May 16, 2025
Digital marketers remain essential to business success – but the skills and qualities that define a great one have, and continue to, evolve.
But … what does a great marketer even look like anymore? Which skills should you be hiring for?
That’s today’s question.
In this article, we discuss how the role of marketing professionals has evolved, the key skills to look for and how to attract the best people to your team.
How the role of the digital marketer has evolved
Marketing is evolving, but the core mission remains the same: find and engage customers, converting their attention into financial results. So what’s changed?
Technology.
Modern marketers can leverage vast amounts of data in the blink of an eye, backed up by automation and AI tools which streamline menial tasks and deliver advanced, granular insights. It’s now possible to execute hyper-targeted, uniquely personalised campaigns at scale, but the systems and strategies involved have grown more complex. What was once a broad, catch-all role has evolved into a complex landscape of specialty fields: SEO, social media, eCommerce, automation, PPC – each demanding its own special skill set.
In this rapidly moving sector, it’s increasingly common to find experienced, nuanced professionals, and less so the ‘marketing unicorns’ of the 2010s.
The 8 most important digital marketing skills for 2025
When searching for a marketing specialist to upgrade your team, these are the critical skills defining 2025 (and into 2026):
- AI fluency and automation
- Data analytics
- Visual storytelling
- SEO
- Empathy and EQ
- Customer engagement software
- Business strategy
- Budget management
Most marketers specialise in one or two areas, but every professional, especially leaders, should have a working knowledge of all eight.
This will allow them to engage and empathise with customers on a variety of modern platforms, leverage new tools to deliver superior results, and do so with a solid understanding of the interplay between budget and marketing ROI.
How to find the right digital marketing hire for your organisation
Between SEM, SEO, ASO and PPC, the field of digital marketing is increasingly vast. Finding the right digital marketer for your organisation starts with determining your needs and the salary expectations of your potential hire.
Some questions to think about:
What are your business needs?
Marketing should always be tied back to business strategy, to ensure it delivers ROI. Before starting the recruitment process, get clear on your organisation’s goals – what should your new marketing professional achieve?
This will help you to understand what skills areas to hunt for. For example, do you need someone who knows their way around a strategy, or skilled people to execute the plan? These are likely going to be two or more different hires.
Do jack-of-all-trades marketers still exist?
Yes, absolutely. Many marketers still offer broad skillsets, and these professionals are typically well suited to smaller teams with simpler needs.
But, beware of overloading one role. Spreading someone too thin may hinder their ability to deliver cost-effective strategic outcomes; if someone is pulled in multiple directions at once, they can’t do a thorough job of any of them. This often leads to a lack of job satisfaction, and later, a resignation.
What are the salary expectations of today’s digital marketer?
In Australia, digital marketing salaries typically range from $80,000 to $120,000, with entry-level roles starting from around $55,000 to $65,000. Senior leaders with specialised skills can earn upwards of $200,000 or more, depending on their expertise and scope of responsibility
To break it down, marketing salaries vary as widely as job titles. To compete with your industry peers on pay, and attract the best talent, you’ll need to benchmark your marketing vacancy based on three factors:
- Skills: What skills does your team need, and how specialised are they? Expect to pay extra for advanced digital skills in desirable tech platforms.
- Experience: Are you looking for someone new, or do you need the steady hand of a veteran? Check how pay scales with tenure.
- Market demand: What tools, techniques and specialist areas are popular in your sector? Your competitors are likely to pay extra for trending skills, which means you may need to bump your salary expectations as well.
Much of this information is readily available with a simple online search. Or, speak with a specialist marketing recruiter for their advice on salaries in this sector.
4 quick tips for attracting digital marketers who deliver results
With the digital marketing sector pegged to almost double in value within the next ten years (EMR), digital marketers are, and will continue to be, in hot demand. So how do you attract and retain the best talent when your competitors are fighting for the same great people?
1. Advertise your team culture
Marketers are creative people, and they absolutely thrive in positive, aspirational team cultures. Great culture fit can also boost teamwork, improve happiness and reduce turnover, and of the top 10 drivers that attract marketing professionals to a role, culture and working environment take up three spots (SEEK).
From your job ads to your social posts through to job interviews and onboarding, advertise your awesome culture at each touchpoint.
Learn more: The importance of cultural fit in marketing teams
2. Offer flexibility
76% of Australians won’t apply for a job that doesn’t offer flexible working arrangements (National Working Families Report), making this a non-negotiable for attracting great talent.
Can your marketing team work remotely? Do you have flexible office days, or start/end times? Like culture, advertise this when searching for candidates and stay open minded to alternative work arrangements during negotiations.
3. Foster innovation and learning
Digital marketing moves fast, so the skills you need now won’t stay still. Look at your marketing people as a long-term investment – coaching, mentoring, upskilling programmes and adding room in the budget for self-improvement will go far to ensuring that your people keep on top of the trends to come.
As before, remember to advertise this too! Career development is another of the top 10 drivers attracting marketing professionals to new roles.
4. Work with a specialist recruiter
In our experience, most top marketers aren’t actively job hunting – they’re in great roles already, open to opportunities but rarely browsing online job boards. Finding them is an act of nurturing relationships, building trust and negotiating a better offer.
This is tricky to do internally without significant time and budget for talent acquisition. Instead, tapping into the expertise of a specialist marketing recruitment partner can help you jump the queue, massively expanding your reach and ensuring you meet the industry’s best talent with a premium offer.
Need help hiring a digital marketer in 2025?
At TalentWeb, our marketing team are specialists in connecting organisations with professionals who combine technical expertise, creative flair and strong cultural alignment.
Ready to find the right fit? Let’s talk.
