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Digital marketing is decades old, expansive, and an ever-evolving career space. With the rate that digital marketing has been gaining popularity, individuals looking to develop a successful career would not be unwise to go in this direction. Individuals who invest in this path have many choices and areas to apply themselves and specialize.
While the space is constantly changing, including white label SEO services, businesses are continually looking for intelligent and innovative minds to drive their digital marketing efforts to keep up with the current trends and even stay ahead of the curve.
The Future of Digital Marketing
The popularity of digital marketing can be seen in the increase in digital ad spending. In a report by eMarketer, they predict that digital ad spending in the U.S. alone will reach up to $315 billion by 2025. Although this is projected to slow down with each progressive year, this industry has already become so large and has opened up millions of job opportunities for individuals worldwide. For instance, a 2021 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the employment rate for advertising, promotions, and marketing managers will increase by 10% by 2031. That’s over 30,000 job positions.
In this industry, you can find yourself jumping to and from different organizations and fulfilling various roles and responsibilities. You may even join a white label local SEO company to gain experience. These roles in your search engine marketing (SEM) or digital marketing career path will have you working up from a junior level to a leading senior position. Additionally, you can do freelancing, be part of a small business, or work with a large marketing team of an enterprise-level company. Some even have worked for companies of all sizes throughout their career journey.
Reference: What is White Label?
Let’s examine what you can expect if you enter the realm of SEM or digital marketing. First, we will discuss some of the roles and responsibilities relating to these positions.
Basic SEM Positions
Naturally, those with little experience just beginning in any industry will begin at the essential entry-level position. These people are typically fresh graduates or individuals looking to get into the digital marketing scene through their unique talents. A person can also transfer to the digital marketing department of their company from elsewhere. Most of these people begin their journey with an agency or work in-house with a marketing team.
Because people typically cannot market their experience at this level, most businesses look for other qualities. These qualities include the ability to adapt fast, the drive to learn, initiative, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work well with others.
There are many different channel signifiers (SEO, Social, Paid search, etc.) and multiple job seniority/role signifiers (Assistant, Specialist, Senior, Junior, etc.) throughout your journey. These titles vary depending on the company. These can be a means of identifying your position within the company and giving other employers an idea of your level of experience, area of expertise, and the range of your abilities.
Duration
How long you stay in an entry-level position depends on the company you work at and the extent of your abilities. The average is about a year to a year and a half. If you can impress the higher-ups with both your hard and soft skills, you are more likely to get promoted faster.
Note that it isn’t always good to go after quick promotions. Sometimes it’s best to remain in a position until you can master all the responsibilities and tasks within that role. Promotion offers are a testament to your capabilities, and you may never know when you will receive that offer again. Still, assess whether you think taking the opportunity or waiting is wise. The last thing you want is to be promoted to a position you aren’t prepared to handle. There is always more to learn. Once you believe you’ve reached the ceiling of learning in your current job or want to take on heavier loads, that might be the time to chat with your superior.
Scope of Work
Junior-level individuals often take on supporting roles for their more experienced seniors. These tasks are challenging enough to test their skills while also allowing opportunities for learning. Some of these tasks might include administrative duties like note-taking during meetings, creating reports as requested by the superior, and tracking the performance of specific accounts. Other charges may consist of building SEM and other digital campaigns, taking part in training seminars, and attaining additional education or certification requirements.
Intermediate SEM Positions
This next level is attained after about a year to two years of working in digital marketing. With this experience comes a subsequent increase in the level of responsibility.
Duration
Company and skill level still play a role in promotions from this position. However, the average amount of time you can expect to remain in this position is about 1-2 years.
Remember, it is important to set yourself up for the long run and ingrain the key learning from each role before moving on.
Scope of Work
It is expected that you will be given much larger roles within a team as you gain experience and solidify the expertise and quality you put into your work. However, don’t expect to be free from entry-level tasks just yet.
While these “junior experts” are generally not considered managers, they can take on specific managerial responsibilities like account and project management and taking charge of team and client meetings. They have enough experience to assist in the training of new hires. They can supervise a team and assign tasks to their members. They are generally responsible for more extensive campaigns as well.
Advanced SEM Positions
After about 3-4 years, you can find yourself in a senior position where you have delegated a more significant management role and are put in charge of more communication both within and outside of the company.
Duration
The average time in a senior position can range from a year and a half up to 3 years.
Scope of Work
Moving up to a senior role isn’t a simple promotion. Not only are you expected to learn new skills and carry more managerial responsibility, but you may also be required to accomplish the junior tasks you were performing up until that point.
Senior roles usually oversee:
- Campaign budgeting and forecasting
- Managing teams, multiple accounts, and multiple channels.
- Multi-channel campaign strategizing and media planning
- Client communication and rapport
Executive SEM Positions
Leadership positions in SEM and digital marketing are some of the highest in seniority and require a top level of industry and managerial knowledge and skill. Unfortunately, it typically takes many years to get to this level.
Scope of Work
Leaders are typically highly skilled and capable of developing effective marketing strategies. However, leadership roles and responsibilities require more than the individual’s prowess. These people must manage a team effectively, set objectives and key performance indicators, and bring out the best in their team members using their respective skills to accomplish the tasks. They also must possess interpersonal communication skills for internal teams and manage client, stakeholder, and company executive relationships.
Other responsibilities may include:
- Planning – budget forecasting and resource allocation
- Campaigns – multi-channel campaign management and media planning, top-tier account and campaign strategy, digital marketing trends
- Staffing and Training – involved in the hiring process and serve as mentors for junior-level members
Launching Your SEM Career
Hopefully, you now have a better grasp of SEM and digital marketing roles, their duration, and the scope of their responsibilities. Many career opportunities await you in the rapidly changing and expanding white label digital marketing agency industry.
