Digital marketing is a relatively new field that has grown tremendously in the past few years. The demand for digital marketing professionals has been on a sharp incline, resulting in companies scrambling for the few available, talented individuals to represent their brands online. This demand will likely continue in the coming years, only that (this time round) it will be for high-calibre digital marketing professionals.
Confirming this statement is exclusive LinkedIn data, which suggests that digital marketers will continue to be the most sought-after professionals in the years to come.
Marketing Continues to be a Hot Commodity
The economic impact of covid-19 might have decimated many businesses, but it did not affect the demand for digital marketing professionals. If anything, the need for marketing and digital professionals has only increased in the past few months.
As it stands, four of the top ten most sought-after jobs on LinkedIn are in either digital marketing or advertising.
According to LinkedIn’s report, marketers such as “social media managers” and “content curators” will be at the top of the list, if not among the top ten.
Similar reports from Indeed come to similar conclusions on marketers being in demand. According to them, marketing jobs are some of the most sought-after gigs right now – both online and offline.
Top In-Demand Marketing Jobs on LinkedIn
According to LinkedIn, nearly half of all the jobs posted on the platform in the last half-year are in either the digital or marketing space.
To put it into context, this means that for every ten jobs posted in the last six months, an average of five is related to the digital and marketing industry.
This data seems to suggest that marketers are crucial cogs in any business machine today – no matter how big or small they are.
Hence, the demand for digital marketers is high, and it shows no signs of dropping anytime soon.
Here are some of the most in-demand marketing jobs that hiring managers are looking for at the moment:
- Social Media Manager
- Content Curator
- Digital Marketing Analysts
- eCommerce Marketer
- Digital Campaign Manager
- SEO Specialist
- Analytics Specialist (Marketing)
Salaries for marketers are also high, with Indeed reporting that the average salary of digital marketing professionals is about $82,000 per year.
A Work from Home Digital Marketer Job? There you go!
Some companies offer digital marketing jobs to remote workers – full-time professionals to work from home.
These jobs are perfect for digital marketers who prefer working from home. They’re usually flexible compared to on-the-ground marketing jobs where the company expects you to be readily available during office hours.
Top 7 Digital Marketing Jobs That Are Most in Demand
The digital marketing industry is competitive, with many companies competing for top talents. Aspiring digital marketers will need to hone their skills and offer something unique if they hope to get ahead of the pack.
At the moment, digital marketers are primarily needed for these seven core areas of expertise:
#1 Digital Marketing Managers
Fuelling the digital marketing space is a whole host of digital marketing managers.
According to LinkedIn, there’s a high demand for individuals who can oversee and direct organisation-wide digital strategies.
That means they’ll be in charge of various departments, including content, SEO, PPC, and web analytics, to ensure growth for the company.
How to Succeed as a Digital Marketing Manager
To be successful as a digital marketing manager, you understand web analytics and its contribution to long-term growth. You’ll also need to manage teams – or at least figure out how they can best work together.
Managing other marketers comes with the territory, too – so you should at least know how to negotiate with them if you’re going to land this kind of job.
You’ll also need a strong understanding of keywords and analytics tools such as Google Analytics.
It’ll help if you have a good grasp on Google Ads and other paid advertising platforms, too – because that’s where a lot of digital marketing managers generate most of their leads.
How do you Know if You Have What it takes to Embark on this Career Path?
According to CareerBuilder, some critical personality traits you’ll need include:
- A knack for problem-solving
- Excellent communication skills
- Willingness to multitask and juggle multiple projects at the same time
- Detail-oriented
- Creative thinking
- Master strategist
- Business savvy
- The desire to experiment with new ideas
#2 Social Media Managers
Social media managers are in extremely high demand at the moment. They’re needed to undertake a wide range of responsibilities, which include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Generating creative content for social media ads
- Monitoring and responding to public feedback on social media
- Measuring social media campaigns to track ROI
- Running paid social ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, etc.
If you think this role would suit your experience and qualifications, be sure to take advantage of all the free courses available online for marketing managers – plus any other relevant courses you can find.
The Required Personality Traits for this Career Path
Social media manager jobs require a specific personality to excel in the role.
