The Fastest-Growing Careers in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a rapidly growing industry that offers a range of career opportunities. Specialties in this field range from technical and analytics-focused positions to creative, strategic, and business-oriented roles. Learn more about digital marketing careers that span a diverse range of interests and skills.

Virtual Reality Developer

Average annual salary: $72,249 (PayScale)

Once synonymous with the future, virtual reality (VR) is changing the tech industry and will likely become an essential digital marketing tool. Many companies are beginning to include VR in their overall business and marketing strategies. Current uses include letting users preview how a piece of furniture or exercise equipment will look in their home, 360° views of products, etc. Demand is rising for virtual reality developers to create, test, and implement products and software. According to Hired.com, a tech recruiting site, there has been a 1,400% increase in interview demand for augmented reality and virtual reality developers in 2020 alone.

This unique position combines a programming background with elements of graphic design. Because VR developers should be familiar with common industry languages and platforms like C#, UE4, Unity, and C++, it can be helpful to have a bachelor's degree in IT or computer science.

Content Strategist

Average annual salary: $61,372 (PayScale)

Today's digital landscape allows infinite opportunities for businesses to put content in front of potential customers. Content strategists plan and execute a business's content across multiple channels through web pages, blogs, emails, infographics, ads, and more. Strategists' main focus is to increase businesses' online traffic and eventually convert browsers into customers. They also ensure that a company's content aligns with their established brand voice while helping to improve search engine rankings by creating content that follows search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.

Content strategists should have a strong background in editing and writing, be familiar with the latest SEO and digital marketing trends, and have a basic understanding of analytics tools, such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and SEMrush.

UX Designer

Average annual salary: $74,262 (PayScale)

The goal of any product or service is to provide users with an enjoyable, seamless experience. That's where UX (user experience) designers come in—they study consumer behavior and design products to enhance the user's overall experience. In digital marketing, UX designers often work to improve the overall design and function of websites and applications. They approach a business's website with the entire marketing experience in mind and address conversion issues, such as high bounce rates, incomplete online purchases, unclicked buttons, and other pain points that are stopping users from becoming customers.

UX designers possess a diverse set of hard and soft skills. Technical tasks include wireframing, prototyping, and analyzing and applying user data in a highly collaborative environment.

SEO Analyst

Average annual salary: $49,924 (PayScale)

Improving a company's search engine rankings requires a skilled SEO analyst. Because search engine algorithms and best practices are always changing, SEO analysts need to stay on top of industry news and optimize digital content to align with SEO best practices. They must apply industry updates to a company's campaigns and overall SEO strategy to stay competitive with similar businesses in their industry.

They should be able to work in standard SEO software like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Google Search Console, and other industry tools.

Email Marketing Specialist

Average annual salary: $56,511 (Zippia)

In 2019, the return on investment (ROI) for email marketing was 4,200%. That's $42 for every $1 spent! When executed well, email marketing can help businesses grow by gaining new customers and maintaining loyal ones. Email marketing specialists craft promotional emails and newsletters, as well as planning email campaign timelines and analyzing campaign performance metrics, such as open rate, click rate, and downloads.

Email marketers should have experience writing promotional marketing copy along with knowledge of different types of email campaigns. These campaigns meet potential customers at different stages of the marketing journey and should align with a company's marketing goals.

Prepare for This Fast-Growing Industry

Get help breaking into the digital marketing field by developing in-demand skills at the Tulane School of Professional Advancement. Our flexible, hands-on degree programs are designed for working professionals who are interested in changing careers or moving into managerial roles. Request more information to learn about SoPA's industry-relevant degrees, like our bachelor's in Digital Design or Public Relations and Digital Media Marketing.