Is a Digital Marketing Career Worth It in 2024?

Yes, a career in digital marketing is a good choice in 2024 because it offers diverse job opportunities, high demand, and competitive salary ranges in India. 

With more businesses shifting to digital channels, demands for skilled digital marketers in the market are ever-growing, thus providing promising grounds for those seeking a stable, rewarding career.

Job Availability

According to LinkedIn, there are around 41,579 digital marketing jobs currently available in the country, highlighting the robust demand for professionals in this field. 

That’s a big number that might be considered indicative of the current digital transition companies are trying to undertake in order to stay competitive. In other words, experts who can help companies create or ramp up their online presence and bring audiences to convert into leads or end customers are in high demand. 

Career Options

One of the major attractions of digital marketing as a career is the wide array of specialities that roles can offer. Career options include social media management, SEO, content marketing, paid advertising, analytics, and so on.

• Social Media Management: Creating and curating content on social media, maintaining interactions with followers, and using platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for brand loyalty.

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Involves deploying specialists to optimise websites in line with search engines, including better organic traffic and visibility.

• Content Marketing: Creating valuable content to attract, engage, and retain customers-cum-business, often through blogging and more flowing formats, such as video and infographic.

• Paid Advertising: Running campaigns by experts on Google Ads and Facebook Ads, among other channels, in order to acquire a target audience and finally generate leads or prospects.

• Email Marketing: The creation and execution of e-mail campaigns to nurture leads and customer relationships.

• Analytics and Data Interpretation: Involves analytics on performance metrics for further fine-tuning in pursuit of results improvement.

These diverse career options allow digital marketing professionals to either specialise in a niche that suits their skills and interests or diversify their set of skills towards performing various roles.

The Demand of the Field

The demand for digital marketing professionals has constantly grown due to the world’s leading background of digitalisation in businesses. Based on Google Trends, search interest in ‘digital marketing jobs’ has remained at a consistently high volume over the last five years, corroborating the sustained recognition of the importance of the industry. 

Consistency in such a pattern points to a continuous interest in digital marketing as a type of skillset that corporations are still placing emphasis on in relation to their online presence and respective digital strategies.

This demand for skilled marketers can only go up as more and more companies look to expand their presence online, thereby making digital marketing a very secure career choice.

Salary Opportunities For Digital Marketers 

Basically, digital careers have competitive salaries, as well, considering the role, experience, and location, apart from matching the high demand for such skills. The following are some of the very best digital marketing jobs and their average annual salary:

• Digital Marketing Managers typically earn an average annual salary of ₹10,00,000, with experienced professionals commanding even higher pay.
• Content Strategists can earn around ₹7,30,549 per year, reflecting the value of compelling and strategic content in driving business growth.
• SEO Specialists may earn up to 4,00,000 annually, depending on their expertise in optimising online visibility and search engine rankings.

These figures of compensation notation explain that a digital marketing career is lucrative and could, therefore, be reasonably pursued by those seeking stability and growth within their professional lives.

Pros and cons of choosing digital marketing as your career in 2024

Digital marketing is one of the most agile and fastest-evolving industries. It offers innumerable opportunities for professionals to have successful careers. 

Though, like all other career fields, this also has certain benefits and drawbacks-prone factors. 

Let’s dive further into digital marketing as a good or bad career option after 2024:

Pros of becoming a digital marketer

1. High Pay

Digital marketing is an appealing career prospect because of its very lucrative nature. Companies around the world are increasing their digital budgets to stay competitive, and they want talented people who can show results that impact the businesses. 

This raises the demand for great marketers through the roof.

• Competitive Salaries: Some of the jobs which offer very impressive salaries include Digital Marketing Manager, SEO Specialist, and PPC Analyst. One gets a good, competitive starting salary, and after years of experience, coupled with specialisation in high-demand areas, the earning potential increases manifold.
• Bonuses and Incentives: Most of the roles in digital marketing carry performance-based bonus and incentives that can add up considerably to the total income, especially in just those roles leading to direct sales and generation of leads.

