How to Hire a Digital Marketing Manager

Why hire a digital marketing manager?

The need for new staff can affect both your existing team and bottom line. A great digital marketing manager can help your business:

• Increase your social reach, which boosts your social capital
• Engage new customers through emerging and existing digital marketing channels
• Monitor effective digital marketing campaigns

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance digital marketing manager

It depends on the amount of management services you require. If your digital marketing campaign can be managed in fewer hours each week, it may be financially better to hire a freelancer. 

Businesses can hire a freelance digital marketing manager in a temporary capacity to devise and launch an online advertising strategy. They can also employ freelancers in interim positions to provide coverage for a recently vacated role. 

If your business requires 40 hours or more weekly to manage your marketing campaign, it may be best to hire a full-time employee. Full-time hires have lower hourly costs than freelancers. 

What are the ranks of digital marketing managers?

In digital marketing, there’s a rank that clearly defines which position has power over another. Some positions in this field include:

• Digital marketing specialist: Digital marketing specialists are entry-level employees in the online marketing field. They’re in charge of improving internal and external SEO, launching PPC advertising campaigns and managing social media pages. 
• Digital marketing manager: The digital marketing manager oversees the work and communicates goals to the team, ensuring the specialists’ work is on target.
• Director of digital marketing: Directors of digital marketing are often focused on developing and executing the company’s marketing strategies. They also use research of current trends, competitor activities and market conditions to adjust existing strategies. 
• VP of digital marketing: The highest position on the marketing ladder, the VP of digital marketing handles major decisions and is in charge of hiring and promoting other major roles in the field. 

Where to find digital marketing managers

To find the right digital marketing manager for your business, consider trying out a few of these recruiting strategies:

• Promote from within. Some of your digital marketing specialists may possess the marketing and leadership skills required to take on a supervisory position.
• Post help wanted signs. Hanging signs can spread the word about the position and encourage potential candidates to inquire and apply for the job. 
• Network. Maintaining contact with other companies in the area may give you leads into recently unemployed digital marketing managers.
• Search online. Many potential candidates for the position may have profiles online that exhibit their experience and skills.
• Post your job online. Try posting your digital marketing manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality digital marketing manager candidates.

What are the ranks of digital marketing managers?

In digital marketing, there’s a rank that clearly defines which position has power over another. Some positions in this field include:

• Digital marketing specialist: Digital marketing specialists are entry-level employees in the online marketing field. They’re in charge of improving internal and external SEO, launching PPC advertising campaigns and managing social media pages. 
• Digital marketing manager: The digital marketing manager oversees the work and communicates goals to the team, ensuring the specialists’ work is on target.
• Director of digital marketing: Directors of digital marketing are often focused on developing and executing the company’s marketing strategies. They also use research of current trends, competitor activities and market conditions to adjust existing strategies. 
• VP of digital marketing: The highest position on the marketing ladder, the VP of digital marketing handles major decisions and is in charge of hiring and promoting other major roles in the field. 

Writing a digital marketing manager job description

A carefully written description is important for attracting qualified digital marketing manager candidates. A complete digital marketing manager job description includes a thorough summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your digital marketing manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on digital marketing manager jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Marketing
• Digital marketing
• Social media
• Marketing manager
• Communications
• Graphic design
• Marketing assistant
• Social media marketing
• Social media manager
• Media

Interviewing digital marketing manager candidates

Strong candidates for digital marketing manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Google Analytics, SEO and Google Ads
• How they determine content success vs content failure or good vs bad content
• Important Google Analytics metrics

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of digital marketing manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).