Learn Top 5 Digital Marketing Expert Skills for a Higher Salary

Digital marketing is becoming one of the most competitive industries in the world. In fact, the global digital advertising and marketing industry value is expected to reach $786.2 billion by 2026. You can already see why companies spend billions on their digital marketing budgets to get more engagement and generate more revenue. Given this field’s significance, companies need a digital marketing expert to smoothly navigate the evolving digital marketing trends and growing consumer demands. This blog explains the skills required to become a digital marketing expert.

Who is a Digital Marketing Expert?

A digital marketing expert is a professional with extensive knowledge, skills, and experience in various aspects of digital marketing. They are well-versed in the strategies, tactics, tools, and technologies used in digital marketing. Moreover, they deeply understand leveraging digital channels to achieve specific marketing objectives and drive business results. A digital marketing expert typically has a wide range of skills in areas such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, web analytics, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), marketing automation, and more. They are proficient in using various digital marketing tools and platforms and can analyze data and interpret results.

Digital marketing experts can also make data-driven decisions to optimize digital marketing campaigns for maximum performance. In fact, digital marketing experts also need to stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in this ever-evolving field. They are strategic thinkers, able to develop comprehensive digital marketing strategies that align with business goals and target audiences. They are also effective communicators. Additionally, such experts collaborate with cross-functional teams, manage stakeholders, and communicate complex digital marketing concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

What Skills do Digital Marketing Experts Need?

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

This skill requires increasing conversion rates by optimizing websites and landing pages. As a part of CRO, you must add new elements to your website by conducting A/B and multivariate testing. The purpose of A/B testing is to analyze user behavior by creating hypotheses. You can optimize website elements based on user interaction for better conversion rates.

Email Marketing

This is another essential skill you must learn as a digital marketing expert. It is a powerful tool for outbound marketing and retaining customers. You can use email marketing skills to launch effective email campaigns by using email automation, segmenting audiences, creating personalized email content, and analyzing email performance metrics.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing techniques to generate traffic to your website and generate more leads. You must know how to create high-quality content that resonates with audiences and drives engagement. Content marketing also involves understanding content strategy, SEO, and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and creating different types of content—for example, blogs, videos, and infographics). To do so, a digital marketing expert must know how to leverage different content marketing tools and platforms.

ALSO READ: A Comprehensive Guide to Content Marketing in 2022 and Beyond

Social Media Marketing

Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn have become the best places to promote products or services and generate inbound leads. Effective social media marketing improves brand engagement and customer retention rates. Hence, you must have extensive knowledge of social media marketing as a digital marketing expert. This includes understanding social media algorithms, creating engaging content, running effective social media ad campaigns, and measuring social media Return on Investment (ROI).

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Equally important as the aforementioned skills, PPC campaigns involve running Google Ads and social media ads on digital platforms. You must know how to target audiences effectively, optimize ad performance, and achieve maximum ROI. In this case, it includes understanding advanced bidding strategies, ad targeting, ad extensions, and A/B testing.

ALSO READ: Top 7 Fundamentals of Digital Marketing Every Marketer Should Know in 2023

Why do Companies Need Digital Marketing Experts?

Before diving deep into this, let us go through a few statistics to understand the need for digital marketing.

• Pay-per-click generates a 200% return for companies 
• If companies spend $1 on email marketing, they get returns of up to $36
• Almost 100% of consumers read online reviews before buying a product, thus making websites and online digital presence essential for businesses 
• 28% of the U.S. population listens to podcasts every week

These digital marketing statistics show the following: first, how digital marketing can help companies reach out to a wider target audience; second, how to build a large customer base; and finally, generate more revenue. Therefore, most companies use digital marketing to stay ahead of their competitors. In brief, they need digital marketing experts to frame and implement digital marketing strategies which drive growth.

Who is Hiring Digital Marketing Experts?

You have two main options for applying for digital marketing expert jobs. The first is a digital marketing agency. You can join agencies working with companies or businesses to manage their marketing activities. Some of the top marketing agencies in the U.S. are:

• Performics
• Social SEO
• WebFX
• Ignite Visibility
• Thrive
• Smart Sites
• RevLocal

The next option is to directly reach out to companies with a large digital marketing team and spend a lot on marketing. These include:

• Amazon
• Microsoft
• Nike
• Apple
• IBM
• HP 
• Coca-Cola
• Morgan Stanley
• Accenture 
• Oracle
• Cisco
• JP Morgan

Moreover, you can work as a digital marketing expert freelancer and help startups grow by leveraging digital marketing initiatives.

How Much do Digital Marketing Experts Make?

The average annual salary of a digital marketing expert or specialist in the U.S. is $62,741. Without a doubt, you can earn an even higher salary if you acquire specialization and narrow down your niche. Furthermore, the average salary also depends on your experience and role. Let’s break this down further and look at the average salary for niche digital marketing expert roles.

Digital Marketing Expert vs. Digital Marketer: What is the Difference?

Both these profiles have almost similar roles. The only difference is the level of experience and skills. Overall, a digital marketing expert has more expertise and experience in digital marketing than a digital marketer. As a digital marketing expert, one must have extensive knowledge, skills, and experience in various digital marketing strategies and tactics, such as SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and more. In addition, one’s role also demands strategic thinking, data-driven decision-making, and the ability to create and implement effective digital marketing campaigns.

On the other hand, a digital marketer is a digital marketing professional with fewer years of experience and expertise than a digital marketing expert. Again, entry-level or associate-level digital marketing professionals are mostly called digital marketers. In fact, they are not involved in strategic planning or designing digital marketing campaigns. Their role primarily consists in implementing the campaigns and strategies a digital marketing expert designed. Subsequently, digital marketers also use various platforms to analyze the performance of digital marketing campaigns.

Become a Digital Marketing Expert with Emeritus

To conclude, carving a niche for yourself in this fast-moving industry is difficult. Hence, you must always be ahead of the game to grab the best digital marketing opportunities. You can, therefore, become a digital marketing expert by learning advanced digital marketing skills, learning new trends, and gaining industry insights. Emeritus online digital marketing courses give you practical insights into the industry. Moreover, these courses also help you acquire the necessary skills to advance your career.

Write to us at content@emeritus.org