Digital Marketer: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a digital marketer?

A digital marketer is generally responsible for creating and managing online campaigns across channels like search, social media, e-mail and display. They analyze performance data, optimize content and adjust strategies to improve reach and conversions.

Why hire a digital marketer?

Digital marketers can help drive brand awareness, generate leads and grow customer engagement through targeted digital efforts. You may need to hire a digital marketer if your business is investing in digital campaigns, expanding its online presence or looking for measurable marketing results.

Contributions of a great digital marketer:

• builds and manages paid and organic campaigns that align with business goals
• monitors performance metrics and adjusts strategies to improve ROI
• supports content development and search engine optimization to increase visibility and engagement

Defining your hiring needs for digital marketers

Start by evaluating your current digital marketing workload. Do you need help with campaign execution, platform management or analytics? Consider whether you need a generalist or a specialist, and whether a full-time, part-time or freelance hire fits your business needs. Smaller teams may need a hands-on contributor, while larger teams might benefit from specialists in PPC (pay-per-click advertising), content or analytics.

What are the types of digital marketers?

Digital marketers can specialize in specific platforms, campaign types, or marketing functions depending on your goals and structure.

Common types of digital marketers include:

• SEO specialist: optimizes website content and structure to improve search engine rankings
• PPC specialist: manages paid ads on Google Ads, Bing and social platforms
• e-mail marketing specialist: plans and analyzes e-mail campaigns for lead nurturing and retention
• content marketing specialist: creates valuable content that attracts and engages your audience
• social media specialist: oversees organic and paid social strategy, content and engagement

When writing your digital marketer job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on digital marketer jobs, according to Indeed data:

• marketing
• digital marketing
• marketing manager
• social media
• social media manager
• digital marketing manager
• SEO 
• ecommerce
• manager 

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Where to find digital marketers

You can find digital marketers across Canada by attending local marketing events, engaging with university programs or promoting internal growth opportunities. Look for candidates in adjacent roles or industries who bring cross-functional skills.

To find the right digital marketer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Career fairs: Marketing-focused events at schools like Sheridan, Seneca and BCIT attract emerging talent.
• Industry associations: The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) offers directories, job boards and networking events.
• Vocational and university programs: These often include co-op opportunities and job boards for recent grads.
• Internal promotions: Upskill marketing coordinators or interns into digital marketer roles.
• Adjacent industries: Look to professionals in PR, media buying or e-commerce for transferable skills.

Post your job online. Try posting your digital marketer job on Indeed to find and attract quality digital marketer candidates.

Skills to look for in a digital marketer

A successful digital marketer candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• campaign setup and optimization across paid, organic and social platforms
• data interpretation and decision making based on performance trends
• search engine optimization to improve visibility and ranking
• communication and collaboration with designers, writers and clients
• experience using tools like Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager and HubSpot
• attention to detail in maintaining brand standards and reporting accuracy

Writing a digital marketer job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job-seeker search terms and hiring insights for a digital marketer, you’re ready to write a job description.

A digital marketer job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Interviewing digital marketer candidates

Strong candidates for digital marketer positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• experience managing digital campaigns across multiple platforms
• ability to interpret performance metrics and make data-driven decisions
• knowledge of digital advertising tools, SEO and content strategy
• familiarity with analytics software, reporting dashboards and A/B testing
• communication and collaboration with marketing teams, designers and clients