If you’re thinking of starting a career as a digital marketer or just curious about how much money you can make in the digital marketing industry, you’ll find this post particularly useful. We've researched the current job market trends to find the annual salaries of the most popular digital marketing jobs.
All salaries presented below reflect the median salary for US roles according to Payscale as of December 2023.
How Much Do Digital Marketers Make?
| Job Role | Annual Salary (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1. Digital Marketing Manager | $74,320 |
| 2. SEO Manager | $76,550 |
| 3. PPC Manager | $59,177 |
| 4. Social Media Manager | $56,799 |
| 5. Content Marketing Manager | $73,837 |
| 6. Influencer Marketing Manager | $67,000 |
| 7. Content Manager | $65,586 |
1. Digital Marketing Manager
The average salary of a digital marketing manager is $74,320 per year. It’s one of the highest-paying marketing jobs.
What does a digital marketing manager do? A digital marketing manager is an experienced digital marketer with over 10 years in the industry. His/her role is to coordinate all the activities of the digital marketing department and manage the digital marketing team.
Digital marketing manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $64K per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $77K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $87K per year
2. SEO Manager
The average salary of an SEO manager is $76,550 per year.
What does an SEO manager do? An SEO Manager is responsible for planning, executing, and managing the SEO strategy for a company or multiple clients.
SEO manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $66K per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $81K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $98K per year
3. PPC Manager
The average salary of a PPC manager is $59,177 per year.
What does a Pay-Per-Click manager do? A PPC manager is responsible for running paid campaigns on Google, Facebook, Bing, and other platforms to make a profit from PPC campaigns.
PPC manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $55K per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $63K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $61K per year
4. Social Media Manager
The average salary of a Social media manager is $56,799 per year.
What does a social media manager do? A social media manager is responsible for managing a business's social media presence using paid and organic methods.
Social media manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $53K per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $65K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $74K per year
5. Content Marketing Manager
The average salary of a Content marketing manager is $73,837 per year.
What does a content marketing manager do? A content marketing manager is responsible for planning and executing content marketing campaigns in different channels and formats.
Content marketing manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $65K per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $78K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $86K per year
6. Influencer Marketing Manager
The average salary of an Influencer marketing manager is $67,000 per year.
What does an influencer marketing manager do? An influencer manager is responsible for finding and partnering with influencers to expand a company's reach and promote its products and services.
It's a relatively new digital marketing role, so there is insufficient data to break down the salary per experience level.
7. Content Manager
The average salary of a Content marketing manager is $65,586 per year.
What does a content manager do? A content manager (blog manager, copywriter) creates content for blogging and other purposes.
Content manager salary per experience level:
- 1 to 4 years of experience - $59 per year
- 5 to 9 years of experience - $70K per year
- 10 to 19 years of experience - $81K per year
Salary of Other Digital Marketing Roles
Digital Marketing Specialist Salary
The average salary of a digital marketing specialist is around $55K per year. A digital marketing specialist is a professional with 5 to 9 years of experience in digital marketing related positions.
Depending on the company structure, a digital marketing specialist works under the supervision of a digital marketing manager and leads a team of junior digital marketers.
Digital Marketing Freelancer Salary
Freelancers don't have a monthly salary but charge per hour or project. The typical rate is between $50 and $200 per hour.
A freelance digital marketer is a professional with the necessary skills and knowledge to offer online marketing services to clients. Freelancers usually work from home and support their clients remotely.
Digital Marketing Salary Entry-Level
A junior digital marketing professional with no experience earns around $40K annually. It’s the lowest-paying position on the digital marketing career ladder.
An entry-level digital marketer has received formal education and holds a marketing degree, a Master’s degree (optional), and/or a digital marketing certification.
What Factors Affect Your Digital Marketing Salary?
The factors affecting how much money you can make working as a digital marketer are:
Experience
It’s no surprise that experience plays an important role in the money you can make. But it should be noted that the years working in the industry alone will not guarantee a higher salary.
Unlike other marketing jobs, a digital marketer needs to know how to work with many digital channels, and if you have spent all your time becoming an expert in only one area, that’s not going to increase your salary. In other words, to get a higher salary because of the years in the industry, you need to have experience with as many digital marketing disciplines as possible and not just one area.
Skills
A successful digital marketer needs to possess many skills. The more digital skills you have, the higher your salary will be. According to studies, the skills that can positively influence salary are social media marketing, SEM, and email marketing.
In other words, companies compensate professionals who can do the full marketing cycle (from traffic acquisition to conversion) and are not limited to a particular skill set.
Reputation
This is a factor that most professionals ignore, but it can make a huge difference in the salary you can make working in a company or as a freelancer.
Reputation in this context has to do with your personal brand as a professional. Digital marketers who are known and respected in the industry can charge more for their services or request a higher salary when working for a digital marketing agency.
Country
Although digital marketing is work you can do from home and serve clients anywhere in the World, your country of residence is a factor that influences your salary or hourly rate (if you’re a freelancer).
Marketers in the US get paid more than their colleagues in other countries. To give you an idea, the average salary of a digital marketer with 5 years of experience in the US is around $70K, in India is $10K, and in Berlin around $50K per year.
There are also salary differences within a country. People living in crowded cities earn more than marketers living and operating in smaller cities or rural areas. On average, a digital marketer working in San Fransisco will get 33% more than someone working in Denver.
Job Role
As you’ll see below, the salary increases as you climb the corporate ladder, depending on your job responsibilities. For example, a digital marketing specialist who leads a team gets paid more than a specialist who works solo.
Also, digital marketers with the qualifications and experience to combine traditional and online marketing can participate in decision-making boards and earn a higher salary.
Results
One of the differences between traditional marketing and online marketing is that everything is measurable. This means it’s easy to determine if a digital marketing campaign is profitable and the ROI.
Marketers who can run profitable campaigns and provide real monetary value to a company will also receive higher compensation than marketers who perform typical tasks.
Keeping track of your success stories can get you a higher salary and a better position when switching jobs.
Digital Marketing Is a Great Career
Pursuing a digital marketing career is a great choice. There is a rise in demand for all kinds of digital marketing-related jobs, and this is expected to continue for years to come. The world economy is moving online, and companies will need the help of qualified digital marketing professionals.
As you have seen, not all digital marketing roles are equal. Marketers with a wide range of skills get paid more than ‘one-area’ specialists. Don’t forget that the most important factor influencing your salary or income is the ability to deliver results. Digital marketing is about making money, and if you can do that for your employer or client, then everything else (qualifications, experience, etc.) is secondary.
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