Digital Marketing Manager: Job Profile and Role

Our world is becoming more digital by the second. The times of “analogue” shopping may not be over – but they have certainly have found serious competition in online sales. Not only sales are happening more and more online. Other parts of our daily lives are being lived in the digital world, be it social media or influencing. Keeping on top of all things digital is part of a digital marketing manager’s job profile and role.

In the following blog, we will explore a digital marketing manager’s responsibilities and what a typical day in his or her job life looks like. We will also tell you in detail how to become a digital marketing manager, what your salary is and how you can thrive to be an even better digital marketing manager.

Short Summary

• As a digital marketing manager, you are responsible for digital advertising as well as developing and scheduling ad campaigns.
• As a digital marketing manager, your responsibilities include content strategy, brand management and strategy development.
• In your role as a digital marketing manager, you will deal with search engine optimization (SEO) as well as with social media management.

Job description

A digital marketing manager is responsible for everything connected to a company’s digital make-up and set-up. As a digital marketing manager, you take care of your company’s website by applying your SEO skills. You are also in charge of web and ad campaigns that will further your company’s reputation and sales. In order to be ahead of the competition, you may be in charge of social media management and content management. It is equally possible that some of those things are being covered by your digital marketing team. Apart from your in-depth knowledge of all things digital, you will also have to have excellent analytical, creative, communication and leadership skills. This skill set will enable you to be the best possible version of a digital marketing manager there is.

Responsibilities

• Content Strategy
• Digital Advertising
• Team Management
• Brand Management
• Budget Management  
• Strategy Development
• Analytics and Reporting
• Social Media Management
• Search Engine Optimization
• Conversion Rate Optimization 

Different types of Digital Marketing Managers

• Analytics and Data Manager
• Content Marketing Manager
• Online Marketing Manager
• Social Media Manager
• SEO Manager

Salary

As a digital marketing manager, your annual salary will be between £55,000 and £90,000. These numbers are what a senior digital marketing manager will earn each year. How much you will actually earn, depends on various factors. Your digital marketing manager position and your work experience will influence your annual salary. This also applies to factors such as location, employer and the size of the company you are working for. Typically, starting off as a digital marketing manager will mean an average annual salary of about £25,000.

Working hours

As a digital marketing manager, you may well work a 9 to 5 job. This depends on your company’s work settings and ethics. Typically, your working hours would be in this time frame from Mondays to Fridays. However: flexibility is an important factor influencing your working hours as a digital marketing manager. This is especially true for senior positions with more responsibilities. Working in the evenings or on weekend can be part of your working hours. Make sure that these times really work for you and that they don’t impose too much on your work-life balance.

Also note that parts of your digital marketing manager’s job can be done remotely. Lots of companies offer working from home. All advantages aside, this may further influence your work-life balance. Again, you need to be absolutely sure that mixing business and private life is the way forward for you.

Employers

Employers of digital marketing managers can be found in various industries. Technically, every business that deals in online sales, online services and social media will employ digital marketing managers. Furthermore, you can find a job as a digital marketing manager with various non-profit organizations (NPOs). They are always on the lookout for digital marketing experts to raise awareness for their charity work. Last, but not least, digital marketing managers can find their dream job in sports and entertainment. Be it athletes or celebrities – they are just as much in need of digital marketing managers as everyone else.

Qualifications

You are interested in becoming a digital marketing manager? First come the required qualifications. These start with an academic degree, such as a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. In some cases, you may need a postgraduate degree in marketing, for example.

In order to land your dream job, you should also have marketing qualifications gained through a digital marketing course. Your further qualifications can include certificates from key players in the digital world as well as certificates that show that you are familiar with the most common CMS and communication softwares.

Those hard skills aside, you should also have specific soft skills, which we will now take a closer look at.

Skills

Being a digital marketing manager involves a set of soft skills. You will need these in order to be the best possible digital marketing manager there is. You need to be adaptable. This means that your content and marketing strategies have to comply with current algorithms, making it vitally important that you are always on top of new softwares, tools and trends.

As a digital marketing manager, you should also have the following soft skills:

Creativity

Being creative is one of the key qualities of a successful digital marketing manager. Creativity is essential for coming up with innovative content ideas. It is also needed for troubleshooting and problem-solving. Last, but not least, being creative is a major asset when it comes to developing new ad campaigns that will sweep your customers off their feet.

