up to date with the latest technologies. 

US, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job outlook

SOC Code: 11-2021.00

2020 Employment293,700
Projected Employment in 2030323,100
Projected 2020-2030 Percentage Shift 10% increase
Projected 2020-2030 Numeric Shift29,400

A digital marketing manager is a great career option because of the shift to online sales and online marketing in recent years. Digital marketing can lead to other fields such as sales, website design, marketing software development, and many other related career paths.

Many digital marketers end up starting their own businesses and have a jump start because of their ability to get their clients’ product and brand in front of people. Some digital marketers are freelancers and others are employed directly by larger brands. Due to companies always needing to market their products and services to other businesses and consumers, the need for marketing managers is increasing over the next 10 years.