Industry Insights

The job market is changing again. It shouldn’t be a big surprise that some of the issues we’re seeing are related to COVID. Pew Research says, “A year later, a full recovery for the labor market appears distant.” They suggest that it could take more than three years to fully recover from the economic downturn and the subsequent hits to careers that many of us felt. Where does that leave the marketing community? 

LinkedIn studied the digital marketing jobs landscape recently and found that “despite the pandemic, marketers are in more demand than ever.” This blog will help you understand: 

• What has changed over the past year for new and experienced marketers looking for employment?  
• Which job sectors are hiring marketing teams?  
• What are the top digital marketing careers to go into this year?  

This blog has answers that will help you stay at the top of your field. 

What is the Demand for Marketing Talent Like These Days?

 “The pandemic has given marketers a chance to prove their mettle and serve as a strategic advisor to the C-suite.” 
The CMO Survey 

Here’s the reality of digital marketing jobs today: They are hot. Content is hot. Efforts to fuel growth marketing? Even hotter. The LinkedIn study shows a 63% increasing in marketing jobs over the past six months.  

Those numbers were also confirmed by a national poll of Chief Marketing Officers. The CMO Survey has been going out regularly for the past 26-years. They found, that while COVID killed a good chunk of senior marketing manager positions last year, 72.2% of the CMOs surveyed said that the importance of marketing in their companies increased during the pandemic. The report indicated, “The pandemic has also turned up the dial on customer demand for digital experiences—placing marketers in a stronger position to provide strategic direction to their companies and deliver growth against that opportunity.” 

According to the study, the business sectors adding the most marketing jobs included: 

• Consumer services 24% 
• Healthcare 18% 
• Education 14% 
• Technology 14% 

The study also asked about the types of projects their marketing teams were focused on. It should come as no surprise that these projects were heavily centered on the digital space. The top project-related investments included: 

• Website customization 74% 
• Digital media and search 65% 
• Direct digital marketing to customers 57% 
• Data analytics 56% 
• MarTech platforms 54% 
• Online experimentation 45% 

The future of digital marketing jobs looks fairly bright, according to the study, with an overall growth rate of more than 7%, which is much higher than most sectors. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics agrees; the demand for marketing managers, for example, is projected to increase by 6% each year through 2029. But which industries are hiring? 

According to LinkedIn, the business sectors that are hiring marketing talent more often include: 

1. Art 

2. Retail 

3. Education 

4. Corporate Services 

5. Software and IT Services 

6. Legal 

7. Design 

8. Media and Communications 

With that said, LinkedIn points out that these industries are also offering employees more flexibility these days and also are willing to be more flexible in their hiring models. For example, the study highlighted: 

• There was a 24.5% increase in internship roles over the past six months. 
• There was a 15% increase in contractor or freelance marketing positions. 
• The past year saw 17,000 remote marketing positions. 

It’s clear that marketing jobs, but particularly digital marketing jobs, are highly in-demand. Most companies are pursuing a digital strategy often called “digital transformation.” It’s driving greater productivity and higher profits, something that is highly desirable to the c-suite. But which digital marketing skills are the most in-demand today? 

Top Digital Marketing Skills for 2021 

There is a great deal of diversity in the types of marketing jobs out there. There are also a wide variety of skills you’ll need to do these jobs. Search Engine Journal recently reported on some of the marketing skills that are growing rapidly in demand by top employers. They include: 

• Instagram expertise 
• Content marketing skills 
• Creative troubleshooting and problem solving 
• Brand awareness and branding 
• Hootsuite knowledge 
• Software experience with Adobe Premiere Pro 
• Marketing automation skills 
• Customer experience knowledge 
• Facebook marketing experience 

Marketing Week reports on a “Steep rise in demand for marketers with digital skills.” Digital marketing jobs are very popular right now, and Marketing Week says the top three fastest rising jobs today are all in social media.  

5 Hot Jobs for 2021 

1. Social Media Coordinator  

A Social Media Coordinator creates and maintains a brand presence in the digital social space. The job is one-half research into marketing trends and the other half posting, responding, and maintaining a presence across all relevant platforms and channels.  
 
These social-savvy professionals typically work with content writers, designers, and videographers to create smart, engaging content. Some of their daily tasks include: 

• Researching audience preferences and industry trends. 

• Creating engaging images, videos, and text. 

• Crafting social posts that fit the venue but also entice the customers in that channel. 

• Measure traffic by channel and monitor SEO. 

• Follow changes to the social media platform to optimize the channel. 

• Train and encourage co-workers to reshare content with their networks. 

