For marketing pros, digital equals dollars

Quick, how much does a marketing manager make? A lot more than you think. Try $133,700. Marketing managers are one of the highest-paid professions in the country this year, according to Chicago-based Digital Professional Institute, which looked at some 500 job descriptions.

Of course, there’s a catch. Digital Professional Institute points out that 93 percent of today’s marketing positions require at least one digital skill, such as SEO, website design or analytics. Marketers are given titles that reflect their new responsibilities, such as SEO specialist and social media manager. Some marketing departments are even starting to hire technical staff that mirrors the IT department.

Tech infusion brings higher pay

It shouldn’t be a big surprise, considering sweeping trends in the marketing technology space that now has the CMO eyeing the CEO job and, in turn, the CIO eyeing the CMO job. Simply put, marketing has become infused with technology. Today’s marketing manager must have a deep understanding in marketing tech tools.

The boost in pay is a reflection of marketing’s heightened role, as digital marketers are tasked with building an online mobile and social relationship with the customer. This puts them within a hair’s breadth of the sales conversion. Marketers will play a key role in influencing customers on their buying decisions, essentially cutting out the salesperson. In fact, Forrester forecasts that 1 million B2B sales jobs will disappear by the year 2020.

[Related: Digital marketing and death of a B2B salesman]

Perhaps a marketer’s increased pay comes at the expense of these salespeople. At any rate, there’s no question that this year is the rise of the digital marketer. The types of companies hiring digital marketers run the gamut. The digital marketer’s salary is now in the same ballpark (although not quite as high) as a doctor’s pay and a dentist’s pay.

Here is Digital Professional Institute’s infographic: