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What Does a Digital Marketer Do? (With Job Description and Responsibilities Examples)
The demand for digital marketers is increasing and shows their important role in a company where they are responsible for promotion and sales through online channels. So, what do digital marketers do on a daily basis? How to be a good digital marketer? What skills should a digital marketer have?
Updated Jul 9, 2024
What does a digital marketer do?What is a digital marketer?
Digital marketer is a role in marketing where someone is responsible for using and maximizing digital channels to promote the company's products, services, or brands to the right target market.
In addition to promotion, a digital marketer must drive engagement and conversion through all channels so that the business goal can be achieved.
Some of the digital marketing channels include:
- Paid ads or online advertising (social media ads and Google Ads)
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Content marketing
- Social media organic
- Email marketing
To execute all the strategies on these channels, a digital marketer should do good research and planning with a creative touch.
It looks like a tough job, but don't worry. In general, a digital marketer must have a good knowledge of all digital channels. In fact, they may focus on only one or two channels to maximize channel performance.
Key responsibilities of a digital marketer by role
A digital marketer is split into several roles, with different job responsibilities with the same goal to gain awareness, engage with the target market, and get conversions.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The main responsibility is to strategize, execute, and track a website's organic search performance.
You will research keywords that are relevant to the business and that users are using to search for something that may be relevant to your business or that your business has solutions for.
Once you have the relevant keywords, you work with the content writer or content creation team to create content that answers what users are searching for, turning those keywords into well-written content (product or offer page, blog post, tools, etc.) based on your audience's search intent.
In this role, you will also be responsible for the technical aspects of SEO. For example:
- Working with dev team to publish new pages,
- Regularly monitor and improve the performance (speed, mobile friendliness, etc.) of your website,
- In charge if there is any unusual traffic or ranking movement, etc.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
Basically, SEO is a part of SEM. However, SEM is often referred to as an advertising channel. So while SEO focuses on the organic side of search engines, SEM is responsible for the paid strategy in search engines like Google Ads.
SEM also requires someone to do keyword research, but this is used for ad targeting.
You will manage and create the pay-per-click (PPC) of the advertising campaign, monitor the advertising performance and regularly adjust the bidding strategies for better return on investment (ROI).
Ultimately, all strategies must result in website traffic and lead generation for sales.
Performance or paid ads
Paid advertising is found not only in search engines but also in social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) and other advertising outputs.
The responsibility is similar to the SEM role, where you have to manage the bidding strategy and monitor the performance.
This role also has to create some paid advertising campaigns, according to the whole company's business plan, to generate leads or sales.
Content creation and management
Specific for roles related with websites or content marketing, this role requires someone with a passion for writing, as on a daily basis this role will be working hand in hand with the SEO team to deliver good content to the website.
A content writer must create informative and engaging articles to attract users' attention and keep them reading until the end. The article must also be relevant to the keywords, fit the user's search intent, and relate to the company's product or service.
In the long run, providing high quality content to the right target audience will result in increased website traffic, good search engine rankings, and increased website credibility.
Some of the content creators also perform these activities below:
- Create website and product descriptions
- Create other content outputs to enrich the article information, such as videos, images, etc.
- Analyze and improve content performance
Social media marketing
While the content creation role focuses on creating content for the websites, the social media marketing role focuses on how to engage with the target audience in various social media with various content outputs.
They has to create creative and relevant content that will make the audience aware of the company’s brand, products, or services and engage with the content by giving likes, making comments, saving the content, and following the social media account.
As the end goal, the target audience will choose the company’s products or services to be used in their day-to-day needs.
In detail, social media marketing will do:
- Develop the content schedule in various social media
- Create the content in various outputs, such as videos, pictures, etc.
- Keep up to date with social media trends to gain more engagements
- Reply to comments and messages
- Collaborate with key opinion leaders in creating the content
Email marketing
This role's responsibility is to plan, manage, and create email newsletters to the target audience. Usually, the content of the newsletter is campaigns, promos, curated content from the website blog, or updates on the company's activities.
