Finding Your First Tech Job: 7 Best Entry-Level Digital Marketing Roles

Digital marketing offers a promising career path for beginners looking to break into the tech industry. With diverse options like content marketing, social media management, and search engine optimization, there’s likely an entry-level digital marketing job perfectly suited to your interests and talents.

This guide explores seven of the top digital marketing jobs for new professionals. Learn what each role entails along with the key skills required, expected salaries, and growth opportunities. Discover which entry-level digital marketing job fits you best!

How to Start a Digital Marketing Career With No Experience

Transitioning into a digital marketing career without prior professional experience may seem daunting. However, the field presents ample opportunities for beginners to gain on-the-job training under more experienced marketers.

Here are a few tips to launch your digital marketing career from scratch:

Highlight Transferable Skills

Evaluate any past experiences in communication, content creation, data analysis, customer service, or sales. Identify transferable skills from those roles that align with digital marketing work. Highlight those abilities in your resume and interviews.

Earn Digital Marketing Certifications

Completing courses in digital strategy, analytics, social media, SEO, email marketing, and more can demonstrate your commitment to starting a marketing career. Certifications also supply the foundational knowledge needed for junior-level digital roles.

Find Entry-Level Job Opportunities

Search job boards like AngelList, The Muse, Dreamers // Doers, and Women Who Code that specialize in digital marketing and tech roles for career changers. Attend local tech networking events to connect with hiring managers. Follow companies you admire on LinkedIn for internal referral opportunities.

Consider Internships or Apprenticeships

Paid internship and apprenticeship programs partner professionals with minimal experience alongside more seasoned marketers to develop hands-on skills. These temporary training opportunities often convert into full-time job offers.

Build Your Personal Brand Online

Launching a website, blog, podcast, or YouTube channel in your spare time enables you to sharpen content creation and digital marketing abilities while also demonstrating them. Share your work on LinkedIn and link to it within job applications.

With determination and the right strategies, transitioning into an entry-level digital marketing role without experience is absolutely achievable.

Where to Find Entry-Level Digital Marketing Jobs

Many organizations across virtually every industry require digital marketing support to attract customers and promote their brand online. Here are some of the best resources for discovering open entry-level digital marketing roles:

Industry Job Boards

FlexJobs
Remotely Awesome Jobs
PowerToFly
Tech Ladies Job Board
Women Who Code Job Board

Professional Associations

American Marketing Association
Digital Analytics Association
Digital Marketing Institute
Digital Marketing Association

Social Media Communities

Digital Marketing Ladies (Facebook)
Digital Nomads Around the World (Facebook)
Tech Ladies Collective (Slack)

Company Career Pages

Execute targeted searches for digital marketing positions on the careers page of brands you want to work for. Sign up for email alerts to get notified when relevant new openings are posted.

Job Search Engines

Indeed
ZipRecruiter
LinkedIn Jobs
Glassdoor

Cast a wide net across multiple platforms when hunting for your first digital marketing job. Pay attention to roles labeled “entry-level” as well as ones aimed at recent graduates.

Defining Digital Marketing

Digital marketing refers to any promotional activities delivered through digital channels like social media, search engines, emails, websites, mobile apps, online ads, and more. It facilitates direct engagement between brands and current or prospective customers via the internet and web-connected devices.

Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing methods like TV or print ads by:

Offering real-time insights into campaign performance through analytics
Enabling hypertargeted messaging customization
Leveraging automation to simplify execution
Providing interactive experiences
Delivering measurable returns on spend

It has become vital for modern organizations to incorporate digital techniques into their overall marketing strategy. This growing need gives rise to ample job opportunities even for beginner-level professionals.

Must-Have Digital Marketing Skills

While daily tasks differ significantly across digital marketing specialties, nearly all roles require competence in three core competencies:

Content Creation: Developing well-researched, strategically mapped, optimized, and engaging content like blog posts, emails, ad copy, videos, and more.

Data Analysis: Extracting actionable insights from campaign metrics, web analytics, sales funnels, and other digital data sources using tools like Google Analytics.

Digital Technology: Applying platforms like social media networks, CRMs, email service providers, SEO tools, ad platforms, and more to execute campaigns.

Beyond those foundations lie additional skills tied to specific entry-level digital marketing jobs, which we’ll now explore in-depth.

7 Best Entry-Level Digital Marketing Jobs

Digital Marketing Specialist

Digital marketing specialists manage comprehensive digital strategies for small businesses or specific campaigns for large brands. With so many moving pieces, they become versatile generalists in areas like:

Content marketing
Social media marketing
Email marketing
Search marketing
Digital advertising

It offers dynamic work covering multiple online channels, though can be fast-paced for beginners starting out. Fantastic role for “big picture” strategists who thrive under some pressure.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 – $65,000

Content Marketing Specialist

These specialists create various forms of content to attract site visitors, improve search visibility, generate leads, and convert sales. Their outputs might include:

Blog articles
Ebooks / whitepapers
Videos
Webinars
Infographics
Marketing emails
Advertising/social media copy
More

The ideal role for strong writers who grasp content strategy and search engine optimization fundamentals. Generally less stressful for new marketers than balancing multiple channels.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 – $60,000

SEO Specialist

SEO (search engine optimization) means maximizing search visibility of websites/pages by improving ranking on Google and other engines. Typical responsibilities involve:

Conducting keyword research
Optimizing page content
Enhancing website speed/mobility
Generating backlinks
Analyzing site analytics
Fixing technical issues

Meticulous project managers do well evaluating complex data points to inform optimization decisions. Knowledge of web development and Google tools offers a leg up.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 – $65,000

Social Media Manager

These managers handle a brand's social presence by:

Managing profiles/pages
Developing social content
Engaging followers
Running social ad campaigns
Managing influencer partnerships
Analyzing performance data

Outgoing creators who stay on top of platform innovations and trends thrive most. Requires knowledge of both creative content production and analytical program management.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 – $60,000

Email Marketing Specialist

Specialists in this niche build and manage campaigns that:

Create awareness
Drive sales conversions
Improve retention

Through effective email content, segmentation, automation, and analytics skills. Strong communicators who can write compelling copy succeed. Working knowledge of email service providers like MailChimp is valued.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 - $65,000

Paid Search Marketing Specialist

Also known as PPC (pay-per-click), paid search lets brands promote sites/products by paying to appear at the top of search engine results. Common paid search activities include:

Managing search ad campaigns
Creating targeted ad copy/landing pages
Setting bid strategies
Analyzing account performance

Analytical experts in arithmetic and Excel thrive optimizing large budgets to maximize ROI. Google Ads skills separate entry-level applicants.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $45,000 – $70,000

Digital Marketing Coordinator

Digital marketing coordinators provide administrative support that keeps strategies running smoothly by:

Monitoring campaign analytics
Preparing status reports
Assembling client presentations
Managing campaign scheduling
Assisting on creative content
Managing partner relationships
Supporting budget tracking

Fantastic opportunity to gain exposure into marketing operations before specializing further. Suits recent graduates passionate about digital marketing.

Entry-Level Salary Range: $35,000 – $50,000

The list of digital marketing positions suited for professionals getting their start is expansive beyond those seven, but the roles outlined above represent some of the most common and lucrative options.

Before applying, research which path seems most aligned with your innate strengths, interests, and career aspirations in the field.

With focused preparation, you can confidently pursue exciting entry-level digital marketing roles at leading modern brands. Define your personal brand, continue expanding your skills, and put those abilities into practice helping companies expand through strategic digital marketing initiatives.