2. Diverse Career Options

Among the exciting things about digital marketing when searching for a job is the great variety of career paths one can follow. Unlike more traditional fields, digital marketing allows one to work in different environments and choose a model that perfectly fits one’s skills, preferences, and lifestyle.

• Freelancer: You work for yourself, can set your own hours, select your clients, and take on any project that may interest you. People love freelancing because of the maximum amount of flexibility and control over their careers.
• Startup Environment: If you love a fast-moving environment, then a job in a startup may be a better fit. You’ll love how startups allow you to play multiple roles, experiment with new techniques in marketing, and actually see the difference it makes in business.
• Marketing Agencies: An agency offers exposure to many industries and projects due to the different client assignments. This can be an excellent environment for developing a broad skill set that will be applicable across a wide range of market sectors. 
• In-House Marketing Teams: In-house marketing teams are great because a deep understanding of one brand can be gained, and one may think long-term in strategy implementation that stands specific to company needs. This environment will provide you with a work routine that is more stable, and you will get to see your work’s fruits over time. 

The diversity of the works in the area of digital marketing makes them appealing, as one will get whatever befits his personal and professional goals.

3. Various Job Titles

The field of digital marketing is very diverse; it holds a great number of names for positions and specialisations. Whether you are creatively inclined, analytically driven, or one who works best behind the scenes, there is a role for you.

• Creative Roles: Creative roles involve explaining ideas, either visually or with words. A social media manager, content creator, or graphic designer position would be an ideal position in case one has a knack for being creative.
• Technical Roles: Technical roles include a variety of jobs such as SEO Specialist, PPC Manager, and Web Analytics Expert, where technical aptitude shall contribute much to the optimisation of marketing strategies.
• Strategic Roles:  For the planners and implementers, this would involve jobs like a Digital Marketing Strategist, Brand Manager, or Product Marketing Manager who create and manage an integrated marketing plan.
• Consultancy Roles: Consultancy roles involve offering a digital marketing consultant’s expertise in devising appropriate strategies for business growth while working with several companies to optimise their marketing.

The wide diversity in specialisation locations ensures that experts in digital marketing can find employment opportunities which will not only fit their skill sets but also give them job satisfaction and career progression opportunities.

4. Flexibility and Remote Work Options

Digital marketing is one of the most flexible career choices among all available options today. With technology advancement and companies getting used to remote work, most of the jobs in digital marketing can now be carried on from almost any place around the world.

• Remote Work Opportunities: The pandemic accelerated the shift towards remote work, and many companies have continued to embrace this trend. LinkedIn currently lists over 200 remote digital marketing jobs, indicating a strong preference for flexible work arrangements within the industry.
• Work-Life Balance: Since digital marketers are working remotely and flexibly, they can have more time to enjoy a good balance of work and life. They reduce the usage of time spent commuting and instead free them up to manage their work with regard to their personal schedule. 
• Global Opportunities: Digital marketers are no longer limited to their local job markets as remote working opportunities become easier. They can work with clients from different parts of the world, work in teams across different geographies, and get exposure to various global market trends, which ultimately help them build better skills and future careers.

Digital marketing makes it highly attractive to people seeking a balanced and fulfilling career, allowing it in many ways to be undertaken with flexibility and options for remote working, both things that are rarely found in other professions and give some sense of autonomy and control.

Over the past six months, our corporate gifting company has seen remarkable growth, doubling our revenue thanks to effective SEO and paid advertising strategies. This highlights the importance of a skilled digital marketer or a T-shaped marketer. If you’re starting your career, do consider digital marketing as an option if you’re interested in marketing.

Rases changoiwala, Founder of TapWell, a corporate gifting company in Mumbai

Cons of becoming a digital marketer

Though this is a very promising career with many advantages, it has its own challenges as well. Here are some of the key disadvantages one will have to face while pursuing a career in digital marketing in 2024:

1. Challenging and Requires Constant Learning

The digital marketing space keeps on changing with time, including the emergence of new tools, algorithms, and trends now and then. Digital marketers have to keep updating their plethora of skills and knowledge on a continuous basis.

