- 1. SEO Specialist
- 2. Digital Marketing Specialist
- 3. Digital Marketing Manager
- 4. Meta (Facebook) Ads Specialist
- 5. Content Marketing Specialist
- 6. Social Media Manager
- 7. eCommerce Specialist
- 8. SEO Copywriter
- 9. Email Marketing Specialist
- 10. PPC Specialist
- 11. Digital Marketing Analyst
- 12. Digital Marketing Associate
- Digital Marketing Jobs FAQ
With more companies shifting their business online, there has never been a greater demand for digital marketers. In this guide, you’ll learn the most popular types of digital marketing jobs, what each role does, and the typical career path for each.
For each job you’ll learn:
- The responsibilities for each job position
- How much each role pays
- The career path for each digital marketing job type
- How to build the necessary skills for the job
Digital marketing jobs fall into three broad groups: technical and data roles (SEO, PPC, analytics), content and creative roles (content, copywriting, social media, email), and management roles that oversee several channels. Here is a quick overview of the 12 roles in this guide:
| Job | Group | Good fit if you like |
|---|---|---|
| SEO Specialist | Technical and data | Research, analysis, and solving technical problems |
| Digital Marketing Specialist | Multi-channel | Variety and working across several channels |
| Digital Marketing Manager | Management | Strategy and leading a team |
| Meta (Facebook) Ads Specialist | Technical and data | Paid advertising, testing, and creative |
| Content Marketing Specialist | Content and creative | Writing, planning, and storytelling |
| Social Media Manager | Content and creative | Community, trends, and short-form content |
| eCommerce Specialist | Multi-channel | Online stores, products, and sales |
| SEO Copywriter | Content and creative | Writing that ranks and sells |
| Email Marketing Specialist | Content and creative | Campaigns, automation, and customer journeys |
| PPC Specialist | Technical and data | Numbers, budgets, and optimization |
| Digital Marketing Analyst | Technical and data | Data, reporting, and finding insights |
| Digital Marketing Associate | Entry-level | Learning all areas before you specialize |
Salary figures in this guide are Indeed averages for the United States. For more roles, levels, and pay factors, see our guide to digital marketing salaries, and for the best-paid roles in marketing, see the highest paying marketing jobs.
1. SEO Specialist
An SEO specialist is an individual with extensive SEO knowledge that works to increase a website's search engine rankings.
An SEO specialist may also be called an SEO expert, SEO professional, or SEO consultant.
Because SEO is essential to success in today’s hyper-competitive online business environment, companies need someone who can design and execute an SEO strategy to increase organic exposure for the business.
Here are some of the skills and responsibilities required from an SEO specialist:
- Optimizing the technical infrastructure of a website for SEO
- Analyzing a website’s SEO performance and doing SEO Audits
- Performing keyword research and finding which keywords to target
- Optimizing web pages for on-page SEO.
- Improving the internal link structure of a website
- Knowing how to create, analyze, and interpret SEO reports using reporting tools
How much do SEO specialists make?
How much you can make as an SEO specialist will depend on your location, experience, and whether you are a freelancer or a full-time employee.
According to Indeed, the average base salary for an SEO specialist in the United States is $81,592 per year.
What is the typical career path of an SEO specialist?
The typical career path of an SEO specialist is the following:
- SEO Specialist
- SEO Manager
- SEO Director
How to become an SEO Specialist
The first step to becoming an SEO Specialist is understanding how search engines work.
It is also essential to understand the true purpose of SEO. On the surface, it may seem like nothing more than using specific keywords and gaining backlinks, but in reality, SEO is much more than that.
The real purpose of SEO is to provide users with a great on-page experience that matches what they are looking for when performing a search.
Therefore, an SEO specialist must learn SEO and know how to optimize pages and content for both users and search engines.
Because search engines constantly change their algorithms, SEO specialists need to be on top of all updates so that they can adjust their campaigns accordingly.
You can further your development by taking an SEO training course. Many courses provide a certificate upon completion, which you can use to validate your skills to potential employers or clients.
Another effective way to demonstrate your SEO skills is to start a website or SEO blog where you can put what you have learned into practice.
Resources to Become an SEO Specialist
2. Digital Marketing Specialist
A digital marketing specialist is a professional with many marketing skills. They are responsible for managing a website’s online promotion and using various digital marketing channels.
