The digital marketing industry is one of the most dynamic industries you could ever work in. Creativity, numeracy and psychology come together into one huge machine with an infinite number of moving parts. Now, there’s even more fun to be had as remote digital marketing roles become more prevalent.
The technological ingenuity of humanity has created a paradigm shift. With digital marketing, your physical presence isn’t needed to join the ride. It’s a choice rather than a necessity.
Think of all the possibilities that this opens up. Remote digital marketing roles give you the freedom to choose an office/coworking space. You can choose to stay at home. You could also choose to be on the patio of a Tuscan villa overlooking the rolling hills of the unadulterated countryside.
The only thing required for such a choice is your willingness and the patience to look for remote jobs in the right places. It is true that there are so many different role variations within marketing, and a blanket rule is not likely to apply. But there are some roles that are more ‘remote work ‘ friendly than others. Here are some of the ones we think will give you the most important gift a human being can give themselves.
Options.
Copywriter
If you’re interested in marketing and you’re good with words, copywriting could be a really good option for you. The difference between writing and copywriting is that copywriting is almost exclusively writing to advertise something. An idea, a product, the principles of the brand. You tell stories, but in a very specific way that gets people to take action.
You’ll write for web pages, brochures, blogs, social media platforms. The job is about taking customers on a journey using expertly crafted words. The simplicity of how that sounds hides how difficult a role it is.
That’s why companies who are serious about their branding, are willing to pay top dollars for the skill.
Qualifications
Formally you don’t need a qualification. But things get much easier once you’ve got a few years experience under your belt.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both. Yay!
Extra Equipment Requirements?
Nope!
Salary
Once you get into the swing of things, salaries start at around $30k if you’ve got a decent amount of experience. It can go up to $100k depending on the company/contract etc.
Please note that when you first start out, you will be paid a pittance. If you’re new to this, maybe consider doing this as a part-time role at first. It does get better though 😉
If you freelance and start adding passive income streams like blogs, digital products then earning potential is limitless.
Resources for Further Reading
How To Become a Copywriter – Jessica Buck
Copywriting Skills – Pia Newman
Copywriting Courses – The Creative Copywriter
Graphic Designer
A copywriter uses words. You use images. Graphic designers are an essential part of bringing a brand’s vision to life. Colours, logos and the overall branding picture is what people will pay good money for. Again, because a lot of graphic designers work on their computers, you don’t need to be in an office to do this role anymore.
If you can move into Brand Design, you’re absolutely onto a winner. You’ll get a variety of projects and entrepreneurs to work with and your portfolio will be looking fat and juicy. Lots of nomads do this for a job which is why it’s made it to the list of remote digital marketing roles.
Qualifications
Again experience will trump qualifications and an ace portfolio will take you a long way. But a lot of roles will ask if you’re proficient using certain software, so let that be your guide. Please be good at drawing.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both
Extra Equipment Requirements?
Appropriate graphic design software as a minimum. Then you can get into all sorts of accessories. Digital pens and drawing pads, second screens…
…we better stop there.
Salary
Similar to copywriter salaries, graphic designers can earn between $30k and $80k on average. Again, adding passive income streams can boost this significantly.
Resources for Further Reading
Graphic Designer Courses – InkBot Design on Medium
More on Salaries – 99 Designs
What You Wish You Knew – Rasmussen
Web Designer
The technical meets the creative in this necessary marketing job. If a graphic designer and a web developer had a baby, you’d get a web designer. You walk that balance so that a website is not only visually appealing, but it is also practical.
We all know that websites are a primary marketing tool for a large majority of businesses and freelancers so there’s always likely to be work in this sphere. If you’re really good, then like a lot of things, you can command a very respectable salary.
Qualifications
You need to know HTML, CSS and JavaScript and be a nerd about keeping up to date with these things. Where you learn this…entirely up to you. Just remember that the better the portfolio, the better your prospects.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both, baby!
Extra Equipment Requirements?
Maybe a second screen or some of the cool kit that Graphic Designers get to use.
Salary
Anywhere between $28,000 and $80,000 a year. Passive income projects or building an agency will give you a boost into the realms of unlimited earning potential.
Resources for Further Reading
Web Designer Information – Career Explorer
How To Become a Web Designer – Mock Plus
SEO Specialist
If you want to be in a profession where you just get to swim in data all day everyday then this role will be right up your street. As an SEO Guru you’re able to advise businesses on what content to produce, when to produce it and in a way that gives the audience what they are looking for and drives organic traffic to their websites and social media platforms.
You unearth keywords like an archaeologist unearths the treasures of ancient civilisations. Armed with these keywords, you give a heroic cry for content producers to create quality content. Not everyone will listen to you but the sentiment is there. You get the gist.
Because the landscape shifts pretty often and there’s just so much data, it takes a trained pair of hands to wield it. If you’re up for the challenge, it’s a brilliant job.
With all of this data being found online, it’s common sense that this is a perfect marketing career to take with you on the road. Google is global after all.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both! You can work for yourself, work for an agency, work for your own agency…
Equipment Requirements
A mind that loves data. A laptop. A good grasp of Google Analytics. Other keyword tools like Moz etc etc
Salary
A lot of people do this job badly. They do. And they charge a lot of money for it and cheat people. But a good SEO specialist is worth their weight in gold. If you work in house average salaries can hit the $55,000 mark. Truth be told though, if you know your stuff, you can earn twice that and more.
