An Examination of the Most Popular Digital Marketing Jobs

Today, there are many different digital marketing positions and many different types of jobs requiring different skills and tasks 😪. Small companies normally begin by hiring one or two marketers. As they grow, they hire new professionals who can help them focus on tasks critical for growth and lead generation.

At Gretel, we are in the very early stages. Right now we have one Digital Marketing Manager, Lucía (me), an expert in SEM, Daria Artiola, and the sporadic collaboration of interns (really needed 🤗).

During these months, we've met many marketers and gained insight into how their roles have evolved. To help you onboard a successful hire, we've compiled a summary of the most popular digital marketing positions. Use these notes to manage expectations for your new recruits 👀 (check our webinar on Managing Marketing resources to see when you need to hire someone else!).

We'll provide details about which position is best for each company, its tasks, and its skills, but this is not set in stone! Each role may vary depending on the company. To find the right fit, seek out individuals who can contribute unique skills to the team instead of solely relying on these suggestions.

Marketing jobs can be divided into a few categories: those that require creative skills; those that involve organizing and managing campaigns; those that involve market research and analysis; and those that focus on customer relations. We’ll focus on the most general positions, but there are as many roles as there are companies in the world!

Seek out individuals who can contribute unique skills to the team.

These are the most popular digital marketing jobs:

🤠 Chief Marketing Officer

🧐 Digital Marketing Manager or Growth Marketing Manager

😏 Digital Marketing Specialist or Inbound Specialist

🤩 Community Manager

🤓 Content Specialist

🤫 SEO Specialist

😎 SEM/Performance Specialist/ Lead Acquisition Specialist

🤨 Marketing Analyst or Gretel

🤠 Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

What are they in charge of?

Crafting, executing, and overseeing the marketing strategy of the company, directly reporting to the General Manager.

What type of company needs a CMO?

Marketing departments with multiple marketing managers from different areas. The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) oversees these managers, making this a crucial role to fill when including a C-level executive in the organization.

What is their objective?

Develop and implement a marketing plan to promote the company's growth, taking into account the company's brand image and customer experience to make informed pricing and product decisions.

What are their tasks?

• Knowing the market (analyze the market), competitors, and the company's situation.
• Define marketing, branding, and communication objectives.
• Develop a marketing strategy to increase demand creation.
• Establish and manage the budget and return on investment of marketing actions (check here some ideas).
• Lead teams to implement strategic actions in advertising, promotions, or public relations.
• Analyze the performance of your actions and innovate and test new actions (check some performance metrics here).
• Design pricing strategies.
• Manage distribution and communication channels.
• Analyze marketing actions and results through market research, and web analytics to detect patterns and trends.

What are their skills?

• Open-minded problem solver, avoiding patterns and habits.
• Ability to communicate, collaborate and listen
• Leadership skills to motivate members of the organization.
• Know and understand the financial aspects of the business.
• Be curious and observant.
• Analytic skills.
• Organizational skills.

🧐 Digital Marketing Manager (DMM)/ Inbound Marketing Manager

What are they in charge of?

Implementing and developing the digital marketing strategy.

What type of company needs a Digital Marketing Manager?

Digital companies, such as e-commerce businesses, aid in digital acquisition and positioning.

What is their objective?

Design, implementation, and execution of digital marketing strategies for customer acquisition, retention, and conversion.

What are their tasks?

• Definition of digital marketing objectives (or OKRs).
• Development and implementation of digital marketing strategies.
• Market and competitor analysis.
• Analysis and detection of new digital platforms.
• Increasing brand visibility and reputation (branding).
• Supervise the management of the different channels.
• SEO and SEM positioning strategies.
• Analysis of results and data.
• Budget elaboration and management.
• Management of creative teams.
• Team building.

What are their skills?

• Proactive. Interested in learning new things and new tools.
• Multitasking, able to adapt to new tasks.
• Leadership skills.
• Communication and interpersonal skills.
• Problem solver.
• Creative.
• Strategic thinking.
• Analytical profile.

😏 Digital Marketing Specialist (DMS)/ Inbound Marketing Specialist/ Marketing Strategist

What are they in charge of?

Execute a digital marketing plan, taking action, and coordinating with other departments.

What type of company needs a Digital Marketing Specialist?

They are hired in the beginning stages, often with little experience in strategy. However, they can handle tasks, and with guidance can become Digital Marketing Managers. In bigger companies, they are essential for managing multiple channels and executing strategies.

What is their objective?

Execution of inbound marketing strategies. They pursue lead acquisition and conversion.

What are their tasks?

• Plan, execute, and follow up on the digital marketing strategy.
• Analyse competitors and the market.
• Execute actions based on the target audience.
• Study new digital trends.
• Capture traffic through different inbound campaigns.
• Manage social media profiles.
• Activation of content strategies (more info about the content plan).
• Email marketing strategies.
• Execution and control of digital payment campaigns.
• Data analysis and tracking.

