Digital Marketing Salary in United Kingdom
Compare the average salaries for UK-based digital marketing jobs at each experience and skill level, based on current average wage data and industry standards, whether to help understand the expectations of job applicants or clarify the salary you should ask for.
£31,882 / Per Year
While the exact salary linked to a professional digital marketing role will depend on various factors, including your qualifications, experience, and seniority, the average across the UK is currently £31,882 per annum, based on data collated from multiple indexes.
We appreciate that benchmarking salaries is important for recruiters and businesses unsure what to offer when advertising a digital marketing role and for candidates and professionals keen to assess their earning potential or know what pay level to request.
Below, we’ve covered average UK salaries for entry-level, mid-level, and senior digital marketers across the sector.
Overview of Average UK Digital Marketing Salaries
Average salaries are just that: an average. Digital marketers with a niche specialism, high-level qualification, proven track record, or expertise working within a specific sector or industry may command higher wages than the average due to the demand for their skills.
Likewise, digital marketers might earn very different salaries for similar roles if they work in-house for one employer, operate as independent freelancers, or provide digital marketing services via an agency.
It’s always worth evaluating how your proposed salary and wider remuneration package stack up to ensure you attract top talent to your roles – factoring in paid training opportunities or on-the-job qualifications alongside the basic pay rate.
For digital marketers, these factors can make a considerable difference in the appeal of an average or below-average salary if there is the prospect of rapid career progression or further advancement.
Entry-Level Digital Marketing Salary in UK
The average salary in the UK for an entry-level digital marketing role is £26,803.
Entry-level jobs often appeal to juniors, apprentices, or those new to digital marketing. Employers and agencies can also hire trainees who have just completed their formal education or are keen to secure a junior role within an administration function or as an assistant to gain real-world experience.
Examples of entry-level UK digital marketing roles include:
- Digital Marketing Apprentice: Often suited to college leavers or applicants with a new qualification, apprentices might support SEO, social media, and email marketing functions and become accustomed to the tasks and routines required as part of a digital marketing team.
- Digital Marketing Assistant: Working underneath a manager or marketing executive, assistants provide support for all digital marketing team members. They might be asked to draft content, record meeting decisions, organize reports, and deal with administrative tasks while learning on the job.
- Digital Marketing Executive: Junior executives with up to two years of experience might work in specific functions, such as inputting data to assist with PPC marketing programs, performing research tasks to help more senior colleagues, or acting as a primary contact point for agency contacts.
Mid-Level Digital Marketing Salary
Mid-level digital marketers command an average UK salary of £32,400.
Depending on the company, a mid-level digital marketer will normally work independently or within their chosen area of specialty, creating campaigns, monitoring paid advertising promotions, tracking performance against objectives, and reporting to managers or directors.
Digital marketing jobs at mid-level seniority could include:
- Digital Marketing Manager: Managers may oversee smaller departments within larger corporations or whole digital marketing functions for smaller businesses. They are often responsible for increasing web traffic and the brand’s profile across all digital channels.
- Digital Media Specialist: Specialists might work on a certain area of each digital marketing campaign or manage certain tasks, such as optimizing media for digital campaigns and assisting with on-brand media creation.
Senior-Level Digital Marketing Salary
Senior digital marketing roles pay an average salary across the UK of £43,752.
More experienced senior digital marketers will typically be responsible for a function, team, or department within a sales and marketing section. They are often tasked with allocating budgets, recording spending, and monitoring the performance of junior digital marketers under their supervision.
Examples of senior digital marketing roles may include:
- Senior Digital Marketing Manager: Senior managers either supervise or lead in-house departments or are tasked with liaising and communicating with digital marketing agencies. They are responsible for identifying new opportunities or coaching and mentoring junior managers.
- Senior Digital Marketing Executive: An executive with management responsibilities might manage important functions such as business websites or monitor the wider digital marketing performance of the company or its appointed agency.
Senior Management or Director Level Digital Marketing Salary
Senior management or director-level digital marketing jobs have an average salary of £55,649 and above.
Higher-level digital marketers carry greater responsibility and are often shareholders or directors in smaller companies or receive performance-related bonuses in larger organizations. They manage whole departments or functions and make final decisions about digital marketing activities and projects.
Roles open to senior management or digital marketing directors could include:
- Head of Digital Marketing: This role is often found in larger enterprises, where a lead manager oversees the work of all other managers and supervisors below them. The head of a digital marketing function might control budget allocations and spending and collate reporting to deliver insights to the rest of the senior leadership team.
- Digital Marketing Director: Directors sit on company boards and are responsible for top-down decision-making, innovation, digital marketing strategy, and setting targets and objectives to ensure all functions and departments comply with regulations and work cohesively to achieve brand goals.
