A person working from home, sitting at a desk using a laptop to research the average digital marketing manager salary

The Ultimate Digital Marketing Manager Salary Guide for 2023

Rosie Allabarton, contributor to the CareerFoundry blog

What is the typical digital marketing manager salary? How much can you expect to earn in the field, or to pay someone working in this role? Look no further than our ultimate digital marketing manager salary guide, complete with all the most up-to-date salary data.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  1. What is the average digital marketing manager salary in the United States?
  2. Digital marketing manager salary data for different U.S. states and cities
  3. Digital marketing manager salary data around the world
  4. Digital marketing manager salary data for major cities around the world
  5. Digital marketing manager salary data based on years of experience
  6. Digital marketing manager career FAQs
  7. Wrap-up and next steps

Money’s not always an easy subject to talk about. Many of us cringe at the idea of discussing our salaries, while others avoid mentioning it altogether. Unfortunately, the embarrassment associated with talking about money can ultimately hinder our salary potential, even leading some of us to accept less than we rightfully deserve. 

If you’re launching a new career, the question of how much you should be earning gets all the more challenging. You might be new to the industry, or new to the company, and lacking the experience or confidence in your new position to ask directly for the salary you are eligible for. In addition, a lack of transparency over salaries can make it difficult to know what we should expect for ourselves, or if what we’re being paid is fair considering our level of experience, the cost of living in our area, and the profession we’ve worked hard to succeed in. 

In this article, we want to give those of you looking to launch careers as digital marketing managers (as well as those who are already doing this job!) a clear salary guide for your country, state, and level of experience. In doing so, we hope to give you a concrete idea of what you should expect to earn in this role, without any awkward conversations about money needed. 

By the end of this post, we hope you’ll feel empowered to ask for a salary that truly reflects your skills and expertise, and is in keeping with the wages of your particular country, city, or state. 

Now, got your calculator ready? Let’s find out what salary you can expect as a digital marketing manager with your unique set of skills and experience, and in your particular part of the world. 

Let’s go!

An experienced digital marketing manager working on a laptop, wearing headphones

1. What is the average digital marketing manager salary in the United States?

According to Zippia, the average salary for a digital marketing manager in the United States is $99,563 per year. Digital marketing managers at the lowest end of that scale make approximately $71,000 per annum, while those who find themselves in the top 10 percent make roughly $138,000 per year. 

As we shall see, location makes a big difference. The states that currently offer the highest salaries for digital marketing managers are New Jersey, Virginia, New York, California, and Minnesota. The lowest salaries for this role are offered in Wyoming and Mississippi, where you could expect to earn closer to $21-$22.50 for every hour you work. 

For comparison, here are the predictions from a few other sources for average US salaries for digital marketing managers: 

2. Digital marketing manager salary data for different U.S. states and cities

The state where you live, work, and pay taxes will be one of the defining factors of how much you are able to earn as a digital marketing manager. Cost of living varies greatly across U.S. states and will be reflected in the salaries offered to state residents. A liter of milk in San Francisco, California for example, will set you back $1.56, while in Florence, Alabama that same liter of milk will cost you just 50 cents. 

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that other factors will impact your salary. Your total number of years in a similar role, the industry you work in, your professional background and qualificaitons, and the size of the company you work in will all affect your total compensation, too. Here, you’ll find data we’ve collected from experts on what you can expect to earn on average in the following U.S states and cities.

Digital marketing manager salaries in the northeast

Digital marketing manager salaries in the southeast

Digital marketing manager salaries in the southwest

Digital marketing manager salaries in the northwest

Digital marketing manager salaries in the midwest:

A digital marketing manager working from home

3. Digital marketing manager salaries around the world

The cost of living in different countries and cities around the world varies dramatically, and will directly impact the salary you can expect to be offered as a digital marketing manager. 

Whether you’re already based in one of the areas we’ve included in the following global salary round-up, or relocating to another country is something that you’re excited to consider, it’s worth doing some additional research into major expenses like rent, commuting, and the cost of a meal to see how far your salary will actually go. With this information to hand, you can then make an informed choice about where you want to live while pursuing this career. 

Here are the average digital marketing manager salaries around the world:

Now let’s drill down even further to look at the average digital marketing manager salary in different cities around the world. 

