Digital Marketing Salary in Australia

Quick Salary Overview:

• Entry-Level: $60,000
• Mid-Level: $82,433
• Senior: $107,500
• VP / Director: $135,000

While exact salaries depend on various factors including qualifications, experience, and seniority, we've covered average salaries in Canada for entry-level, mid-level, and senior digital marketers below.

Overview of Average Australia Digital Marketing Salaries

When we discuss average salaries, we always reiterate that these figures are intended to be used for benchmarking and information – it is very likely that specific businesses, agencies or independent digital marketing consultants will earn more or less than the average, depending on some of the many aspects that contribute towards average pay rates in different regions and industries.

An example is an employee who progresses upward on the career ladder with the same company and receives an above-average salary in recognition of their service or based on their proven abilities and strong knowledge of the brand and its objectives.

However, understanding average salaries is equally important for recruiters and job applicants. They can compare the types of salary they might expect to offer or earn based on the technicality and seniority of a digital marketing job and the level of responsibility involved.

Candidates searching for well-paid digital marketing roles may also need to assess the non-salary benefits provided, which can make a lower-than-average pay offer more enticing. Pay elements such as performance-related bonuses, flexible hours, commissions, private health insurance, and subsidized childcare can all make a significant difference.

It is also key to consider roles that may pay close to the average but provide considerable opportunities, whether they include workplace training, funded qualifications, or a position with a fast-growing brand in a new sector, especially where start-ups offer stock options to compensate for lower initial pay rates.

Entry-Level Digital Marketing Salary

Junior, trainee and beginner digital marketers in Australia earn an average of $60,000 a year.

Most entry-level roles are designed for education-leavers, those returning to the workplace, junior colleagues without prior experience, or those transitioning into a digital marketing job from another sector.

Some businesses also enroll in apprenticeship programs, prioritizing candidates who may be finishing their formal education and keen to jump straight into a workplace environment. The advantage of a junior role is that, although average salaries are lower, candidates can gain enormous experience and learn from senior colleagues while having secure employment to showcase on their resume.

Examples of junior digital marketing jobs in Australia include:

• Digital Marketing Assistant: Often aimed at candidates at the start of their careers, an assistant role may involve administrative tasks to support a digital marketing team, preparing reports and documentation, helping with content creation and contributing to campaign analysis.
• Digital Marketing Coordinator: This job might be focused on assisting account managers, responding to client communications, conducting market research, updating databases and CRM platforms, and helping with content scheduling and management.

Mid-Level Digital Marketing Salary

Digital marketing professionals with mid-level roles earn an average of $82,433 in Australia.

After working within digital marketing for a few years, building a portfolio of work, and having references and contacts to draw on, digital marketers are often ready for the next step. They can apply for more advanced roles with higher responsibility or more independent decision-making.

Example Australian mid-level digital marketing jobs might include:

• Digital Marketing Specialist: The term specialist can be interpreted differently depending on the sector, but it is usually used in mid-level roles, where responsibilities might include the creation of marketing plans, digital content management, oversight of SEO projects, and monitoring of marketing activities.
• Digital Marketing Consultant: Consultancy posts tend to be paid on a commission basis with higher earning potential than the basic salary. Consultants often work in sales and client accounts for digital marketing agencies, focusing on B2B sales and building positive client relationships.

Senior Digital Marketing Salary

The average digital marketing salary for a senior digital marketer in Australia is $107,500.

Senior and managerial digital marketing jobs suit candidates with strong abilities, knowledge and an established level of expertise. Applicants will often be expected to manage more junior colleagues, take responsibility for key decisions, and report directly to senior leadership boards about performance outcomes against targets.

Types of senior digital marketing jobs in Australia include:

• Senior Digital Analyst: Analysts and managers hold strategic roles, leading on data or customer analytics, developing new ways to tap into the value of data, producing reporting and recommendations, and ensuring digital marketing activities align with brand strategies and objectives.
• Senior Digital Marketing Executive: Senior executives often coordinate the work of several teams or departments, either within content creation, managing schedules and production processes, or overseeing brand development. This role may differ between companies but is found in direct employment and digital marketing agency positions.

VP or Director Level Digital Marketing Salary

Australian directors and VPs working in digital marketing earn an average annual salary of $135,000.

VPs and senior directors usually work as part of a board or leadership panel and steer the direction of the company or brand. They are responsible for strategy, implementation, and overarching targets and standards, such as improving brand presence, profitability, and market share. Most VPs will have years of experience and have progressed to this level over time.