What are their skills?

• Curious about new marketing strategies
• Organized.
• Communication skills.
• Team player with other departments.
• Analytical skills.
• Strategic vision.
• Adaptability and speed of execution.
• Critical and detail-oriented profile.

🤩 Community Manager

What are they in charge of?

Creating, supervising, and enhancing a brand’s presence online.

What type of company needs a Community Manager?

Companies that use social media to both raise brand awareness and acquire new users.

What is their objective?

Establish and maintain positive relationships with customers and consumers on social media by actively engaging them.

What are their tasks?

• Grow the online community.
• Create stable relationships with users on social media.
• Create a publication calendar (Check this template from Hubspot).
• Create content for social media.
• Analyze the performance of posts.
• Analyze traffic and interactions.
• Manage online reputation crises.

What are their skills?

• Communication skills.
• Empathy with the clients and patience.
• Organized and methodological.
• Proactive and research mind.
• Creativity mind.
• Analytical skills.

🤓 Content Manager/ Content Specialist

What are they in charge of?

Crafting written content to represent a brand.

What type of company needs a Content Manager?

Companies excelling in digital presence and inbound marketing.

What is their objective?

Crafting an effective content strategy, closely monitoring communication details, building content plans, and ensuring all planned actions are followed up in all channels.

What are their tasks?

• Design the global content strategy for the brand.
• Develop the content plans for the different channels.
• Execute the plans (writing a lot -> tips to detect a good writer).
• Optimise content for SEO.
• Improve ads and digital content.
• A/B testing of content.
• Performance analysis of actions.
• Translation and adaptation of content.

What are their skills?

• Communicative and interactive skills.
• Creativity.
• Organizational skills.
• Perfectionist and detail-oriented.
• Motivation to learn.
• Analytical vision.

🤫 SEO Specialist

What are they in charge of?

Implementing Search Engine Optimization strategies for websites.

What type of company needs an SEO Specialist?

Companies that promote their brand through digital channels, are growing and are looking to grow their brand organically.

What is their objective?

To boost website rankings on the internet implements a tailored technology strategy including content selection, writing, link building, keyword research, and web analysis.

What are their tasks?

• Situation analysis and online positioning. Do website audits.
• Execute long-term positioning strategies.
• Content creation and optimization.
• Internal linking.
• Keyword analysis.
• Link building with partners and channels.
• Search engine updates.
• Website performance.
• Performance reporting.

What are their skills?

• Analytical thinking.
• Organized and able to prioritize tasks
• Creative writing.
• Open to teamwork.
• Learning and lifelong learning.
• Research profile.
• Strategic vision.
• Basic knowledge of HTML.

😎 SEM Specialist/ Performance Manager/ PPC Manager

What are they in charge of?

Manage digital accounts, diversify marketing channels, and create online paid campaigns.

What type of company needs an SEM Specialist?

Companies with a strong online paid channel acquisition strategy.

What is their objective?

Develop and manage paid marketing campaigns that include strategy, planning, implementation, and performance evaluation.

What are their tasks?

• Designing a communication plan through paid channels.
• Creating, editing, and disseminating content on paid channels.
• Execution of online advertising campaigns in channels like: Social Ads, Google Ads, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
• Optimization of advertising campaigns.
• Negotiation with online suppliers and preparation of proposals.
• Analysis of results and preparation of reports.
• Budget control and optimization.
• Updating strategies for each audience.

What are their skills?

• Strategist.
• Team player and communication skills.
• Proactivity and autonomy.
• Analytical skills.
• Creative vision.
• Perfectionist.
• Organized and able to prioritize tasks.

🤨 Digital Marketing Analyst or Gretel!

What are they in charge of?

Analyzing market behavior and organizational metrics to formulate marketing plans for products or services.

What type of company needs a Digital Marketing Analyst?

Companies with medium-to-large teams who manage marketing strategies and require comprehensive data analyses.

What is their objective?

Detect market opportunities. Analyze consumer demographics and determine their desired products, as well as the price points they are willing to pay.

What are their tasks?

• Conduct market research analysis.
• Design research and data collection methods.
• Analyze and interpret data.
• Monitor and forecast trends.
• Measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns.
• Produce reports.

What are their skills?

• Detail-oriented and thorough.
• Analytical skills.
• Problem-solving.
• Critical thinking.
• Decision-making skills.
• Curious and interested in the market and new tools and trends.
• Oral and written communication skills.

Conclusion

As you are the one to determine the requirements for each job, you should also be aware of other market positions to be competitive and attract the right professional. You cannot hire a CMO without a team, nor can we expect a Marketing Specialist to oversee 10 people.

When building a team, remember to prioritize the company values over individual skills. It will help ensure a harmonious and unified workplace.