According to LinkedIn, the vital personality trait you need to excel in this role include:
- Willingness to learn and adapt quickly
- Good problem-solving skills
- Open-mindedness and willingness to experiment with new ideas
- A creative mindset
- Strong communication skills
- Sociable
- Class clown
#3 Analytics Specialists (Marketing)
These professionals are responsible for measuring and tracking a company’s digital marketing strategy and ROI. That demands that they understand which channels are the most effective and how to (best) deploy resources to generate tangible results.
It’ll be up to you to determine what messaging is more effective on specific social media platforms. For example, which kind of language works best on Facebook and Twitter?
You’ll also need to measure the effectiveness of your digital advertising (such as Google Ads) campaigns.
Analytics specialists also need to make sure that all analytics tools are correctly deployed and working as intended.
You’ll need to be a whiz at Google Analytics if you want this job – plus adept at using other analytics tools such as HubSpot, Hootsuite, and Moz, as well as PPC tools such as Google Ads.
The Required Personality Trait for this Career Path
According to Monster, the following personality traits are key to succeed in this career path:
- Strong organisational skills
- The ability to work well under pressure
- Willingness to learn new things quickly
- Good problem-solving skills
- a keen eye for details
- Creative owl
- Perfectionist
#4 SEO Specialists
SEO specialists are all about increasing a company’s visibility on search engines. Their job is to make sure their company website ranks well on search engines. At the same time, help web developers, content writers, and marketers create better SEO-friendly web pages.
To get ahead of your competition, you’ll need to know how to add new keywords and content to a company’s website on an ongoing basis while following the most recent industry trends and guidelines.
You’ll also need to know how to track keywords, assess their performance, and conduct competitor research.
The Required Personality Trait for this Career Path
According to Monster, the following personality traits are necessary for a successful career in this field:
- Creative thinking and problem-solving skills
- Good research skills
- An analytical mindset
- Hard-working
- Patience, persistent, and resilience
#5 Conversion Rate Optimisers (CRO)
These professionals focus on increasing the number of people who sign up or purchase from a website by finding creative ways to optimise design, content, and calls to action.
This person will need to be comfortable with A/B testing and conduct market research and surveys. They’re also required to be skilled at quantitative analysis and data presentation.
The Required Personality Traits for this Career Path
Some essential personal traits that you might need to succeed in this career path include:
- Creative thinking and problem-solving skills
- A logical and analytical mindset
- Good research skills
- Attention to detail
- The ability to work well in a team and independently
#6 Content Marketers
Companies hire content marketers to generate fresh, high-quality content for their websites and other digital channels. Content marketers also come up with engaging ideas for social media campaigns and monitor the performance of those initiatives.
The Required Personality Traits for this Career Path
According to LinkedIn, a successful content marketer needs to have these personality traits to succeed in this career path:
- Creativity and passion for writing
- The ability to write SEO-friendly content
- Self-motivation and initiative
- A good understanding of digital marketing tools
#7 Email Marketing Managers
These professionals oversee email marketing campaigns, as well as create and send those emails. They test different strategies to see which ones work well and report the results to their stakeholders.
The Required Personality Traits for this Career Path
According to Career Addict, any person who wants to excel in this profession needs to have the following personality traits:
- The ability to work well independently, as well as in a team
- Attention to detail
- Strategical
- Good communication skills
- Good at Convincing
- Good organisational skills and problem-solving abilities
- Creative thinking and problem-solving skills
- The ability to multitask effectively
Fastest Growing Digital Marketing Skills
Here’s a table summarising the fastest growing digital marketing skills, as well as the number of job postings for each skill, according to a recent LinkedIn report:
Top Skills at the Moment
- Writing press releases
- HTML
- Web Analytics
- Sales Promotions
- Administrative Assistant
- Digital Marketing
- Adobe Acrobat
- Retail Sales
- Google Analytics
- Content Management Systems
Top Skill Gaps in Digital Marketing
- Digital strategy
- Link building
- Omniture
- Off-page SEO
- Search Advertising
Latest Report on Employers’ Demand for Digital Skills
According to Smart Insights, employers know all too well the power of digital marketing and are actively seeking a digitally literate workforce. In other words, the demand for digital skills has never been this high.
So, what do we mean by “Digital Skills”?