A digital marketing specialist is different from other roles on this list in that they need to be an expert in more than one area and have a more comprehensive understanding of how digital marketing works.
Some of the skills and responsibilities required of a digital marketing specialist:
- Designing, executing, and managing SEO campaigns
- Creating and optimizing PPC campaigns
- Managing content marketing campaigns
- Using social media networks to grow brand awareness
- Managing other digital marketing team members
- Overseeing all concurrent digital marketing campaigns
- Analyzing the performance of campaigns across different channels
Job Advice
If you don’t have a digital marketing certification or prior working experience in the industry, you can start with an entry-level digital marketing job. Once you gain the necessary skills, you can pursue any job types explained in this guide.
How much do digital marketing specialists make?
How much you can make as a digital marketing specialist will depend on your location and experience level.
Indeed doesn’t list digital marketing specialists separately, but the average base salary for the broader digital marketer role in the United States is $66,033 per year.
What is the typical career path of a Digital Marketing Specialist?
The typical career path of a digital marketing specialist is the following:
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- Digital Marketing Manager
- Marketing Director
How to become a digital marketing specialist
To become a digital marketing specialist, you must first learn what digital marketing is and how it works.
This means you’ll need to know the ins and outs of each digital marketing channel and how to use each channel as part of a holistic marketing strategy.
The most important digital marketing channels you’ll need to understand are:
- Website marketing
- Search engine marketing
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
- Affiliate marketing
- Video marketing
Once you begin to gain a broad knowledge of the important marketing channels, the next step is to master SEO.
SEO is essential to many areas of digital marketing, including website, content, and affiliate marketing.
The next step is to master PPC advertising. As a digital marketing specialist, you will spend much of your time managing PPC campaigns, so you need to learn how to create and optimize different types of campaigns on various platforms.
After you build your PPC skills, you need to master:
- Using different social media platforms for building brand awareness
- How to plan and execute a content strategy
- Generating leads for email marketing and closing prospects at the bottom of the sales funnel
A digital marketing specialist also needs to develop strong time management skills as their role involves working on multiple projects at once while also overseeing other team members.
Resources to Become a Digital Marketing Specialist
3. Digital Marketing Manager
Digital marketing managers are responsible for designing and executing online marketing strategies to promote a brand, products, or services across various digital marketing channels. They also supervise other members of the digital marketing team.
Like a digital marketing specialist, this role requires knowledge of all the areas of digital marketing, not just a single discipline.
Along with creating the strategies for the main marketing channels, a digital marketing manager is responsible for:
- Communicating with clients to explain the benefits of investing in digital marketing
- Designing the digital marketing strategy as a whole, ensuring that each channel plays its part
- Explaining the strategy to clients and other vested parties
- Monitoring the performance of the strategy
- Optimizing the strategy to yield maximum results
How much do digital marketing managers make?
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a digital marketing manager in the United States is $85,500 per year.
Like other roles, this amount will vary based on location and experience. Digital marketing managers with a proven record of driving results are more likely to earn more.
What is the typical career path of a Digital Marketing Manager?
The typical career path of a digital marketing manager is:
- Digital marketing manager
- Marketing director
- Vice President Marketing (VP)
How to become a digital marketing manager
Becoming a digital marketing manager is similar to a digital marketing specialist.
First, you want to gain a broad knowledge of the primary digital marketing channels and how each works.
You then want to become an SEO expert to learn everything about SEO. A good place to start is by creating your own website.
Next, you want to become a PPC ads expert so that you can structure and execute successful advertising campaigns.
You also need to understand how the different social media platforms work. Then you can master content and email marketing.
Monitoring and reporting are a crucial part of a digital marketing manager's job responsibilities so you will need to master tools like Google Analytics.
Once you master these skills, you can get a position as a digital marketing specialist where you will gain the experience necessary to move into the manager position.
Resources to Become a Digital Marketing Manager
4. Meta (Facebook) Ads Specialist
A Meta ads specialist, often called a Facebook ads expert, helps businesses run and improve their advertising on Facebook and Instagram through Meta Ads Manager. Read our guide on how to become a Facebook and Meta ads specialist.
Facebook ads can be challenging for businesses without much experience, as various factors can influence a campaign’s success.
A Facebook ads expert uses their extensive knowledge of the Facebook advertising platform to help businesses improve their campaign structure, ad creation, and audience targeting. This leads to more effective campaigns and a higher return on ad spend (ROAS).