Brainstation said that email marketing become one of the strongest methods to reach a committed target audience.
This happens because the email will be directly sent to the audience’s personal email who have already become regular customers of the company's products/services.
They are most likely to be interested in buying the product again if they know about the latest promo and fit their needs.
On a day-to-day basis, this role will do:
- Decide the email audience segment targeting, both promotional and nonpromotional emails
- Create the content of the email
- Collaborate with other teams to make the content more attractive, such as the graphic design team
- Execute the email marketing strategy
- Analyze the performance and improve the optimization strategy based on the data
Data analysis and reporting
All roles in digital marketing have to do data analysis and reporting, so data-driven must be owned by each team. A few tasks that need this skill are:
- As a source of truth to know the campaign performance and current situation of the marketing strategy
- Provide recommendations to improve each channel's performance based on data
- Report the KPI to the related stakeholders and upper management
Tools digital marketers use
There are lots of tools that will help you as a digital marketer to do your work. You can find them below, divided into the functions:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google Trends
- Ahrefs
- Semrush
- Moz
- WordPress
Digital advertising
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- Google Trends
- Meta Ads Manager
Conversion optimization tools
- Microsoft Clarity
- Optimizely
- Hotjar
Social media marketing
- Sprout Social
- Loomly
- SocialPilot
- Agorapulse
- Hootsuite
- Buffer
- Meta Business Manager
Email marketing
- Mailchimp
- Customer.io
- SendGrid
- lemlist
- Moosend
- Constant Contact
Creative design
- Canva
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Visme
- Creatopy
- Venngage
Customer management platforms
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
Landing page and lead capture tools
- Typeform
- OptiMonk
- Mailmunch
Skills digital marketers need
To be a great digital marketer, you have to have these skills:
Hard skills
- SEO
- Content strategy
- Social media strategy
- Brand management
- Attention to detail
- Design
- Paid ads strategy
- Communication (written and verbal)
- Project management
- Data analysis
- Organizational skills
- UI/UX
Soft skills
- Tech-savvy
- Problem-solving
- Creativity
- Adaptability
- Time management
- Work independently
- Work under pressure
- Proactive
- Critical thinking
- Curious
- Strategic
- Tactful
- Persuasive
- Passionate
Career opportunities for digital marketers
Digital marketing jobs offer lots of opportunities in broad industries and working arrangement options. Here is a snippet of the current digital marketing job situation.
Diverse industry demand
Companies and business owners have to adjust their business strategies to fit the digital world. In fact, digital marketing is one of the highest-paying tech jobs in Singapore.
Most of them, both multinational companies, startups, as well as SMEs, already moved to digital and they are from diverse industries, such as:
- Education,
- Ecommerce,
- Retail,
- Healthcare,
- Technology service,
- Entertainment,
- Property, etc.
Remote work opportunities
Don’t like work-from-office arrangements? You can find remote work opportunities, both in your country and internationally.
Since COVID-19 happened, the job openings of remote work increased. You are allowed to work from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. It offers work-life balance and working hours flexibility.
Specialized roles and career paths
As mentioned before, there are many specialized roles in digital marketing. You can learn in-depth and plan your career path to be an expert in that specialization.
For example, you want to be an expert in SEO. You can start your career as an SEO Specialist, then be promoted to Manager/Lead/Senior Lead until C-level (in this case CMO or CPO).
When you are promoted, you will unlock other skills that will help you be an expert in your role, such as people management, stakeholder management, problem-solving, etc.
Freelance and consulting opportunities
Want to look for non-committed jobs? You can be a freelance digital marketer! It offers you a chance to handle two or more clients at the same time, with a bigger salary. You can also have flexibility to manage your working hours.