Digital Skills is an all-encompassing term for a range of skills, talent, and abilities necessary to manage digital projects. It includes skills tied to hardware, software, tools used in managing e-commerce activities, web design and development, social media marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), affiliate marketing, email marketing, online advertising, and website analytics.
Burning Glass would analyse millions of job posts published in the UK to understand what digital skills employers are demanding. As a result, the generated report would categorise these digital skills in three ways:
- Baseline Digital Skills: This refers to the digital literacy that employers insist on in most job posts. It includes basic skills such as proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google’s suite of applications and using web browsers.
- Advanced Digital Skills: These are more advanced digital skills that employers demand in fewer job roles. They include social media marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), content analytics, and advertising campaign management.
- Critical Digital Skills: These are highly specialised skills demanded in less than 1% of job postings. They include, among others, geo-targeting, CRM management, digital strategy consulting, and online web analytics. This list is by no means exhaustive but the only representative of the most common ones.
An overall finding of this report is that digital skills are now broad in demand. They’re becoming a near-universal requirement for employment. While some skills are in high demand, others are in low demand.
And the more people climb up the career ladder, the more the demand for specific digital skills increases, which means acquiring these skills increases your chances of transitioning to a more senior role.
So, where do Google Digital Skills Fit in This Big Picture?
According to this analysis, the majority of digital skills fall under the baseline category.
But Google certification courses go beyond baseline digital skills. They train you on specific digital marketing tools, techniques, and processes. These include paid search management, social media accounts, keyword research, among others. With all these under your belt, not only do you become well equipped to handle your daily digital marketing tasks, but you’ll also have a head start over your competitors.
But Digital Marketing is more Than just Google, Right?
Indeed. That’s why other digital marketing courses go beyond Google certification. Apart from these, you can also consider third-party courses, webinars, and personal learning programs to hone your digital skills further.
So, these are some of the benefits you could get from taking up Google certification courses.
Here are three key things to know prior:
-
The Demand for Digital Marketing Skills is at an All-Time High
Employers are in dire need of digital marketing services for their businesses. And since they can’t seem to find the skilled individuals they need, most of them have been forced to hire less qualified candidates.
-
Digital Marketing Offers a Diverse Range Opportunities in The Job Market
The range of opportunities available in the digital world is so broad that it covers all possible fields. Meaning you can find jobs in virtually all industries.
-
Digital Marketing is a Career Multiplier
Regardless of your background, taking a digital marketing course is an excellent opportunity to climb the ladder of success faster than ever before.
Digital Skills Are Becoming a Near-Universal Requirement for Employment
Digital skills and expertise are becoming a near-universal requirement for employment. They’re required across the entire enchilada of the labour market.
Employers are increasingly placing more value on digital skills. That is because they know these skills can help them grow revenue, reduce costs, and improve customer relationships.
They also strengthen the bottom line by giving the company a competitive edge over rivalling businesses.
Even in low-skill jobs, 75% of postings now require some form of digital skills. The number shoots to 85% in middle-skill positions and 83% in high-skill jobs.
Skill Level | No. of Job Ads | Job Ads Requiring Digital Skills | % No. of Jobs ads Requiring Digital Skills |
Low Skill Jobs | 2, 111, 889 | 1, 629, 017 | 77% |
Middle Skill Jobs | 2, 602, 348 | 2, 214, 109 | 85% |
High Skill Jobs | 4, 685, 953 | 3, 873, 377 | 83% |
All Jobs | 9, 400, 191 | 7, 715, 503 | 82% |
Digital skills are often associated with white-collar jobs or jobs in the middle class, but this is far from reality. In fact, there are more digital skills required across all strata of the labour market.
Take Microsoft Excel, for example. It’s now required across all sectors. That includes health care, retail, and manufacturing.
Since digital skills stretch far and wide, they make up the current requirement for almost every job type. For example, social media management is now necessary to facilitate customer service and personal branding.
Millennials Lead as the Group with the Most Digital Skills
However, Gen Zers are following closely behind them. Digital skills have become a new currency for these two generations, and it’s expected that they will continue to grow their skills as they enter the job market.
These two generations now make up around half of today’s workforce. So, if you want to secure your future, you have to keep up with them.