Leadership

As a digital marketing manager, you are responsible for a team. Your colleagues may well see you as their creative content leader. This is why it is so important for you to have excellent leadership skills. These go hand in hand with outstanding communication skills.

Time Management

As a digital marketing manager, you usually handle multiple projects and campaigns at the same time. Excellent time management skills are a must in order to stay on top of every single campaign and when it is supposed to be released online.

Career Path

As a digital marketing manager, your career path has certain steps that you need to or can take. This starts with your academic background and is followed by your first job as a junior digital marketing manager. If you are one of the key players in your company, there is no reason to stop till you have reached the top. After having been a senior digital marketing manager for a certain amount of time, you may well become your company’s CEO at some point in the future. Let’s take a closer look at the necessary steps to achieve your set goals as a digital marketing manager.

Educational Background

Becoming a digital marketing manager starts with relevant studies. These can include studies in communication, IT, business and marketing. Ideally, you finish your studies with a Bachelor’s Degree. Lots of companies even prefer a Master’s degree in one of the mentioned studies. In some cases, you have the option of doing your Master while already working for your chosen company. We recommend you make enquiries if and where this might be possible.

Gaining experience

Landing your first job as a digital marketing manager will be a huge step for you. Keep in mind that this is only the first of many (baby) steps on your career ladder in this job. In order to climb higher and higher, you will have to gain experience. You do not want to start from scratch when starting your first job? How about trying to gain your first experience by doing an internship or traineeship while still being at university?

Continuous Learning

Continuous learning is another vital element in your career trajectory. In order to be a brilliant digital marketing manager, you will have to improve by learning new and important things every day.

It’s all about the Video

Digital marketing experts reckon that as of now, about 80 percent of the global internet traffic will be video. In fact, videos are rumoured to increase a company’s sales by 140 percent. And no wonder since more than half a brand’s followers and customers would like to view products this way. This is why video is rapidly turning into the most important tool for digital marketing managers (and everyone else working in digital marketing).

A Day in the Life of a Digital Marketing Manager

Ever wondered what a typical day in the life of a digital marketing manager looks like? Naturally, we will give you the answers. A day in the life of a digital marketing manager includes the reviewing of analytics, content strategizing, campaign management and communicating with the team.

Let’s have a closer look at the most important parts of a digital marketing manager’s day.

Reviewing analytics

Being responsible for the digital make-up of your company, reviewing the previous day’s analytics is one of the most important parts of your working day. You need to find out how well your company’s website has been working. To find out, you need to check the so-called KPIs (key performance indicators). These range from website traffic and social media engagement to conversion rates.

Content and campaign management

Based on these figures, you then put your creative and analytical energy towards content and campaign management. Together with your team, you will come up with new content to further your company’s sales figures and success. You will also take a close look at current and upcoming campaigns. Which advertising will benefit your company the most? Which existing ad campaigns – for example on Google, Instagram and Facebook – will need readjusting and fine tuning?

Scheduling content

After you have come up with new campaigns and content, it is time to schedule these things. At what time is new content to be posted online? Which times are the key times in order for new marketing campaigns to have their highest impact? Knowing these times enables you to schedule all your company’s content. By using special automation tools, you decide if new content is being posted on the same day, later in the week or even later in the month. 

Tips for Thriving as a Digital Marketing Manager

Mastering skills

By this, we mean that you need to embrace two key factors in digital marketing: SEO and social media. In order to be a successful digital marketing manager, you need to have an intricate knowledge of these two fields. You need to know which algorithms work for Google and other search engines. You also need to know the social media demographics. Schooling yourself in these things will help you thrive in your job. This applies to your team as well. 

Networking

Be it followers on Insta or Facebook or vital business contacts: networking is key in thriving as a digital marketing manager. It ideally goes hand in hand with a professional and on-trend social media set-up. This way, you can not only connect to followers, but also to potential new business contacts.

Prioritizing

As a digital marketing manager, you will invariably juggle lots of different jobs at the same time. Nevertheless, you need to prioritize which of these jobs is the most important at any given time. Prioritizing may also include delegating. Do not try to handle everything yourself – that is what your capable team is there for.

Improving processes fosters continuous growth, allows controllers to stay ahead of evolving business needs, and positions them as valuable assets in driving financial success. 

Frequently Asked Questions