What Can You Earn in the Digital Industry? Salaries in 2018

With an ongoing need for digital skills and professionals, the question of money is one that arises often.

With the competition for skilled digital natives hotter than ever, just how much can you be expecting to earn in the digital industry?

Ireland

Here in Ireland, pay varies depending on experience, position and, geography.

According to the 2017 Morgan McKinley Marketing Salary Guide, salaries can vary from Dublin, to Cork to Limerick, as well as from job to job.

SEO and Digital

In Dublin, an SEO manager can expect to earn between €45k and €60k. That starting figure dips to €40k in Cork and €35k in Limerick. This type of sliding scale is seen across the digital industry in Ireland and it is important to remember that in major cities across the world, wages will be higher – but so, generally, will the cost of living.

A PPC manager in the capital can earn from €60k to €80k, while an online project manager can earn similar. A digital project manager can earn between €80k and €100k.

eCommerce

A head of e-commerce in Dublin with no experience might expect a starting rate of €65k, while someone with 5 years’ experience will be looking at closer to €110k. The top ends of these salaries go from €80k to €130k.

Less senior staff – content, social media and product managers – will earn around €30k-€45k without experience up to €60k-€80k with.

These pay scales can be seen across e-commerce management and web, traffic and optimisation analysis. A growth hacker with 5+ years’ experience can earn upwards of €75k.

Digital agency

A head of digital marketing in Ireland can expect a salary of between €70k-€100k.

PR, project, media and account managers will start around €30k and earn up to €45k. This figure is the same as the general starting salaries of planners and copywriters.

Account directors will start closer to €40k, while digital creative directors earn in the region of €75k-€90k.

Worldwide

Of course, many marketers will seek employment abroad, particularly in the US and UK, where there is a demand for skilled digital professionals.

In the US, there is a wide range of skills digital marketing teams need. Research from Morgan McKinley Partners shows that digital advertising and content creation, curation and strategy are highest in demand.

This is followed by a need for SEO, social media and email marketing professionals.

While there is a skills deficit in the industries, there are many American companies more than will to compensate for them.

The Robert Half 2018 Salary Guide shows that there are a large number of six-figure jobs in the States. These include average wages for creative and UX directors as well as marketing and media directors.

Away from the top end of the scale, content specialists earn an average of $60k, an SEO specialist can earn between $52k-€94k and a community manager $49k-$93k.

At management level, an e-commerce manager is looking at between $83k and $130k, an account director will earn $93k - $155k and a digital marketing manager will take in $80k - $126k.

In the UK, Payscale puts the average digital marketing manager’s salary at just shy of £32,000.

Meanwhile, a salary guide compiled by Hudson shows that entry-level digital marketers can earn between £23k and £32k.

The head of digital marketing at a business can earn £60k-£80k. The average salary for a SEO Manager is £35,525, according to Glassdoor.

Education

With gaps in skills seen across the world, there will be a large number of people willing to fill them. However, in a constantly evolving industry, it is vital that you remain as educated as possible.

Our free 15mins digital diagnostic allows you to benchmark your skills against other digital natives, identifying your weaknesses and maximising your earning power.

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