Resources for Further Reading
Job Description of an SEO Specialist – Fresh Gigs
Top Skills – SEMrush
Search Engine Marketing
Not to be confused with SEO but not entirely separate from it, Search Engine Marketing is about driving traffic to websites via the use of paid advertisements. It is a whole different art within itself. If you know a Google ad from a Bing Ad and again you are a lover of keywords, data and the infamous PPC (pay-per-click) this is a great remote marketing job for you.
The aim of the game is to get businesses gobbling up that traffic by paying for their website to be at the top of those search results. SEO does come into still which is why it is not a totally separate discipline.
It’s easy to take on the road as everything you need is on that laptop of yours.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both! Google Ads can be a specialism all on its own. Businesses are happy to pay for this specific skill or pay you on a consultancy basis. So maybe there’s scope to have a full-time job and a little side gig too.
Any Extra Equipment Requirements?
Nope.
Salary
The average salary for this role is about $47,000 a year but again there are some huge variations in this. Lots of capacity here for additional consultancy work which would boost one’s income potentially.
Resources for Further Reading
What is SEM? – Search Engine Land
Social Media Manager
Social Media managers are marketing specialists that focus on building brand awareness and generating leads across social media platforms. You’re customer-facing so there’s a high chance you’ll be overseeing the response to questions and comments. You’ll develop marketing strategies around relevant topics and be the campaign manager as you track the results around engagement and lead generation. You’ll also mastermind any marketing campaigns involving different partnerships and you’ll use social media to get the work out there.
The busy nature of the role comes from the fact that at any given time, you’ll be covering all of the major social media platforms and keeping an eye on what’s over the horizon. So you’ll have Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as a minimum. Then after that you can get into Youtube and don’t even get us started on TikTok!
It’s highly likely you’ll work alongside a content marketing manager to promote blog articles and any videos and you’ll tag team to make sure that the messaging is consistent across the board. As a remote position, this one is a lot of fun and a lot easier to take on the road with you.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both. Social Media Managers can work in-house but there are lots of managers operating on a consultancy basis.
Extra Equipment Requirements
No not really physical equipment but you may want to purchase tools like Hootsuite to aid you in managing your campaigns.
Salary
Average is around $60,000 a year. Salary like that whilst living it up in South America for 6 months? Not baaad I say.
Resources for Further Reading
What does a Social Media Manager do? – Media Bistro
Best Tools for Social Media Management – Themeisle
Social Media Ads Wizard
I don’t think that’s the official job title but I feel it is appropriate. Facebook ads, Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads, all the ads! Ever-changing algorithms and a highly competitive environment mean that there’s never a dull moment in this particular field. If you love ecommerce ads or any kind of product marketing, then this is even better. With so many products and services vying for the attention of consumers all over the world, social media marketers are in high demand for their lead generation skills. Their ability to target the right audience at the right time with a well-placed ad is such a nifty skill and people are willing to pay money for it.
You can work for a digital marketing agency or an in-house marketing team to build up some experience and then you’re away!
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Definitely both.
Extra Equipment Requirements
Nope
Salary
Average rests at around $57,000 per year. This can definitely be far higher if you decide to have multiple streams of income.
Resources for Further Reading
Social Media Advertising 101 – Hootsuite
3 Steps to Turning your love of social media into a Job – The Muse
Content Marketing Manager
Content Management is like a creative science. You’re like a project manager but you specialise in content marketing campaigns. You’ll spend your days doing lots of cool stuff. A bit of writing, a bit of editing, lots of marketing strategy and ideation will take up a lot of your time. You’ll enjoy the data analysis side and the likelihood is that you’ll manage a marketing team with content writers and SEO specialists.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Both – this is a great managerial role to go freelance with in fact. You could even start your own content marketing agency so there’s that route. Or you can work internally as well.
Extra Equipment Requirements
Not really. Maybe a good headset for calls as you may do a fair amount of those.
Salary
Average hits around $57,000 per year but can go as high as $90,000.
Resources for Further Reading
8 Duties of a Rockstar Content Manager – Impact
Everything Content Marketing – Content Marketing Institute
Digital Marketing Manager
Ready to become a jack of all trades? This is a role if you’ve got a few years of experience under your belt and you know what it takes to run a multi-faceted marketing campaign to reach your target audience. You’ll be a big picture thinker making sure you understand how all the digital marketing channels work together to really make an impact.
There’s never a dull day in this multifaceted role.
Freelancer or Full-Time Employment
Sounds like a better deal to do this role full time as there is so much to oversee. But of course, the world is your oyster and there will be some freelance or temporary roles in this space.
Extra Equipment Requirements
Nope.
Salary
The average salary for this role is around $77,000 a year but widely varies depending on the company your work for.
Resources for Further Reading
All things Digital Marketing – Digital Marketing Depot (webinars, papers etc etc – seems to be completely free to access!)
Digital Marketing Job Role – Media Bistro
There are loads of other digital marketing professions but these seem to be the ones most compatible with getting out and travelling a little more!