4. Digital marketing manager salary data for major cities around the world

Let’s zoom in and take a look at the differences in average salaries for digital marketing managers in some major cities around the world.  

France

Australia

United Kingdom

China

Brazil

5. Digital marketing manager salary data based on years of experience

It’s standard practice for recruiters and employers to take into account the number of years you’ve worked in an industry or a particular role when calculating a salary offer. While those who are still relatively fresh to a field will start off at the lower end of the salary spectrum, you can expect your wages to increase significantly over time as you build knowledge and accumulate sought-after skills. You’ll generally find this is the case, irrespective of the role’s location, or the industry you’ve chosen to go into. 

Let’s take a look at expected salaries for digital marketing managers based on experience: 

Entry level digital marketing manager salary:

Mid-level digital marketing manager salary:

Senior digital marketing manager salary:

A digital marketing manager in side profile, working on a laptop

6. Digital marketing manager career FAQs

We’ve explored the crucial topic of salary. Now let’s answer some additional questions you might have about working as a digital marketing manager. 

1. What does a digital marketing manager do?

A digital marketing manager works to ensure the successful running of digital channels and campaigns that create new customer leads, promote the brand and its products, and contribute to overall company growth. 

In close collaboration with community and social media managers, and typically executing on the strategy developed by the head of marketing, the digital marketing manager aligns the team’s goals, and plans and distributes tasks among content creators. When a campaign is over, the digital marketing manager measures and analyzes results before reporting back to the whole team to see where improvements could be made or new strategies developed. 

Learn more about what a digital marketing manager does in this guide.

2. What skills and qualifications do you need to work as a digital marketing manager?

A combination of hard and soft skills are required to excel in this role. While some of these professional attributes can be transferred over from previous roles or work experience, others can be learned via a short course or training program in digital marketing. 

Key hard skills:

  • Deep knowledge of social media platforms and trends
  • Practical experience with, and in-depth knowledge of, marketing and web analytics tools such as Google Adwords, Google Analytics, Taboola, Outbrain and similar web advertising platforms
  • Demonstrable knowledge of mail marketing tools such as HubSpot, Sendinblue, Omnisend, MailChimp and Mailjet
  • Experience with implementing and running pay-per-click advertising campaigns
  • Insights into keyword research and SEO implementation
  • Skills in campaign strategy and execution 
  • Good grasp of user experience (UX) and the optimization of customer experience funnels and landing pages

Key soft skills: 

  • Excellent time management and task prioritization
  • An analytical skillset and an interest in learning new tools and trends 
  • Project management skills and the ability to delegate tasks
  • Fantastic verbal and written communication 
  • Ability to work independently and coordinate with a team 

We’ve rounded up a list of the must-have skills for a digital marketing manager here.

3. Do you need a degree to work as a digital marketing manager?

You definitely don’t need a degree to launch a career as a digital marketing manager. However, taking a relevant course will help you acquire much of the knowledge you’ll need to master the more challenging aspects of the role, and give you the chance to learn directly from industry professionals. In addition, a certified course will demonstrate your knowledge in the field and your commitment to your career choice, as well as help you stand out from the competition when you start applying for positions. 

4. How can you get started in digital marketing?

One of the great things about choosing a career in digital marketing is that there is no hard and fast route to landing your first position. In fact, there are many ways you can build the experience, confidence, and skills you need to excel as a digital marketing manager. While some career changers choose to start with a course in digital marketing, others apply for internships on digital marketing teams to get a practical feel for the position straight off the bat. Others opt to go it alone at first, using the wealth of free digital marketing tools and software available online to build their own simple campaigns and learn some of the essential skills needed for the role. 

You can learn more about how to become a digital marketing manager in this step-by-step guide.

7. Wrap-up and next steps

In this post, we shone a light on the different salaries you can expect to earn as a digital marketing manager, irrespective of your location and experience level, and answer some commonly asked questions about skills, training, and how to get started.  If you take away just one piece of advice from this post let it be this: always do your salary research! It’ll give you the confidence to ask for what you deserve when you start applying for your first positions in the field. 

If this article has piqued your interest in the field of digital marketing, why not try out this free, self-paced short course, to see if the practical ins-and-outs are for you.

Check out the following posts for further reading on digital marketing:

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