• Rapid Changes: Algorithms of all platforms, be it Google, Facebook, or Instagram, change at such a rapid pace that any content may rank lower or not appear at all. Most of these changes depend on how much pace the marketers can keep with these alterations for their strategies to click.
• Continuous Skill Development: This role demands a continuous learning of new marketing techniques, mastering of new tools, and knowledge about industry best practices, for which the professionals should invest time. This may consist of frequent online courses, webinars, and certifications.
• Pressure to Adapt: The pressure to adapt may be overwhelming, with a constant need to learn something new, which might be uphill for those just starting in their careers. Failure to do so may quickly render the strategies outdated, with less-than-desired results, hurting career growth.

2. Takes Time to Master

Digital marketing is one of those skills which is perfected with time. It requires dedication, practice, and experience to become proficient.

• Steep Learning Curve: While one can pretty easily get into entry-level positions, perfecting either SEO, PPC, or analytics takes some time to learn. The depth of knowledge to which one is confident of making tangible changes to the business could easily be several years of practical experience.
• Experimentation and Testing: Much testing and experimentation go on with digital marketing strategies to find out what exactly works for what kind of audience. This may not be very quick since such processes call for time and lots of patience, sometimes when the results are not forthcoming.
• Long-Term Skill Development: Strategic planning, execution, analysis, and optimisation take at least numerous years to develop the proper skills. Apart from being a fresher, one needs to learn and apply what they have learned to become a digital marketing expert.

3. High Competition

The field is getting increasingly crowded as more professionals hail in, eyeing the same opportunities that digital marketing avails.

• Rising Number of Marketers: Every year, more digital marketers join the fray, increasing competition for jobs, projects, or clients. Most are self-made or from different walks of life, making the market saturated.
• Skill Disparity: While many join the fray, not all digital marketers are good enough to have experience or the calibre to stand out. That, in turn, brings about fierce competition wherein only the ones with proven expertise and deep knowledge of the latest trends will get the cream of opportunities. 
• Need to Differentiate: To shine in such a competitive field, digital marketing professionals must be on a relentless pursuit of sharpening their personal brands with unique skillsets and showing measured results. 

 👉 Check whether you need to learn coding to become a siccessful digital marketer (the short answer is No).

How to Stay Ahead of the Competition in Your Digital Marketing Career

Here are some practical ways that would help you stand out and excel in your digital marketing career:

Focus on Learning and Building Projects

Continuous learning is the only sustainable manner of staying relevant in today’s highly competitive world. The best way to solidify your knowledge is by working on real digital marketing projects.

Here are some top digital marketing project ideas in short form:

1. Build a website and implement omnichannel marketing

• Create a professional website using WordPress or a similar platform
• Implement SEO best practices (on-page, technical, content)
• Set up social media profiles and create a content strategy
• Develop an email marketing campaign
• Track performance using Google Analytics

2. Grow your personal brand on LinkedIn

• Optimize your LinkedIn profile (headline, summary, experience)
• Create a content calendar for regular posting
• Engage with your network through comments and messages
• Participate in relevant LinkedIn groups
• Track follower growth and engagement metrics

3. Perform audience research and plan a targeted marketing strategy

• Use tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and surveys
• Create detailed buyer personas
• Identify key pain points and motivations of your target audience
• Develop a marketing strategy tailored to your audience insights
• Set measurable goals and KPIs for your strategy

4. Analyze a failed startup case study

• Choose a well-documented failed startup in your industry
• Research the company’s history, business model, and market conditions
• Identify key factors that contributed to the failure
• Compare with successful competitors in the same space
• Draw actionable lessons for your own business or future ventures

5. Breakdown the SEO strategy of a high-performing website

• Choose a top-ranking website in your niche
• Analyze their on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, content)
• Examine their backlink profile using tools like Ahrefs or Moz
• Study their content strategy and topic clusters
• Identify opportunities to apply their strategies to your own site

6. Do competitor analysis to identify content and backlink gaps

• Select 3-5 key competitors in your niche
• Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyze their content
• Identify topics they’re ranking for that you’re not covering
• Examine their backlink profiles to find link-building opportunities
• Create a plan to fill the identified gaps

7. Perform a technical SEO site audit

• Use tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb for a comprehensive crawl
• Check for issues like broken links, duplicate content, and slow page speed
• Analyze your site structure and internal linking
• Ensure proper implementation of schema markup
• Create a prioritized list of technical SEO improvements

8. Execute an email outreach campaign for link building

• Identify high-quality, relevant websites in your niche
• Create personalized outreach templates
• Develop a valuable content asset to offer for link placement
• Track your outreach efforts and response rates
• Analyze the impact of new backlinks on your site’s authority

9. Create a content repurposing strategy for social media

• Select a high-performing piece of content (e.g., a blog post)
• Break it down into multiple social media posts (quotes, statistics, key points)
• Create visual assets like infographics or short video clips
• Adapt the content for different social platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram)
• Schedule and track performance of repurposed content

10. Prepare and execute a 30-day content calendar

• Define your content goals and target audience
• Brainstorm topics and content types (blog posts, videos, infographics)
• Create a detailed calendar with publish dates and promotional plans
• Produce and schedule content in advance
• Track performance and engagement for each piece of content

Do Cold Emails for Internships and Work Opportunities

Cold emailing is perhaps one of the strongest options that is least exploited in securing an internship and job opportunities in digital marketing.

• Research Companies: Identify and list companies or agencies that one may admire and feel they can bring value to. Research their current marketing strategy; find ways in which they could help improve that reach.
• Craft a Compelling Email: Write a personalised email explaining how your skills will complement their team and possibly show some of your projects that will explain to them why you want to work with them. Definitely give specific examples of how you might contribute toward the realisation of their goals.

Here’s an email template that you can use (don’t forget to personalize):

Subject: Data-driven content ideas for [Company Name]’s blogHello [Hiring Manager’s Name],I’ve been an avid reader of [Company Name]’s blog for the past few months, and I’m consistently impressed by the depth of your content. Your recent article on “The Future of AI in Content Marketing” was particularly insightful.As a digital marketing student with a passion for content strategy, I’ve noticed an opportunity to further enhance your blog’s performance:Your top-performing posts are long-form, data-heavy pieces, yet they only account for 20% of your content.Posts with custom infographics receive 2x more social shares but are used infrequently.There’s potential to expand your keyword targeting to capture more long-tail search traffic.I’d love to contribute to [Company Name]’s content team as an intern. Here are a few ideas I could help implement:Conduct a content gap analysis to identify new topic opportunitiesCreate a series of data-driven infographics to boost social engagementDevelop a strategy to repurpose existing content into different formats (podcasts, videos, slideshows)I’ve attached my resume and a link to my personal blog where I write about content marketing trends. Would you be open to a brief call to discuss how I could add value to your team?Thank you for your time and consideration.Best regards, [Your Name]

• Be Persistent: Channel your efforts into follow-ups, for it is very easy to get demoralised when there are no responses right away. Politely respond to emails and keep reworking the approach in light of the received feedback.

Build Your Own Website

Creating your own website is quite practical-just about the best way-to showcase your digital marketing skills; it’s a portfolio of your work in the first place. It’s a space where probable employers or clients can see firsthand what you’re capable of.

• Showcase Your Skills: Utilise your website to showcase successful campaigns and your marketing achievements. This can be in the form of blog posts, SEO techniques, or any other content that showcases your expertise.
• Experiment with Strategies: Your website is also a testing ground where you can try everything, from different marketing techniques to SEO, emailing, analytics, etc. until you find out what really works for you.
• Build Your Personal Brand: A well-maintained website adds to your credibility and provides a place where others can go to learn more about your skills, services, and professional journey.