If you have been working for years, becoming a digital marketing consultant may also be an option. There are many companies and business owners who don't have the budget to hire full-time digital marketers, or who are in the early stages of digital marketing. Hiring a consultant may be their answer.
Career progression for digital marketers
As with other job functions, career progression in digital marketing requires experience at the internship, entry-level, mid-level, and senior levels. So what are the key responsibilities and expectations at each level?
Internship
If you are an undergraduate student or in your final year to get your bachelor's degree, you can start your career as a digital marketer by joining an internship.
The company will expect you to help the digital marketing team execute the strategy that they already created. At the same time, you will learn the practice of digital marketing with the help of your mentor in the team.
The experience that you get can be used for you to apply for a full-time position, both in the company where you do your internship or another company.
Usually, an internship lasts for 3-6 months. In some cases, after you do your internship, you can still work there as a full-timer.
Entry level
Employers in entry-level positions are expected to understand the basic knowledge of digital marketing concepts, tools, and platforms.
It will be good if the employers have experience in managing social media platforms, email marketing tools, and content management systems through internships, coursework, or certifications in digital marketing.
In day-to-day activities, entry-level employees must perform the tasks assigned to them on a smaller scale. They have to go the extra mile to be promoted to mid-level.
Mid level
An employer can be considered mid-level if they have worked as a digital marketer for 2-5 years.
Absolutely with this tenure, they have a lot of experience in their digital marketing specialization, such as running various paid ads, creating successful campaigns, and executing content.
Daily, this employer is already an expert in operating digital marketing tools and executing various digital marketing plans. They are also expected to have the proactivity to solve problems and handle larger scale assignments with high traffic, leads or conversions.
Senior level
With more than 5 years of experience, a senior employer is expected to develop a more strategic plan and implement it successfully.
Some of the people at this level will also be tasked with leading a digital marketing team. So people management is also needed at this level.
The employer must have:
- A proven track record in leading bigger-scale digital marketing campaigns with great results
- Experience in collaborating with other teams and stakeholders.
- Have advanced knowledge in digital marketing tactics, such as conversion rate optimization, marketing automation, or any advanced analytics needed in the specific role of digital marketing.
- For leadership level, employers must have experience in strategic planning, budget management, and stakeholder engagement
Professional developments for digital marketers
To support your learning and obtain the certification necessary for working as a digital marketer, here are some resources for you to utilize.
Online course and certification
Many credible resources provide free courses with certification, such as:
Other than these resources, you can learn from the paid courses, like:
Offline workshops and conference
Attending an offline digital workshop and conference can be a great way to learn the latest digital marketing trends and techniques.
In addition to gaining knowledge, this type of event allows you to talk face-to-face with the experts and network with other digital marketers. Networking can lead you to various job opportunities.
Networking events
Not only through attending workshops and conferences, there are also dedicated events for networking. Join the event, prepare a few questions to ask the expert, dress appropriately, and have your business card ready.
Don't just focus on the digital marketing expert. Get out there and mingle with other digital marketers, because you never know what kind of opportunities they can offer you.
Blogs and podcasts
Blogs and podcasts become quick resources to know the latest updates about the digital marketing.
Some blogs that you can read are:
Podcast recommendation that you can listen to while doing physical exercise or household:
Professional associations
Joining some professional digital marketing associations in your city or country will give you some opportunities.
Aside from that, you can get the latest news, contribute to the association, networking, etc.
Hands-on projects and case studies
Please say yes if one of your networks asks you to join in their projects or case studies! You can also gain digital marketing experience through freelance work or case studies.
Doing all of these things will allow you apply the knowledge of digital marketing. Furthermore, you can learn new things, because some knowledge can only be learned by doing it in real cases. In the end, these experiences can be added to your resume and get you the digital marketing job.
Becoming a digital marketer is not a quick process. You have to learn a lot of things. But as long as you enjoy it and are passionate about it, you can get the dream job you have been hoping for.
Further reading:
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