Some of the responsibilities and skills that are required of a Facebook ads expert include:
- Advertising copywriting
- Graphic design
- Budget optimization
- Campaign management
- Monitoring and testing the results of ads
- Reporting the results of ad campaigns
How much do Meta ads specialists make?
Indeed doesn’t list Meta ads specialists separately. The closest title, media buyer, has an average base salary of $68,127 per year in the United States.
Specialists with a proven record of driving a higher return on ad spend (ROAS) usually earn more.
What is the typical career path of a Meta Ads Specialist?
A Meta ads specialist is a type of PPC specialist and thus the career path is the same.
- PPC Specialist
- Search Engine Marketing Manager
- Digital Marketing Manager
How to become a Meta ads specialist
If you want to become a Facebook ads expert, you need to know everything about Facebook advertising and be able to apply this knowledge to real-life scenarios.
A Facebook ads course is a great starting place for building your knowledge and skills.
With the Reliablesoft Facebook Ads Course, you will find everything you need to go from beginner to expert, including:
- How to make money with Facebook ads
- How to install the Meta Pixel
- How to set up custom conversions
- Creating custom and lookalike audiences
- How to create an ad set
- How to create Facebook ads
- How to create different types of Facebook campaigns
- Campaign optimization tips
- How to lower your campaign costs
- Facebook campaign monitoring
Once you learn everything you can about Facebook advertising, you need to apply this knowledge to develop real-world skills and build a track record of success.
You can create a website detailing your services and keep a record of all the clients you have worked with and the results you achieved for them.
Resources to Become a Meta Ads Specialist
5. Content Marketing Specialist
A content marketing specialist is responsible for creating content for content marketing campaigns. This can involve planning, writing, editing, and promoting content.
Content marketing specialists work closely with the SEO and digital marketing specialists to ensure that all content is aligned with the overall digital marketing strategy.
Some of the skills that are needed to become a content marketing specialist include:
- Writing skills
- Keyword research skills
- Basic SEO skills
- Web analytical skills
How much do content marketing specialists make?
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a content marketing specialist in the United States is $66,007 per year. This amount varies with location, experience, and the specifics of the role.
For example, some content specialists focus primarily on writing while others have a more strategic managerial role.
What is the typical career path of a content marketing specialist?
The typical career path of a content manager is:
- Content Manager
- Marketing Manager
- Marketing Director
How to become a content marketing specialist
To become a content marketing specialist, you must first understand what content marketing is and how it works.
Content marketing is a continuous process that involves understanding your target audience and producing different types of content to match their needs at different sales funnel stages.
Once you learn the basics of content marketing, you want to improve your writing skills.
Content marketing involves quite a bit of writing, so you need the ability to write engaging and useful content that solves your audience’s needs.
Next, you need to master the keyword process to find high-value content ideas for your business.
You can hone both your writing and keyword research skills by starting your own blog. You can also use your blog to showcase your ability to potential employers and clients.
As a content marketing specialist, your role will involve using various tools, including keyword research tools, analytics platforms, and content management systems.
You’ll have to learn your way around all these solutions to use them effectively.
Resources to Become a Content Marketing Specialist
6. Social Media Manager
Social media managers manage a brand's social media channels to improve the business's online presence and attract new customers.
Some of the responsibilities and tasks performed by a social media manager include:
- Posting content
- Creating and overseeing profiles
- Designing graphics
- Responding to messages from customers
- Sharing content
- Optimizing social profiles and posts to reach a larger audience
- Reporting on important metrics
How much do social media managers make?
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a social media manager in the United States is $65,641 per year.
What is the typical career path of a social media manager?
The typical career path of a social media manager is:
- Social Media Manager
- Marketing Manager
- Marketing Manager
How to become a social media manager
The first step to becoming a social media manager is to learn about social media marketing and how the different social media platforms work.
Each platform has a different audience base and will require different tactics to be successful.
You'll have to develop the ability to manage both organic outreach and paid advertising campaigns.
The best way to do this is to build your own social media presence. Cultivating a strong social media presence is also an effective tool for finding new clients.
You can use your work on your own accounts to showcase your skills and prowess.
Before you begin managing your clients’ social media pages, you'll need to create your business accounts on the major social platforms.
This will allow you to manage multiple client accounts from a single place.