Accomplished and experienced directorship and VP digital marketing jobs in Australia include:

• VP of Digital Marketing: VPs are fully responsible for managing digital marketing functions and strategies, deploying and investing in resources and assets, setting and controlling digital marketing and paid advertising budgets, and ensuring all projects and campaigns deliver results to target.
• Digital Marketing Senior Director: Usually a board member, a senior director is responsible for strategy design and implementation, including planning and development, ensuring digital marketing and sales departments perform as expected, and making tactical decisions for commercial growth.

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Factors That Influence Digital Marketing Salaries and Reward Packages in Australia

As we’ve mentioned, some positions, businesses, or agencies inevitably pay different salaries from the norm – the average is across every pay point rather than reflecting the highest and lowest possible salary associated with a specific post.

Next, we’ve outlined some of the relevant factors that are likely to impact the salary you might either expect to pay when recruiting new candidates or are offered as a job applicant.

Location

Salaries in the largest cities and most populated regions are generally higher than those in more rural regions. Likewise, living costs in metropolitan towns and cities are more expensive, which means businesses pay more to attract talented applicants in a competitive field and to keep pay in line with employee expectations.

Typically, the highest digital marketing salaries are in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney – although the gap means that a digital marketer in North Sydney might earn an average of 7% lower than a counterpart with a similar job in Perth. Average salaries in Canberra are closer to the national average, whereas Gold Coast salaries are slightly lower.

Digital Marketing Experience

Digital marketers with excellent experience, who have been working in a specific field, niche or industry for several years, or who have a robust portfolio of projects and successes usually have more negotiating power when it comes to their salaries.

Two candidates, for example, applying for a management role might have very different levels of experience – an applicant with previous managerial know-how who will be able to get started straight away could be offered towards the upper end of the advertised salary range, whereas someone new to management might be offered a little less.

Qualifications

Not all employers, recruiters or agencies will expect digital marketing job candidates to have an official certification or accreditation, although a baseline level of education and qualifications in areas like business, marketing and communications are often beneficial.

If the position is more technical, such as an SEO analyst or content strategist, an employer might prefer applicants with a qualification to verify their knowledge and skills. It is also common for businesses in complex sectors, such as financial and legal organizations, to prioritize job candidates with at least a degree-level qualification.

Employment Type

Digital marketers at all levels can work for digital marketing agencies or within in-house digital marketing departments, which may impact the salary you are offered or advertise for a particular role. Freelance digital marketers tend to be those with more experience and well-developed skill sets they can advertise to attract clients.

You might also find that the average salary within certain industries is higher and that bigger companies with more generous job perks and non-salary benefits also provide higher basic salaries.

Business or Agency Maturity

We talked earlier about the other aspects outside of the salary that can make a job attractive, and some digital marketers working for start-ups and ambitious new brands might anticipate earning less than those working for established, long-standing firms, and agencies, since a newly launched business often has a lower budget.

However, the addition of other rewards and incentives, like stock options and performance-related bonuses, can end up being higher than the larger salary offered, depending on how well the business or agency performs.

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Digital Marketing Salary Australia – FAQs

What Data Do We Use to Calculate the Average Australia Digital Marketing Salaries?

All the average salaries shown in this guide are extracted from several reputable sources, ensuring we use a cross-section of job adverts, posts, and data from different recruitment sites and listings to give the best possible information.

In addition to our own Australian digital marketing jobs, we’ve consulted Talent.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, and PayScale.

Do I Need a Formal Qualification to Apply for a Junior Digital Marketing Position?

Not generally, no – digital marketing juniors, graduates and first-time job applicants may not need any specific qualification in digital marketing to be considered for a role. The norm is for the agency or employer to provide on-the-job learning, where apprentices or juniors shadow more experienced colleagues and get to grips with the role as they go.

However, some businesses look for entry-level job applicants with good exam results in subjects like Mathematics and English, and others will prefer candidates with a college or university education, although this is less likely to be an essential criterion for a junior role.

How Can Businesses Assess the Right Salary Range to Offer for a Digital Marketing Vacancy?

The best advice for businesses keen to find skilled, passionate, and talented digital marketing applicants for any job vacancy is to think about the average salary associated with that role, the other benefits and rewards they are expecting to offer, and whether there are particular requirements or parameters that will influence the advertised salary.

For example, posting a junior digital marketing job with a top-of-the-range salary could attract high-caliber candidates, but it might also mean paying more than necessary or stretching the business’s staffing budget without any real benefit.

It’s well worth browsing similar jobs on Digital Marketing Jobs, where you’ll be able to compare pay rates, criteria, education requirements and job specifications to gauge the perfect salary to offer for your digital marketing position.