There are more than 40,000 Digital Marketing Managers employed in the U.S. Someone who's worked entry-level marketing positions after graduating junior roles like account coordinator or marketing assistant, will eventually move into a digital marketing manager role.
In a world where marketing trends and technology are never static, organizations wanting to keep up with new developments need to find ways to stay ahead of the curve to remain competitive. Hiring a digital marketing manager is one such way to achieve this goal.
Interestingly, due to retirement, employees exiting the labor force, and the need to replace workers moving into other positions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts around 31,100 openings in the marketing/promotions/advertising manager area over the next ten years.
In the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA area, where there's a significant shortage of digital marketing managers, LaborIQ recommends a competitive base salary of $110,373. This is 2.6% higher than the national recommended base salary of $107,548. It’s no surprise that a higher wage goes a long way toward ensuring your advertised role stands out to top talent.
Typically, a digital marketing manager’s role includes some or all of the following areas of work:
Planning and executing all digital marketing, including SEO/SEM, maintaining a marketing database, social media, email, and other advertising and lead-generation campaigns.
Keeping abreast of current and emerging digital marketing trends and opportunities.
Other responsibilities may include hiring marketing staff, collaborating with external marketing agencies and vendors and working with department heads to identify, discuss and plan marketing strategies.
Specific hard skills needed for this role include:
Soft skills required include critical thinking, social perceptiveness, active learning, judgment and decision making, mathematics, complex problem solving, and systems evaluation.
In the case of Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, organizations looking to hire Digital Marketing Managers with the above skills often expect candidates to have a bachelor’s degree and 2-4 years experience in organizations of any industry and size. Experience in more junior marketing roles like 'marketing assistant' or 'marketing intern' are especially desired.
Due to current demand and the shortage of digital marketing managers in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA area, the recommended salary is 2.6% higher than the national recommended base salary. However, 0.8% lower than the national median salary of $92,743.
Interestingly, LaborIQ’s forecast indicates that the salary of a digital marketing manager in this geographical area is set to rise $2,171 (2%) by the fourth quarter of 2023, up to $112,544.
Currently, the labor market favors job candidates, and LaborIQ predicts that this situation will remain unchanged over the next four quarters. Namely, because talent availability for filling digital marketing manager roles in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is in significantly short supply. To that end, forecasted talent availability for this job is predicted to remain tight for the next half-decade.
The skill shortage for digital marketing managers is further affected by the fact that many skilled marketers prefer to work independently, seeking the flexibility of freelance work. Also, in a constantly changing, technical field, talent often struggles to keep up with all of the necessary computer science skills to launch effective marketing campaigns.
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To widen their nets, recruiters and talent acquisition professionals should consider recruiting from other more cost-effective metro areas. In addition, it’s recommended that organizations offer LaborIQ’s recommended salary at a minimum. Competitive compensation benefits will also help with hiring and retention. According to the Harvard Business Review, the stats bear this out: a 10% increase in base salary correlates with a 1.5 times higher likelihood that employees will stay with a company.
HR professionals could also evaluate existing employees to see if they could be upskilled and trained to take on the role.
Or, if you’ve already hired a digital marketing manager, it's worth comparing existing employee salaries with the current market rate. Then, if necessary, closing the gap in a bid to address potential staff attrition.
Ensuring employees know they’re appreciated and paid competitively may help organizations reduce employee turnover in roles that are difficult to fill. It's worth remembering that replacing skilled employees often costs twice as much as their annual salary. As such, the cost of a competitive pay rate may outweigh the time and effort spent to find staff replacements during this existing (and future) skills shortage market.