Social media managers need managerial skills just as much as social media skills. Developing your ability to communicate with your team and clients is important.
You must also learn how to manage your time effectively to oversee multiple projects simultaneously.
Resources to Become a Social Media Manager
7. eCommerce Specialist
An eCommerce specialist handles building and executing a business's eCommerce marketing strategy.
Some of the day-to-day responsibilities of an eCommerce specialist include:
- Managing the eCommerce site
- Planning eCommerce marketing campaigns
- Optimizing the website for eCommerce SEO
- Running paid ad campaigns
- Managing email marketing funnels
- Overseeing up-selling and cross-selling campaigns
How much do eCommerce specialists make?
According to Indeed, the average eCommerce specialist in the United States earns $19.84 per hour. This amount varies with your location and experience.
What is the typical career path of an eCommerce specialist?
The typical career path of an eCommerce specialist is:
- eCommerce Manager
- Director of eCommerce
- Vice President eCommerce (VP)
How to become an eCommerce specialist
The first step to becoming an eCommerce specialist is to learn the basics of eCommerce. The best way to do this is to follow a comprehensive eCommerce course.
Next, you want to learn how eCommerce SEO works. You'll need to understand how on-page, off-page, and technical factors affect a website's rankings and how to apply this knowledge to build successful SEO strategies.
An eCommerce specialist also needs to know their way around the most popular eCommerce platforms including:
Shopify - A beginner-friendly platform designed to help companies launch and manage their online business with ease.
BigCommerce - A dedicated eCommerce platform similar to Shopify. It is a little less beginner-friendly but offers just as many (if not more) features.
WooCommerce - This is an open-source platform that runs on the WordPress CMS. It offers unlimited customization and control but requires a bit of technical know-how to maximize its potential.
Amazon - The megalithic eCommerce marketplace can be a very effective sales channel for third-party sellers. eCommerce specialists must know how to optimize their product listings for Amazon’s search algorithm and how to run successful sponsored ad campaigns.
Once you learn your way around the backend of an eCommerce website, you'll need to master running pay-per-click advertising campaigns on platforms like Google and Bing.
These ads are highly effective for eCommerce businesses because the customer is already part of the way through the purchasing funnel when making a search so they have a higher chance of converting into a sale.
As an eCommerce specialist, it's important to know how to structure a campaign, what keywords to target, and how to optimize your ad placements and bids.
After you learn how to run ad campaigns, you’ll need to master content and email marketing for eCommerce stores.
You can then look for an entry-level eCommerce specialist job where you can put your knowledge and skills to use.
Resources to Become an eCommerce Specialist
8. SEO Copywriter
An SEO copywriter creates website copy designed to rank well in search engines and influence a reader to perform a specific action.
Some of the types of copy an SEO copywriter creates includes:
Headlines - Headlines can make or break the success of a web page. Consumers today are flooded with content everywhere they go. An SEO copywriter needs the ability to write headlines that are compelling and engaging to get visitors to click through to read the content.
Meta descriptions - Like headlines, meta descriptions play a big role in getting searchers to click-through to your website. These descriptions sit beneath the title of ranking search results and can only fit a certain number of characters before being truncated.
Landing pages - The copy on a landing page is critical to getting visitors to sign up to an email list or complete a purchase. SEO copywriters need to be able to write concise copy that leads to conversions.
How much do SEO copywriters make?
Indeed doesn’t list SEO copywriters separately. The average base salary for a copywriter in the United States is $77,017 per year.
What is the typical career path of a copywriter?
The typical career path of a copywriter (in general) is:
- Copywriter
- Senior copywriter
- Associate Director, Creative Services
How to become an SEO copywriter
The first step to becoming an SEO copywriter is to master the art of copywriting.
Writing copy, whether designed to sell or get someone to subscribe to an email list, requires a unique set of writing skills.
There are plenty of high-quality SEO copywriting courses that you can take to learn copywriting and the basics of SEO.
Once you’ve learned copywriting, you'll want to create your own website where you can further enhance your copywriting skills and showcase your abilities to clients or recruiters.
Resources to Become an SEO Copywriter
9. Email Marketing Specialist
An email marketing specialist is responsible for designing and managing a business’ email marketing strategy from start to finish.
New digital channels continue to emerge but email remains one of the most effective marketing mediums for all kinds of businesses.
With an effective email marketing specialist, a business can earn a higher return from email marketing than any other ad campaign.