Digital Marketing Offers Opportunities Across a Broad Range of Industries
The good news is that digital marketing courses can empower you to succeed in a broad range of fields.
You don’t necessarily need an advanced degree to get started, either. In some cases, digital skills are all you need to open doors to opportunities further down the line.
Three Most Popular Industries Hiring Workers with Digital Skills
Here are three of the most popular industries that are hiring workers with digital marketing skills.
-
Advertising & Media
The advertising industry has always been heavily reliant on technology. If you have relevant digital skills, this is a great field to seek employment.
Digital marketing also plays a critical role in the media industry. Social media is being used to promote content that would have otherwise not found an audience.
-
Technology
Technology is one of the driving forces behind digital marketing. If you excel at using these technologies to market products and services, getting a job in this field shouldn’t be that difficult.
-
Marketing
Most people think that digital marketing is all about SEO and PPC Ads. However, it’s much more than just these two things. It’s a core part of the marketing strategies employed by companies today. In the past, traditional marketing was enough to spread brand awareness and generate sales leads
Today, this is not sufficient anymore because digital platforms have made it possible for customers to have a two-way interaction with brands. Digital marketing enables companies to respond directly to their customers’ needs and offer them what they want at the right time and place.
Digital Skills Are a Great Gateway to a Higher Pay
We’re living in an age of information where companies are increasingly reliant on technology to get ahead of their rivals. As a result, high-paying jobs are becoming increasingly technology-oriented.
Also, as it turns out, employees with digital skills command higher pay. Research shows that jobs requiring digital skills pay 29% more than those that don’t. The difference in pay cuts across all skill levels, from entry-level to manager. In other words, digital skills are a gateway to higher pay at any level in a company.
To be more specific, the difference for digital skills ranges from 14% for low-skill jobs, 19% for middle-skill jobs, and 33% for high-skill roles.
While baseline digital skills are essential in all levels of work, it’s not just about having the skills. It’s about using digital marketing as a tool to succeed in your job. That’s especially important in middle and high skill roles.
For example, designers need to learn Adobe Photoshop; Engineers need to learn AutoCAD, while marketers need to learn about CRM tools such as Salesforce.
So, What Skill Should You Learn?
Here’s a list of commonly requested digital skills for job seekers looking to advance their career or land higher-paying positions:
- Productivity Software
- Digital Analysis
- Software and Programming
- CRM
- Computer and networking support
- Digital Marketing
- Machining and Manufacturing
- 3D Modelling and Animation
- Digital Design
The requested digital skill in your career field might get more specific. Speaking of which, 18% of low-skill jobs require a specific digital skill, the same as 59% of middle-skill jobs and 67% of high-skill jobs.
As you can see, the more skilled you are, the more opportunities open up for you professionally. In fact, there are more high-skill jobs compared to low and middle-skill jobs combined.
Annual Salaries by Skill Levels
Also, as you can see, jobs that require specific digital skills tend to pay more compared to those that only require baseline digital skills.
Specific Digital Skills Will Help Job Occupants Avoid the Risk of Automation
The ongoing concern is that as technology advances, some of the roles created by digital marketing may be taken over by machines. That is especially true in some parts of the world where there are fewer local job opportunities to go around.
Even if the day comes when machines take over marketing job roles, they’ll most likely be used to maintain and enhance traffic. The more prevalent threat is the replacement of low-skill jobs such as website content writers, social media marketers, and graphic designers.
This doesn’t mean that digital marketing skills are safe from automation in the far future, though. As technology advances, high-skill jobs may also be replaced by machines, especially those with a linear process.
That is why it’s critical for workers to constantly add new skills to their toolkit to stay relevant and competitive in this day and age. In other words, digital marketing skills are key to mitigating the risk of automation and even taking on new high-skill roles in the future.
Risk of Automation Across Skill Levels
Skill Level | All Jobs
(Jobs in General) |
Baseline Digital Skills
(Jobs that Require Baseline Digital Skills) |
Specific or Critical Digital Skills
(Jobs that Require Critical Digital Skills) |
Low Skill Jobs | 71% | 80% | 60% |
Middle Skill Jobs | 43% | 57% | 38% |
High Skill Jobs | 10% | 37% | 18% |
All Jobs | 37% | 61% | 29% |
As you can see, the type of digital skill a job demands determines the automation risk involved. The more general the skill, the more it’s likely to be taken over by machines.