• Run analytics and report on customer/audience responses to the social posts. 

• Respond back to customer questions, feedback, or even trolling by audience members. 

• Create new ways to engage customers with promotions, contests, or other creative approaches. 
   

To do this job well, you must live and breathe social media. You should have skills in writing content, editing graphics or video, and be a good time manager to handle all of the moving parts often associated with social media.  

2. Community Manager 

Sometimes called a Content and Community Manager, this role handles the voice of the brand in the digital space. The responsibilities include creating and publishing content on digital platforms and then tracking the analytics on how that content performed on social media or in other venues such as Medium, LinkedIn, or even on the company website. Some of the typical tasks associated with a Community Manager include: 

• Building a content marketing plan and an editorial calendar that stretches across the digital channels. 

• Creating sharable content in all kinds of digital venues, from Facebook to a website blog or even an e-newsletter to engage customers. 

• Be the conduit for valuable feedback from readers of these materials. For example, if a YouTube video is getting a positive response, the Community Manager will share that data with stakeholders on the marketing team. Then they will try to capture that lightning in a bottle by recreating that win in other channels.  

• Create, plan, and deploy marketing initiatives and programs that engage your target audience. For example, if you’re having an upcoming educational webinar, your Community Manager may be engaged in creating pre-event digital content to attract more participants. 
   

3. Social Media Assistant 

A Social Media Assistant can be a stepping stone to a Social Media Coordinator role, but it can also stand on its own. Or, the Social Media Assistant could report to the Social Media Coordinator. Either way, Marketing Week lists this role as the third most in-demand for 2021. 
 
This professional oversees a social media presence by researching competitors, creating a winning voice or presence to attract customers, and launching and maintaining social media campaigns. The job is to create new sharable content to engage your customers. A day in the life of a Social Media Assistant typically includes: 

• Tracking Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or other channels. 

• A/B testing social media ad campaigns. 

• Managing YouTube channels by moderating viewer comments. 

• Coming up with engaging graphics for Instagram. 

• Create Pinterest images for content. 

• Use HTML to build a Facebook team shop. 

• Use MailChimp to create email newsletters. 

• Update Twitter feeds.  
   

4. Chief Marketing Officer 

But not all digital marketing jobs focus on social media. The Chief Marketing Officer role is highly in demand. This c-suite position usually pays a hefty salary, but it also comes with weighty responsibilities. The job of the CMO is growth (more on that in a minute), whether it’s selling more products by increasing the marketing reach or delivering better customer experiences by creating informative engaging content.  
 
One of the biggest responsibilities of a COM is to create a comprehensive marketing plan to increase brand recognition and gain an advantage over the competitors. A CMO must also be able to articulate the voice of the brand and make certain the various members of his or her marketing team follow brand standards.  
 
As part of the c-suite, the CMO often reports up the chain to a CEO or a chief operating officer (COO).  

5. Growth Marketing Strategist 

Growth is a six-letter word that means so much to any company. Growth signals innovation, market share, and sales. It’s typically the goal that drives productivity and brand strength for any organization in every field. A new type of digital marketing job has emerged over the past few years that focus on growing key performance indicators (KPIs) across an organization. A Growth Marketing Strategist, also known as a Growth Marketing Manager, looks for ways to capture more market share and grow the company. This role is a collaborative one, stretching across sales, marketing, and even product engineering, to see the big picture and achieve higher numbers at every level.  
 
Growth marketing is different from traditional marketing in that it focuses on retaining existing customers while adding on more. These positions first start with a thorough understanding of what KPIs are being tracked. They work closely with the data engineering and analytics teams to ensure the company has a handle on the numbers. Then these professionals focus on marketing strategies to increase them. They concern themselves with key questions such as: 

• Which geographics are seeing an increase in customers during a specific timeframe or campaign? 

• What are the common activities that our paid members undertake each month? 

• Why can’t we get product users to buy more after the initial sale? 

• Why are our retention numbers slipping? 

• Why aren’t customers responding to our special promotion? 

Like all of the jobs on our top five list, the Growth Marketing Strategist is a great profession that’s seeing a lot of demand and job security if you end up following this career path.  

Looking for the Best Digital Marketing Jobs? 

If you’re searching for the best digital marketing job, talk with the team at Method Recruiting. We are digital experts specializing in matching the best talent with the top marketing jobs today. If you’re seeking a digital marketing position, call on us. We can connect you with employers. If you’re an employer seeking to fill our top five digital marketing jobs—or other positions, we have an unparalleled track record of reducing our clients’ time to hire. Call on us. We can help.