Digital Marketing Salary: How Much Can You Earn in 2024?

Digital marketing salaries for 2024

If you’re beginning your digital marketing job search or considering a new career in this field, you might wonder how much digital marketers earn in 2024 and beyond. 

According to Canada's Job Bank [1], the median wage for a digital marketing specialist in Canada is $31.19 per hour, and for a digital marketing manager, it is $52.88 per hour [2].

Digital marketing salaries can vary based on role, company, or industry, especially considering the range of functions within the field. We’ve organized the table below with salaries for manager roles corresponding to marketers' top six channels to reach audiences. 

According to Hubspot’s 2022 State of Marketing report, the top marketing channels include social media, web/blog, email, content, influencer, and SEO marketing [3].  

What factors affect your digital marketing salary?

Now that you know salaries for different roles and a framework for exploring your options, you’ll want to consider factors that may affect your earning potential. These include: 

Education

For some digital marketing jobs, having a bachelor’s degree, graduate degree, or certifications in high-priority skills leads to a higher salary. 

Experience

Your digital marketing background may influence your earning potential. Experience may include employment, contract or freelance work, or business marketing. 

Role

Advanced positions in digital marketing, such as digital marketing manager, tend to command higher salaries than entry-level or individual contributor positions, such as digital marketing specialist.

Skills 

Having key digital marketing skills may make you a more attractive job candidate with higher earning potential. Be sure to read job descriptions for required and preferred skills. ZipRecruiter’s Career Keyword Mapper has identified that social media marketing, collaboration, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and copywriting are among the top skills employers list in job descriptions as of June 2024 [4].

In addition, talk to recruiters and hiring managers about how your skill set might affect your salary offer.  

Company

Salaries will vary depending on a company’s size, marketing budget, and business goals. For example, Glassdoor estimates that companies like BMO Financial Group, TD Ameritrade, RBC, and Accenture offer salaries between $90,000 and $191,000 for a digital marketing manager [5].

City 

Salaries tend to vary city by city. Glassdoor indicates a digital marketing specialist in Toronto, ON, can expect an average annual salary of $57,250 [6]. Someone with the same job title in Edmonton, AB, can expect an average salary of $61,072 [7].

4 Digital marketing salary best practices 

As you conduct your job search and advance your digital marketing career, empower yourself with the following salary best practices. By taking consistent action, you can increase your earning potential and career options: 

1. Refine your job search methods.

Research digital marketing job listings on various career platforms to stay informed about the job market. Here are some questions to guide your research:  

• What are the typical digital marketing salaries for this role?

• What are the typical salaries in various industries?

• What companies hire for this role, and how do employees rate them on Glassdoor and other job sites? 

• What can I learn about different companies from reviewing their social media profiles, websites, and customer reviews? 

2. Build skills and gain experience in digital marketing. 

Whether you’re looking for a job or professionalizing in your current role, continuing your digital marketing education is always a good idea. Doing so can lead to a more robust resume, higher salary, and greater exposure to organizations’ evolving needs.  

Common ways to continue your education include:

• Taking courses

• Getting certified

• Downloading industry reports and other resources from digital marketing leaders 

• Taking on freelance or contract work, such as designing an email marketing campaign or writing web copy

3. Build a digital marketing network. 

A solid network of fellow digital marketers can make it easier to discover career opportunities, learn about the latest industry trends, find a support system, and gather feedback on your digital marketing projects and endeavours. 

Here are some ways to build your network:

• Follow content creators on social media and reach out to them with questions or ideas. 

• Join professional organizations, such as the Canadian Marketing Association.

• Attend conferences and networking events.

• Participate in online forums and discussion groups. 

• Reach out to digital marketing course instructors and classmates. 

4. Monitor digital marketing trends. 

Industry trends in digital marketing are important to watch because they can signal shifts in consumer behaviour and opportunities to market to consumers more effectively. For example, Hubspot’s 2023 Marketing Strategy & Trends Report indicates that we will see the most growth from short-form video in 2024, and influencer marketing will continue to increase its high ROI [8]. The report also shows that more brands use social media DM tactics, and marketers focus on humanizing their brands. 

Ask yourself these questions: 

• What connections exist between digital marketing trends, job openings across industries, and salaries? 

• Are companies allocating more of their marketing budget to hire digital marketers with expertise in what’s trending? 

• How might I discuss with my current employer ways our team can respond to trends and improve our marketing strategy? 

• What marketing methods can I practice to increase my value for employers? 

• Will taking on a freelance project help my future job prospects? 

Build digital marketing skills with Coursera.

Taking online courses can be a great way to learn more about digital marketing, discover career opportunities, and become job-ready. The Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Professional Certificate can help you develop skills in SEO, SEM, email marketing, e-commerce, and more.

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