This will undoubtedly affect career advancement options at some point in time, but it’s not clear when or how this will come about. Still, if you are looking to advance your career quickly, adding digital marketing skills to your resume will help you land new opportunities.
When it comes to long-term career advancement, learning about product management might be helpful. That’s because the nature of the role allows you to build up a repertoire of both hard and soft skills in various fields, including marketing, sales, finance, and PR.
What You Should Do Next
The most common way to learn digital marketing skills is by enrolling in a digital marketing course. If you are currently employed, make sure that your employer is okay with the idea.
If not, consider working part-time while studying online through an accredited institution. Here are the benefits of doing so:
- You can receive live instruction from instructors with industry experience rather than watching recorded videos or going through online forums.
- You get to network with other students, share experiences, learn new ideas, and explore opportunities together.
- Some institutions offer career assistance after completing the course, which can help you land new opportunities.
- You get to add a new skill or qualification to your resume that will likely impress potential employers and increase your career prospects.
- It can be cheaper than enrolling in a full-time program while allowing you the flexibility to study at your own pace without losing employment income.
If you want to add digital marketing skills to your curriculum vitae, these are some of the courses that you could consider. Remember that all of them will take around nine months to a year on average.
Professional Digital Marketing Courses That Can Help You Land New Opportunities
- Google Ads Search Certification – This program will teach you how to use the platform efficiently, increase sales leads, and grow revenue.
- Google Ads Display Certification – This training is similar to the previous one, except it focuses on the display network rather than search.
- Fundamentals of Graphic Design – This course will give you the necessary background to understand graphic design principles. It will also teach you how to use various design tools.
- Front-End Web UI Frameworks and Tools: Bootstrap 4 – This course will introduce front-end UI design skills required in modern web development environments. It will demonstrate how to use Bootstrap 4, which is one of the most popular CSS frameworks.
- Organizational Design and Management – This course will help you understand how to navigate organisations, communicate effectively, work with teams, and be a high-performing contributor. Additionally, it will show how to lead diverse groups of people.
- Introduction to Data Science with Python: In this training, you will learn the fundamentals of Python programming, including designing various kinds of data-driven applications. It will also teach you how to use APIs, create web applications, and analyse big data with machine learning.
- SEO Fundamentals – Digital marketing is incomplete without Search Engine Optimisation. This course will teach you how to optimise your content and use various tools to increase rankings on search engines.
- Introduction to Cybersecurity for Business Professionals – This course will give you a broad understanding of cybersecurity, an essential qualification for working in the industry. It will demonstrate how to assess security risks, protect your devices and data, and mitigate cases of cyber-attacks for businesses.
- Content, Advertising & Social IMC – This course will cover the fundamentals of integrated marketing communications and how to employ them in various business scenarios. It will show you how to create an effective marketing plan and present your findings to stakeholders.
Taking any of these courses isn’t enough if you want to become a specialist in each field. You first need to learn the basics and consider other courses that can help you specialise as an individual.
Remember that there are many other courses and training programs available that you can use to expand your professional skills and knowledge.
What Do You Need to Know About Digital Marketing Courses?
- The course duration varies depending on the institution, but most take around nine months or a year. Some institutions offer part-time options so you can study during weekends or evenings.
- Most of these certification programs require a minimum level of computer literacy, including using the internet, basic spreadsheet applications, and using your operating system. Other options may include attending classes where instructor contact hours are provided. Some institutions allow self-paced learning under faculty guidance via web conferencing.
- The cost of these courses will vary depending on the institution and the course structure.
- Make sure you research the institution and course thoroughly before enrolling in a digital marketing certification program. This professional training is a great way to kick-start your career, so it’s better not to settle for anything less than the best!
Conclusion
In conclusion, Google digital marketing courses are top-rated in the corporate world, thanks to their proven results. They can help you boost your career progression in a short time, so don’t miss this opportunity if you have the chance to sign up today! Despite being an official Google course, you also need to consider other reputable institutions and courses to become a digital specialist in your field.