What Is a Digital Marketing Executive & How To Become One?
Digital marketing has many roles. One position that provides a good salary but requires leadership skills besides marketing skills is that of a digital marketing executive.
In this post, I will explain the job responsibilities and the requirements to become a digital marketing executive.
What is a Digital Marketing Executive?
A digital marketing executive is responsible for planning and executing a company’s online marketing strategy to promote its products or services. This usually involves utilizing one or more channels, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media networks, influencer marketing, and email marketing.
A digital marketing executive is not an entry-level position but requires good knowledge of digital marketing and experience working with campaigns.
In companies that outsource digital marketing, a digital marketing executive works with external partners. In companies that handle marketing internally, the digital marketing executive leads the team.
What Does a Digital Marketing Executive Do?
Here is an example of a job posting outlining the day-to-day responsibilities of a digital marketing executive.
Daily, a digital marketing professional is expected to:
- Work on planning, delivering, and optimizing digital marketing campaigns.
- Work on SEO and CRO (conversion rate optimization).
- Analyzing and reporting on campaign performance.
- Manage and collaborate with the digital marketing team.
- Stay informed of new changes in the digital marketing era.
- Test new technologies like AI and how they can help marketing efforts.
- Coordinate the activities of the digital marketing team.
- Work with partners and other people involved in a company’s marketing activities.
6 Steps To Become a Digital Marketing Executive
- Get The Necessary Education
- Gain Hands-On SEO Experience
- Become an Expert in PPC Marketing
- Build Your Team Management Skills
- Learn to Work With Other Marketing Tactics
- Commit to Lifelong Learning
1. Get The Necessary Education
In the past, having a digital marketing degree was not a requirement, but nowadays, with the increased competition, if you want to work in an executive-level position, you need a degree in marketing or a related field.
A degree will help you build foundational knowledge in consumer behavior, market research, and marketing strategies. You can then develop your technical skills using online courses and certifications in digital marketing.
If you want a faster solution that doesn’t require formal education, consider becoming a digital marketing specialist. It’s a role that relates more to digital marketing activities and less to team management or project management.
2. Gain Hands-On SEO Experience
Gaining the necessary SEO experience is crucial for any digital marketing professional. Even if you don’t have to run SEO campaigns yourself, you need the skills to guide your team’s SEO experts.
Learning the basis of SEO is easy, but mastering the advanced concepts requires hands-on experimentation.
This is not something you can learn in a degree or a course. The only way is to work on several SEO campaigns to see what works and what doesn’t.
Getting a job as an SEO manager will allow you to get hands-on SEO experience before applying for digital marketing executive jobs.
3. Become an Expert in PPC Marketing
Mastering PPC marketing is essential. As a digital marketing executive, you must drive targeted traffic to generate leads and sales. PPC campaigns allow you to reach potential customers faster than any other method.
Begin with Google Ads and familiarize yourself with keyword research, campaign types, and ad creation.
Explore Facebook Ads for social media campaigns and learn how to target specific audiences.
Additionally, consider experimenting with other platforms like LinkedIn and Bing Ads to broaden your expertise.
4. Build Your Team Management Skills
As a digital marketing executive, you’ll oversee multiple projects and campaigns, and having strong team management skills is essential. You must coordinate efforts, ensure everyone is aligned with the strategy, and drive the team toward achieving business goals.
If you don’t have experience in people management, start by leading small projects. Learn to delegate tasks effectively, provide constructive feedback, and motivate your team.
5. Learn to Work With Other Marketing Tactics
It’s vital to have a broad understanding of various online channels. This includes affiliate marketing, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, website marketing, and video marketing. Each channel has unique strategies and tools to enhance your overall marketing efforts.
For instance, affiliate marketing can help you understand how to collaborate with influencers and partners to promote products.
Content marketing, on the other hand, is crucial for creating valuable content that attracts and retains your audience.
Email marketing remains a powerful tool for nurturing leads and building customer relationships. Social media marketing helps you engage with your audience and build brand awareness.
Website marketing involves optimizing your website for user experience and conversion. Video marketing is becoming increasingly important, as video content can significantly boost engagement and conversion rates.
Gaining experience in these areas will allow you to create comprehensive marketing strategies that leverage multiple channels for maximum impact.
6. Commit to Lifelong Learning
Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field. To stay informed about new developments, follow industry blogs, attend webinars, and participate in conferences.
Join online communities to exchange ideas and stay updated on the latest trends and technologies. Regularly take advanced courses to sharpen your skills and adapt to new tools and strategies.
Other Skills Needed To Work As a Digital Marketing Executive
Digital marketing executives need both hard and soft skills to succeed in their roles. Besides the technical skills explained above, a good marketing executive must acquire the following:
Analytical Skills: You’ll need to analyze data from various sources to understand your campaigns’ performance. This includes Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Looker Studio, and other digital analytics tools.
Project Management: Unlike other digital marketing positions, an executive needs strong organizational skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously. You’ll need to coordinate with different team members, meet deadlines, and ensure that all aspects of your campaigns run smoothly.
Communication Skills: Excellent communication is crucial. You’ll need to convey ideas clearly and work well with others, whether as part of a team or talking with clients.
Is Digital Marketing Executive a Good Job?
Becoming a digital marketing executive is a great career choice. It’s a highly demanded profession with good salaries and opportunities for advancement.
According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a digital marketing executive in the United States is $70,000 yearly.
Additionally, more than 2000 job opportunities on LinkedIn alone indicate a strong demand for skilled professionals.
This role offers the chance to work from home in a hybrid environment. It’s a challenging job with many opportunities to help businesses make money and continually develop their expertise in the ever-evolving field of digital marketing.
Learn More About Digital Marketing
A well-structured and comprehensive course is one of the most efficient ways to learn digital marketing and build the necessary skills to pursue positions such as digital marketing executive.
One reliable option is the Digital Marketing Full Course. This course teaches basic and advanced digital marketing concepts with step-by-step examples and real case studies.
Course instructors are experienced digital marketers with over 20 years of experience, and the course is updated regularly to include the latest digital marketing techniques and practices.