Everything You Need to Know About Earning an Online Digital Marketing Degree – Forbes Advisor

Earning a digital marketing degree online will equip you with effective traditional marketing techniques and an in-depth understanding of the pillars of digital communications. With both essential elements you can help to increase the target groups and the sales of your company.

Learn the ins and outs of an online digital marketing degree, including what you will learn and potential career opportunities.

What is digital marketing?

Before we dive directly into what you can expect from an online digital marketing degree, let’s cover the basics with a definition of digital marketing.

According to the American Marketing Association, digital marketing “refers to all marketing methods conducted through electronic devices using any type of computer, including online marketing efforts on the Internet. When conducting digital marketing, a business could use websites, search engines, blogs, social media, video, email, and similar channels to reach customers.”

What does a Digital Marketing major involve?

With a Digital Marketing major, you will be able to adapt traditional marketing techniques to the digital world. It also covers aspects of communication and how to use each digital channel to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs). In a digital marketing degree, you will learn strategies for positioning a product and getting your message to the right people, in the right place, and at the right time.

While most colleges don’t directly offer a digital marketing degree, you can earn one Bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a focus on digital marketing.

Popular online digital marketing degree programs

A typical digital marketing degree curriculum may include the following topics:

• marketing principles
• Insights, strategies and applications in digital marketing
• Introduction to digital marketing
• Digital Marketing Analysis
• Creation of digital content
• mobile marketing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media Marketing

Many US colleges now offer online study options and flexible schedules for digital marketing majors. Earning a bachelor’s degree in digital marketing takes three to four years and requires 120 college credits.

Admission Requirements for Digital Marketing Degree

While each digital marketing program has specific eligibility requirements, in general, to be accepted you will need the following:

• Abitur or equal
• Standardized test scores (e.g. ACT or SAT) or an acceptable substitute
• A personal essay
• letter of recommendation
• Official certificates from all previously attended institutions (high school or university)

Careers for digital marketing majors

An online digital marketing degree can open doors to a variety of career paths. Below are some of the most common. All salary information courtesy of wage scale.

advertising manager

Average annual salary: $64,400
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or Communication
Job description: An advertising manager develops advertising plans that increase interest and demand for a product or service. They also delegate tasks to ensure junior staff develop creative, brand-specific advertising campaigns.

content strategist

Average annual salary: $64,690
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in Digital Marketing, Journalism or English
Job description: A content strategist develops, executes, and manages a company’s content strategy across different marketing platforms. They plan content ideas that align with their company’s business goals, then analyze metrics to measure their effectiveness. They then help adjust the strategies as needed.

Digital Marketing Manager

Average annual salary: $70,000
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or Business Administration
Job description: A digital marketing manager plans and manages marketing campaigns that promote a company’s brand, products, or services through digital channels. You will also mentor and train a team of young digital marketers.

Email Marketing Manager

Average annual salary: $74,220
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business administration or communication
Job description: An email marketing manager creates and manages email marketing campaigns. They review email marketing metrics (open rates, click-through rates, spam reports, and unsubscribes) to identify gaps and improve future campaigns.

Search engine optimization (SEO) specialist.

Average annual salary: $49,160
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in digital marketing or information technology
Job description: An SEO specialist optimizes a website to improve its ranking on search engines like Google. You can work with stakeholders like editors, writers, developers, and other members of the marketing team to ensure pages rank highly.

Social Media Manager

Average annual salary: $53,220
Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Journalism or Communication
Job description: A social media manager directs a company’s interactions with the public through social media. Her daily tasks include recognizing and capitalizing on societal trends, planning digital community-building campaigns and connecting with customers online.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about digital marketing deals