Some of the tasks performed by an email marketing specialist include:
- Developing long-term strategies
- Designing email campaigns
- Writing and designing emails
- Building email lists
- Segmenting email lists
- Nurturing leads
- Monitoring the performance of email campaigns
How much do email marketing specialists make?
Indeed doesn’t list email marketing specialists separately. The average base salary for the broader marketing specialist role in the United States is $67,412 per year.
What is the typical career path of an Email Marketing Specialist?
The typical career path of an email marketing specialist is:
- Email Marketing Specialist
- Email Marketing Manager
- Digital Marketing Manager
How to become an email marketing specialist
Before becoming an email marketing specialist, you must learn how email marketing works.
The quickest way to do this is to follow a course like the Reliablesoft Email Marketing Course.
The course explains the fundamentals of email marketing, explains why it’s important, and shows how to get started with the most essential tasks.
Once you understand how email marketing works, you want to learn how to design effective emails.
A good starting point is to sign up for a popular email marketing solution to start designing emails for different sales funnel stages.
You can also use the solution to familiarize yourself with the technologies used to build and manage campaigns.
An email marketing specialist is responsible for monitoring and optimizing campaigns so you’ll need to understand the most important email marketing metrics and how to use different analytics platforms.
Resources to Become an Email Marketing Specialist
10. PPC Specialist
A PPC (pay-per-click) specialist plans, runs, and optimizes paid advertising campaigns, mainly on Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, and often on social platforms as well.
Some of the responsibilities of a PPC specialist include:
- Keyword research and campaign structure
- Writing ad copy and testing ads
- Managing budgets and bids
- Setting up conversion tracking
- Analyzing results and reporting on return on ad spend
How much do PPC specialists make?
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a PPC specialist in the United States is $66,747 per year.
What is the typical career path of a PPC Specialist?
PPC Specialist, then PPC or Search Engine Marketing Manager, then Digital Marketing Manager or Head of Paid Media.
How to become a PPC specialist
Start by learning how Google Ads works, get the free Google Ads certifications, and practice with a small budget on your own or a client’s campaigns. Our guide on how to become a PPC specialist covers the steps in detail.
11. Digital Marketing Analyst
A digital marketing analyst collects and analyzes data from websites and campaigns to show what is working and where to invest next.
Some of the responsibilities of a digital marketing analyst include:
- Setting up and maintaining tracking in Google Analytics and other tools
- Building dashboards and reports
- Analyzing campaign and website performance
- Running and evaluating A/B tests
- Turning data into recommendations for the marketing team
How much do digital marketing analysts make?
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a marketing analyst in the United States is $83,063 per year.
What is the typical career path of a Digital Marketing Analyst?
Digital Marketing Analyst, then Senior Analyst or Marketing Analytics Manager, then Head of Analytics or Marketing Director.
How to become a digital marketing analyst
Learn Google Analytics and spreadsheets first, then basic data visualization tools.
12. Digital Marketing Associate
A digital marketing associate (also called a coordinator or assistant) is an entry-level role that supports specialists and managers across channels, such as social media, content, email, and paid ads.
It’s the most common way to start a digital marketing career without experience. As an associate, you learn how each channel works and can then specialize in any of the jobs on this list.
Read more about the digital marketing associate role and our list of entry-level digital marketing jobs.
*Career Paths for roles 1-9 extracted using Payscale Career Path Planner.
Digital Marketing Jobs FAQ
What are the main types of digital marketing jobs?
Digital marketing jobs fall into three groups: technical and data roles (SEO, PPC, analytics), content and creative roles (content, copywriting, social media, email), and management roles such as digital marketing manager and marketing director.
Which digital marketing job is best?
The best job depends on what you enjoy. If you like writing, look at content, copywriting, or email. If you like numbers, look at SEO, PPC, or analytics. If you like leading people and projects, aim for a management role once you have experience.
Which digital marketing jobs can I get with no experience?
Entry-level roles such as digital marketing associate, coordinator, social media assistant, and junior content writer are the usual starting points. A certification and a small portfolio of your own projects make it easier to get hired.
What is the typical digital marketing job hierarchy?
Most careers move from associate or coordinator to specialist, then to manager, and then to director or head of marketing. Some people stay specialists and become senior experts in one channel, or work as freelancers and consultants. To see how these roles work together, read about digital marketing team roles and responsibilities.
