Academy Xi Blog

If you’re contemplating a Digital Marketing career, it’s handy to know what’s going on in today’s industry. We’ve put together this market update to bring you all the latest Digital Marketing insights, statistics and trends.

Digital Marketing is the strategic use of digital channels to promote products, services or brands. Digital channels include websites, apps, search engines, social media, email, video and SMS. 

Opportunities for Digital Marketers are growing rapidly, with the amount of time people spend online increasing by 5% in the past three years alone. 

Digital Marketing helps customers identify with a brand, raises their awareness of a particular product or service, and ultimately aims to convert as many leads as possible into paying customers.

Are Digital Marketers in demand in Australia? 

Demand for Digital Marketers in Australia is exceptionally high and set only to increase, with the industry predicted to grow by 21.1% in the next 5 years.   

There’s a significant skills gap for Digital Marketers in Australia, which is reflected in the 7,972 roles advertised on Seek.com.au (as of August 2022). Breaking these numbers down by state

  • New South Wales offers 3,198 roles 
  • Victoria offers 2,372 roles 
  • Queensland offers 1,173 roles 
  • Western Australia offers 393 roles
  • Australian Capital Territory offers 210 roles
  • South Australia offers 250 roles
  • Northern Territory offers 37 roles
  • Tasmania offers 71 roles

Keep in mind that many Digital Marketing roles can be fulfilled remotely. Advances with online work systems mean being a remote Digital Marketer can be just as rewarding as working in-person. Seek is currently advertising 873+ remote Digital Marketing roles throughout Australia.  

Your earning potential as a Digital Marketer in Australia

The earning potential for Digital Marketers in Australia reflects a booming industry that’s always on the lookout for new talent. The latest stats from Talent.com record the average Digital Marketer salary in Australia as $83,725. Even Junior Digital Marketers earn an average annual salary of $70,000, while Senior Digital Marketers make $114,333 per year.   

The average salary in each state is:

  • New South Wales – $84,444
  • Queensland – $79,736 
  • Northern Territory – $87,680
  • Western Australia – $80,373 
  • South Australia – $74,917 
  • Victoria – $84,015 
  • Australian Capital Territory – $82,554
  • Tasmania – $71,845

Which industries most commonly hire Digital Marketers? 

It should come as little surprise that the industry which hires the vast majority of Digital Marketers is marketing and advertising. Throughout 2021, Digital Marketing efforts accounted for 55% of all marketing spend. As a result, over half of the Digital Marketer positions currently being advertised on Seek are in the marketing and advertising industry (4,160 roles).  

Some of the other industries that frequently hire Digital Marketers include:

  • Retail
  • Healthcare
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Real estate and property
  • Tech  

What are the top skills a Digital Marketer needs?

Today’s Digital Marketer needs a wide range of capabilities, including a mix of soft and hard skills. 

In terms of hard skills, the following are essential:

Strategic thinking 

Having a campaign strategy helps Digital Marketers identify what makes their product, service or brand unique and how to share that message with a target market through a range of digital channels. 

Digital Marketers need to be able to build successful end-to-end campaign strategies, which involves setting success objectives and metrics, devising tactics for multi-channel engagement and planning marketing and remarketing approaches. Depending on a Digital Marketer’s level of seniority, Project Management skills might also be a necessity. 

Content creation

Content creation is the process of generating topic ideas that will appeal to your target audience, creating written or visual content related to those ideas, and then publishing that content as a blog, video, infographic, social post, or another content form.

These days, content creation is the backbone of any good marketing strategy. As well as benefiting from having original content ideas, Digital Marketers will be at an advantage if they have practical skills in copywriting and visual design.   

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is the practice of optimising a website’s performance to improve its ranking in relevant search engine results. 

When a person performs a search on Google or another search engine, the websites displayed are judged on their merits by a search engine algorithm. This means a website’s SEO ranking is calculated in comparison to the SEO of its competitors. 

Digital Marketers use their technical understanding of SEO to enhance the visibility of a website, which means more traffic and more opportunities to convert leads into customers.

Data analytics 

Digital Marketers have a wealth of data at their fingertips these days and are able to extract insights that tell them in precise terms just how well a campaign is performing.

Digital Marketers keen to leverage the power of data will need the skills to collect, collate and assess performance data, and might even be required to perform A/B testing. It’s also advantageous to be able to share data insights via reports and presentations.     

Soft skills

There are also a variety of soft skills that are needed to succeed in the industry, the most important of which include:

  • Creativity Digital Marketers need to constantly produce new and creative campaign ideas that help brands stand out from the competition.
  • Communication – For Digital Marketers to connect with their audience, it’s vital they have strong communication skills. Digital Marketers also have to share their ideas with teammates and stakeholders, which demands public speaking and presentation skills. 
  • Collaboration – An end-to-end marketing campaign will often be the result of a collaborative effort. Digital Marketers need to be able to work effectively within a marketing team, or even cross-functionally with other departments. 
  • Persuasion – It’s vital that Digital Marketers have a knack for creating persuasive messaging. Persuasive marketing ensures leads complete specific and necessary actions, rather than just randomly interacting with a brand. 

The latest trends in Digital Marketing

With tech and software advances always pushing the possibilities of Digital Marketing, it’s an exciting time to be involved in the industry. Here are a few trends to keep an eye out for in 2022 and beyond. 

AI marketing

A Salesforce Report found only 29% of marketing leaders used AI in 2018, but that number had almost tripled to 84% by 2020. Expect AI to play an increasingly prominent role in Digital Marketing in the coming years. 

Marketers used to target audiences based on broad demographics, including age, gender and location. AI makes it possible to subdivide market segments and target leads by personal traits, buying habits and behavioural patterns. This means businesses can use AI to build customer-centric marketing strategies and personalised ad campaigns. 

Video marketing

It feels like the shift to video marketing has been well publicised for at least a decade. However, some businesses and brands remain hesitant to add video into their marketing mix. With the rise of TikTok, and Instagram announcing it’s now a video platform, video’s marketing influence is climbing.

According to research, over 85% of consumers would like to see more videos from brands, and at least 67% of businesses are looking to increase their video spend for the rest of 2022.

The Metaverse

The metaverse spans the physical and digital worlds, occupying multiple online platforms and often using virtual or augmented reality tech. The metaverse is also a fully functioning virtual economy that many businesses are now aiming to capitalise on. 

Marketing in the metaverse can be highly immersive, allowing businesses to place consumers in virtual spaces dedicated to particular brands. Many of the biggest companies are preparing to enter the metaverse, with Nike recently filing for patents on virtual sneakers and buying online real estate for virtual Nike Towns. 

How to become a Digital Marketer

Entering the world of Digital Marketing might seem intimidating, but getting a foothold in the industry is simpler than you might think. 

To launch a career as a Digital Marketer you’ll need to follow a few easy steps:

  • Undergo formal training – you’ll need to master the industry’s essential tools and practical skills
  • Identify a specialism – Digital Marketing is a broad field and you’ll need to find your niche
  • Build a portfolio – this will demonstrate to employers that you’re capable of planning and executing an effective marketing strategy

Whatever your starting point, there are fantastic training options available that will prepare you to take on an exciting Digital Marketing role. 

Academy Xi offers hands-on, industry-recognised training that’s developed for digital careers. 

Regardless of your previous experience, our Digital Marketing courses will give you the skills to tactically promote products, services and brands across digital channels. 

Whether you want to venture into a new profession as a Digital Marketer, or upskill and bring Digital Marketing skills to an existing role, Academy Xi has a course that’s a perfect match for your goals and lifestyle. 

  • Digital Marketing: Transform – For those who want to launch a new career as a Digital Marketer, including 24 weeks of access to a Career Support Program that helps 97% of graduates straight into industry.
  • Digital Marketing: Elevate – For those who want to enhance their career prospects with in-demand Digital Marketing skills.
  • Digital Marketing: Elevate (self-paced) – For those who want to enhance their career prospects with in-demand Digital Marketing skills, while also enjoying the flexibility of self-paced learning.

Want to discuss your transferable skills and short course options? Speak to a course advisor today and take the first steps in your Digital Marketing journey.