Skill building and careers

Reimagining the Marketing Role in a New World of Work

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of four blog posts that explores our new report, “The Changing Marketing Jobs Landscape.” Read the first and the second post in the series and look for our fourth post on Tuesday, June 29, which examines how women fare in the new jobs landscape. 

Every industry, every job category, and every specific role has been affected in some way by the disruptive chaos of 2020. In many areas of the professional sphere, things will never quite be the same.

Marketing is one career that’s been reshaped dramatically over the past 14 months or so. Demand is shifting. Geography is lessening in importance. Inter-team dynamics are being reconfigured as marketing professionals adapt to remote work and distributed colleagues as the norm.

Recently we’ve examined the evolution of marketing in terms of hiring trends and in-demand skills. Today we’ll share some exclusive LinkedIn data that shines a light on how the broader evolution of work is affecting marketers, and where new opportunities are emerging.

The Remote Work Revolution

As LinkedIn News Editor Ashley Peterson recently highlighted, remote job listings have skyrocketed across the professional spectrum over the past year. Specifically:

  • As of May 20th, the percentage of paid job postings on LinkedIn that offered “remote work” had risen by 457% compared to one year earlier.
  • Such jobs aren't just becoming a lot more common; they also are about 2x as popular as conventional listings, in terms of how many people apply.

Not only is marketing a part of this movement — it’s at the forefront to gain an idea of how marketing is being transformed specifically, let’s dive into some more granular data in this infographic.

Rise of the Remote Marketer

Remote and hybrid workforces are fundamentally changing the way we work. On LinkedIn, we’ve seen the number of remote marketing job listings increase by 177% over the past six months. It goes without saying that the growth of remote positions is hardly unique to marketing, but the trend is relatively pronounced in this category. Companies are becoming more comfortable work-from-home teams collaborating and creating together through purely digital means.

In terms of specific job titles that are growing in demand from a remote standpoint, these are the top 10:

  1. Digital Marketing Specialist
  2. Copywriter
  3. Digital Marketing Manager
  4. Search Engine Optimization Specialist
  5. Content Writer
  6. Social Media Manager
  7. Marketing Manager
  8. Media Buyer
  9. Social Media Marketing Specialist
  10. Account Manager

As you can see, the remote revolution applies to basically the entire range of marketing specializations: content, social media, SEO, digital strategy, etc.

Which Cities Show Highest Demand for Marketing Hires?

You’re probably aware of the narrative that large metro areas like New York and Los Angeles are shrinking due to a lopsided ratio of departing and arriving workers. It’s a trend that existed pre-pandemic and has only been boosted by the dynamics discussed above: it’s becoming easier for people to work remotely anywhere, and escape from high rent in big cities.

Perhaps as a result, those big cities are showing the greatest need for marketers. Our data finds that demand is highest in these metro regions:

  1. New York City Metropolitan Area
  2. San Francisco Bay Area
  3. Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
  4. Greater Chicago Area
  5. Greater Boston

New York City also stands out as the No. 1 hot spot for marketers at this time. It’s followed by Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale.

Sizing Up Marketing Salaries by Geography

Okay, so we’ve broken down where the biggest opportunities are in terms of demand. What about pay? We took a look at salary data by region and divided it across two categories: relatively new marketers (fewer than two years experience) and more seasoned marketers (more than two years experience).

Top Median Salaries by Location for Entry-Level Marketers

If you’re fairly new to the profession and aiming to maximize your compensation, these regions are worth exploring:

  1. Charleston, South Carolina: $87,700
  2. San Francisco Bay Area: $87,200
  3. Toronto, Canada Area: $86,700
  4. Louisville, Kentucky Area: $86,600
  5. Greater Atlanta Area: $85,800

Top Median Salaries by Location for More Senior Marketers

For marketers who have a bit more experience and are interested in potentially relocating or pursuing higher pay, these regions offer the ripest opportunity:

  1. San Francisco Bay Area: $92,600
  2. Greater Seattle Area: $91,200
  3. Pittsfield, Massachusetts Area: $86,000
  4. Houston, Texas Area: $85,800
  5. Orange County, California Area: $83,600

Opportunity Abounds in a Bright Future for Marketers

Change is inherently jarring, for anyone. It’s natural to be apprehensive about any major shift in your chosen field of work. But the reality is that the proliferation of remote work, and its relatively profound impact on the marketing profession specifically, is good news for employers AND employees. On both ends, boundaries have been erased and a far more vast world of opportunity is at your fingertips. Distance has never been less of an impediment in finding the perfect fit.

Download the full infographic to explore the inmpact of remote work on marketing and subscribe to the LinkedIn Marketing Blog to stay on top of trends and the state of the profession.