{"id":17740,"date":"2022-05-02T14:44:17","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T21:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/?p=17740"},"modified":"2025-01-27T04:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T12:14:50","slug":"what-does-a-digital-marketer-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/business-and-marketing\/what-does-a-digital-marketer-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a Digital Marketer Really Do?\u00a0[Skills Guide 2025]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s never been a better time to jump into a career as a digital marketer. Last year, digital marketing jobs accounted for half of LinkedIn\u2019s most in-demand jobs in the marketing sector, with the role of digital marketing specialist topping the list. LinkedIn also reported a growing demand for these roles, which will remain critical for businesses as the world\u2019s population spends more and more time online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does a digital marketer actually do<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, you’ll learn what digital marketing entails, and how to learn its most in-demand skills, so that you can join this ever-expanding field. If you’re interested in this dynamic career, read on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Digital Marketing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The American Marketing Association<\/a> defines digital marketing<\/a> as “the use of digital or social channels to promote a brand or reach consumers.” This includes a variety of specialties, such as social media marketing, search engine marketing, and video marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Read: What Does a Social Media Marketer Do?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Digital Marketer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A digital marketer is a marketing professional who uses online media to communicate. They understand the potential and best practices of the major digital channels, though they may specialize in one or two subsets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a Digital Marketer Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A digital marketer is responsible for reaching a company\u2019s target audience online. To do that, they have to develop a comprehensive strategy<\/a>. That strategy needs to identify the right channels and schedule campaigns for each channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Strategizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before they dive into a campaign<\/a>, digital marketing directors, managers, and analysts start by strategizing. This entails considering revenue trends, evaluating audience engagement patterns, and monitoring online traffic. Digital marketers do this to set goals based on the strengths and weaknesses of their company\u2019s online platforms. For instance, if a retail clothing company has a poorly performing men’s department, they might set a goal of increasing their number of male newsletter subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketing specialists do the same kind of work within their own domain. For example, an SEO specialist would set a goal to rank higher than their competitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Planning<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The next step is to formulate a plan that will help accomplish those goals. These will usually be set by a digital marketing manager who will determine how to best reach their target audience. Then, they\u2019ll create a calendar that details how and when to launch this campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Executing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketers will then design, edit and launch each campaign. These tasks will vary by channel. For a social media manager, executing a campaign entails scheduling organic posts and creating ads within a platform’s ad manager tool. For a content marketing specialist, execution involves writing or producing content and formatting it for each platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

4. Measuring<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once a campaign has been executed, digital marketers will then evaluate its success. One way to do this is with key performance indicators (KPIs)<\/a>\u2014quantifiable measurements linked to specific objectives. Digital marketers need to choose the KPIs that reflect what success looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a digital marketer who works with multiple campaigns might use a marketing channel return-on-investment metric, which compares the revenue earned from each channel. On the other hand, a social media manager would focus more narrowly on audience building. They might use KPIs such as the number of followers or a social account’s engagement rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Reporting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Digital marketers then communicate these results to various parties, including potential clients, marketing team members, and financial departments. Managers and analysts typically use platforms that gather and visualize data. Google Analytics<\/a>, possibly the most popular of these platforms, also features advanced reporting capabilities<\/a> that can create readable, actionable graphs to share with other teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Improving<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unlike more traditional forms of marketing, the data provided by online channels allows digital marketers to quickly improve upon their campaign results. For example, if your team creates an ad that isn’t meeting its goal for clicks or conversions, a digital marketer might tinker with the content or target different audiences to see if these metrics improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketers often do this with A\/B testing<\/a>. This involves simultaneously running two different versions of the same campaign and seeing which performs better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital Marketing Generalist vs. Specialist<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketers often have to choose whether they want to specialize or be a generalist. Specialists have specific digital marketing job titles<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n