Learn Personal Branding on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful avenue for personal branding and networking. The creation of a strong presence on LinkedIn brings huge boosts in visibility and credibility within the digital marketing arena.

• Optimise Your Profile: Complete a fully optimised LinkedIn profile, complete with a professional photo, compelling headline, and a detailed summary highlighting both expertise and achievements in digital marketing.
• Create Content: Posting your views, tips, news, and other related industries like digital marketing frequently will create an interactive content profile. This positions you as knowledgeable in your profession and opens up vistas for like-minded people.
• Engage with Others: Comment on posts, take part in discussions and connect with other digital marketers, industry leaders, and potential employers. Such meaningful relationships could be transformed into collaboration opportunities, job opportunities, and learning on LinkedIn.

Join DM Communities and Network with Digital Marketing Experts

Joining digital marketing communities will change your career. It lets you network with people in the same field to keep you updated about the latest trends in the industry, sharing your ideas, and getting support from others who truly understand.

• Participate in Online Forums: Contribute to online communities, such as Reddit’s r/marketing, Facebook groups, and other specialised forums like GrowthHackers. Such websites provide enormous amounts of information and are useful for one to learn from pros.
• Attend Webinars and Meetups: Attend industry webinars, workshops, and meetups organised in your city. You learn from others, and you will find other peers facing similar issues as you. You can get very valuable insights into several topics, and this may bring new job opportunities in your direction.
• Seek Mentorship: Never feel shy approaching veterans in such communities for advice or mentorship. Most experienced marketers are open to knowledge sharing, allowing novices to smell the world.

Paying attention to continuous learning, proactive networking, and hands-on experience will help you outshine the competition and cut a niche for yourself in the field of digital marketing.

How GrowthAcad Helps Students Become Top Digital Marketers and Land Their First Job

Join GrowthAcad to become part of the top 1% of AI-focused digital marketers in Pune and Nagpur. As a leading digital marketing training institute, GrowthAcad offers a unique blend of comprehensive education, practical experience, and robust placement support that sets students on the path to success. 

Here’s how GrowthAcad can help you become a top digital marketer:

1. Industry-Leading Training Programs: GrowthAcad provides extensive training in digital marketing, covering key areas like SEO, SEM, social media marketing, and analytics. By integrating AI, data analytics, and marketing automation into the curriculum, students learn practical strategies that keep them ahead of the curve.

2. Practical Learning Approach: The institute emphasizes hands-on learning through real projects, case studies, and live training sessions. This focus on practical skills ensures students gain valuable experience, making them job-ready from day one.

3. Cohort-Based Learning: GrowthAcad’s cohort-based model means learning in small groups, receiving personalized mentorship, and engaging directly with experienced industry professionals. This approach helps students build a strong network and get tailored guidance throughout their learning journey.

4. Certifications and Placement Support: Students earn globally recognized certifications from platforms like Google and Facebook, enhancing their credibility in the job market. GrowthAcad’s strong placement support boasts a 90%+ success rate, with alumni landing jobs at top companies like Accenture and Disney Hotstar.

5. Flexible Learning Options: With training centers in Pune and Nagpur, and the availability of online, offline, and self-paced courses, GrowthAcad offers flexible learning solutions to fit various needs and schedules.

Formerly known as NSDM India, GrowthAcad continues to evolve, now positioning itself as a top choice for aspiring digital marketers who want to combine the latest in AI technology with practical digital marketing skills. 

👉 Learn more about our digital marketing training course in Pune

Bottom Line: The Demand for Skilled Digital Marketers Will Rise

With the growth of digital marketing, many people are entering this field. Not all digital marketers are skilful and talented enough, which adds more value to those with expertise, experience, and knowledge of digital marketing strategies. 

This may explain why business entities are investing increasingly more in digital channels, thus setting the need for skilled digital marketers on an upward trend. 

Simply put, employers are looking for people who can show real results, adapt to the latest trends, and tap into new technologies like AI and data analytics.