Factors That Impact UK Digital Marketing Salaries and Remuneration Packages
Of course, not every employer will offer the same salary for a comparable role, and businesses will normally state a pay range or scale for an advertised vacancy based on how closely the candidate matches their requirements or preferences and the degree of experience they bring to the role.
Next, we’ll summarize some parameters that may affect the salary you are offered for a digital marketing job or the factors that may influence the wage you are prepared to offer.
Location
Inevitably, businesses and digital agencies based in London and the southeast pay higher salaries than those elsewhere and further north, where average pay rates are lower across the board, as are housing prices and living costs. Recruiters pay more in high-cost locations simply to keep pace and ensure the rates they are offering are viable and will attract good-quality candidates to their vacancies.
Experience
Experience can be considered more desirable than qualifications alone unless you are applying for or recruiting for a junior role designed for candidates yet to work in a digital marketing environment. In other jobs, from mid-level and upward, the experience you have, the nature and reputation of the businesses you have worked for, and your knowledge of the sector a company operates within can all be beneficial.
Qualifications
Like most professionals, digital marketers might be qualified or have experience. Ideally, a mixture of real-world expertise and some form of formal education, certification, or accreditation is the best possible combination since it shows that you can start work immediately and have a verified level of knowledge in your field.
While some digital marketing jobs, particularly entry-level, junior, and apprenticeship roles, don’t necessarily have any qualification requirements, more technical jobs, such as those based on data analytics or back-end SEO, may pay more for sought-after qualifications.
Track Record
Most digital marketers include case studies, excerpts, or examples of their work in their CVs, which showcase their capabilities and the standard of work they produce. This information evidences your skill level and may mean you can negotiate the salary offered or request a pay rate close to the top of the proposed salary range in recognition of the quality of your work.
Reputation
Digital marketers with a sterling reputation, especially at higher managerial, executive, and directorship levels, can attract a salary premium, where businesses and recruiters might head-hunt a named individual who they believe is perfect for the role or who they actively seek out as the ideal fit for a vacancy with a high level of responsibility.
Role Structure
As a very rough indication, an in-house digital marketing role will usually pay a fixed salary, potentially with additional bonuses or remuneration – which might include a company car, performance-linked rewards, a business mobile, and a travel allowance.
Freelance digital marketers work independently and can set their own rates per hour, day, or project. They tend to earn less overall than employees, although they have the scope to earn more per project by marketing their skills well and building a strong portfolio.
Digital marketers who work for agencies might be paid a static rate or an agreed amount per day or contract; agencies often pay a little less than larger companies. However, their rates can be generous if high demand for your abilities exists.
Digital Marketing Salary UK – FAQs
What Sources Does Digital Marketing Jobs Use to Verify Average Sector Salaries?
We’ve used several sources to determine the average salaries shown here, ensuring our figures represent a cross-section of data rather than relying on one reference point!
Those sources cover all of the major recruitment sites, compiling average salaries from thousands of listings, alongside the averages extracted from our own jobs boards, alongside Glassdoor, Talent, Totaljobs, Indeed and Reed.
How Can I Find a High-Paying Digital Marketing Job in the UK?
The UK digital marketing sector was valued at £18.2 billion in 2023, reflecting growth of 3.3%, making it a great space for professionals and marketers looking to upskill, climb higher on the career ladder, or find a more senior position with a higher annual salary.
Our advice is to browse the extensive array of opportunities through our jobs board, which range from top-level directorship and executive positions to freelance contractual, remote, and international vacancies. You can filter by specialism and location to find the most relevant roles.
Within our resources you’ll find content to assist with interviews, career paths and updating your CV to help improve your prospects. Recruiters are equally welcome to post their job specifications, proposed salary and criteria to gain maximum views from skilled candidates looking for digital marketing jobs in the UK.
What Qualifications Do I Need to Apply for Entry-Level Digital Marketing Jobs?
Most entry-level digital marketing positions don’t expect candidates to have pre-existing qualifications, although they might have criteria that mean applicants must be educated to GCSE or A-level standards. If you’re interested in a specific junior role, check out our career advice articles, you can also browse our job descriptions, which illustrate the types of specifications employers most often ask for and the qualifications that may prove a competitive advantage over other applicants.
Should I Expect to Offer Above the Average Digital Marketing Salary to Attract Top-Tier Applicants?
Yes – average salaries indicate the median paid across the UK and in varied industries, sectors, and employment arrangements. These statistics are used for benchmarking, which informs applicants and recruiters about what others are paying for similar skills – but that doesn’t always mean that an average salary will entice the most talented digital marketers to your role.